Big Dub Festival: Tales from Four Quarters

For the past few years in July, something truly magical has been happening in Artemas, PA.

Each summer, the vast lands of Four Quarters Sanctuary have become host to a huge community built on radical self-acceptance, art, and of course, heavy bass music. This one-of-a-kind experience is known as Big Dub, and 2018 looks to be promising nothing but great things for this annual East Coast event.

Sure, we could go the old-fashioned route and rattle off a cookie-cutter list of reasons you lovely readers should go this festival season, but we here at MFN like to do things a little differently. Since no one knows Big Dub better than the people who’ve been there, we reached out to past attendees to help explain just why you should all hit Four Quarters this summer.

These are some of the Big Dub family — and these are their stories.

Carol Meckes, 26, from Walnutport PA says:

“I’ve attended Big Dub for the last three years.This year will be my fourth time attending the festival. Last year I went to Big Dub solo, and it was amazing how many people welcomed me into their circles with open arms. Which was especially helpful when the third day of Big Dub I had a bit of a family crisis. I won’t go into much detail about it, but I had gotten a devastating call around 11 PM. I couldn’t leave due to having some of the Big Dub sangria, and my family was over five hours away. Anyway, in order to get my mind off the news, I ventured away from the Hilltop and into the main camps. I ran into people that I had met and talked about everything. I was able to hold myself together in the middle of a crisis, all because of the kind words and positivity of the people I recently met.”

Carole’s caption: Photo was taken by me. I feel that the sign at this random campsite from last year represents Big Dub perfectly!

Andrew, 25, from Pittsburgh, PA wrote:

GO TO THE CATALINA WINE MIXER!

I’m a HUGE techno/tech-house lover. Before attending the festival I remember posting in the Facebook group asking, “Will there be any tech-house DJs playing sets?” and Chad, the guy who basically runs Big Dub, answered personally saying “make sure to check out Nick Flynn and Eddie Watson playing on the hilltop stage Saturday night.” There were two other people at that stage maybe – before the second DJ went on I talked to him briefly and got to geek out about our love for techno music. When he was playing he was constantly looking up at me and seeing how I was reacting, and I’ve NEVER danced so hard/freely in my life. With basically no one at the stage, it was very easy to zone out and feel like I was back home in my room dancing away. To this day that is probably my all-time favorite festival moment.”

Michaela, 24, from Baltimore, MD said:

“The people at Big Dub are the best kind, friggin’ wild. Everyone has so much to offer and share that you’re never short of finding a friend. My favorite part is the grilled cheese social that “camp grilled cheesus” has every day, where we give out free grilled cheese in exchange for you doing a silly trick or sharing something amazing about yourself. One couple had their own language, and another two guys were stuntmen. Everyone’s included, and we all play a part in making Big Dub the best it is.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Arlette Rodriguez Escalante
RODESCA PHOTOGRAPHY
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Michaela’s caption: It was taken by my best friend Arlette at the grilled cheese social capturing how friggin’ exciting it is to get a grilled cheese. Especially when it’s like day three and you’re hungry as shit and out of money.

Damian Yupari, 18, from Annandale, VA told us:

“The fam vibes at Big Dub are like no other; I’ve met many good friends there, and it’s like no other festival I’ve been to. The people who live at Four Quarters are such welcoming people and have so much love for us all; they help make sure everyone is safe and work hard to help put it all together.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Grayson Hall
GRAYSON HALL PHOTOGRAPHY
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Damian’s caption: These are some of my friends and friends of the other DJs who came out. It was my first time ever playing for a crowd, and watching people dance to music I was playing for the first time was beautiful and something I’ll never forget!

Big Dub Festival: Tales from Four Quarters