Hulaween: The World As It Should Be
“Transformational, mystical, life-changing, magical, soul-rejuvenating….” These are some of the words used to describe Suwannee Hulaween. Thing is, words haven’t been coined yet that adequately describe what is arguably one of the best music and arts experiences in the world. How do you describe a feeling, a collective consciousness shared by thousands, a brief window of time where all the tumult in the real world is blotted out by the sheer weight of communal joy? You can’t. At least, I can’t.
So, I asked some of you to help me describe Hula, which for the uninitiated is an annual gathering of like-minded souls, bands and artists that takes place each year around Halloween at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. Hosted by The String Cheese Incident, this year’s bacchanal was held October 26-29 and featured more than 80 music acts across multiple genres including jam, funk, bluegrass, EDM, reggae, R&B, and soul; a nearly sold-out pre-party on October 25; and Spirit Lake – a portal into another dimension showcasing other-worldly, interactive art installations.
Yes, world-class bands, including Jamiroquai, Odesza, Janelle Monáe, Vulfpeck, Stephen Marley, Mavis Staples, The Wood Brothers, STS9 and so many more all brought their A-games to create unforgettable music. Yes, the production and art installations were mind-boggling. Yes, SOSMP, situated on the Suwannee River with campgrounds covering over 800 picturesque acres filled with towering oak and cypress trees dripping Spanish moss, is an enchanting experience all by itself. But there is something else at work here that I for one have encountered few other places.
It’s love, a word I heard a lot at Hula. Love – the unconditional kind that wraps itself around every single person in attendance. Labels don’t fit at Hula, and everybody – male, female, gay, straight, transgender, black, brown, white, pinky-beige, old, young, thin, meaty, well-off or not – embraced and celebrated each others differences. This is the place to dress any old damn fool way you want. This is the place to dance like nobody’s watching. This is the place to hug a stranger for no particular reason. This is the place to take care of and be kind to each other. This is the place we need to emulate and carry into our everyday lives in the belief that maybe music can really save the world.
I gush, so here are some of your memories and impressions culled from a cross-section of attendees ranging in age from 20 to 50 something. Let’s start with Kyle Dodson (maybe 30) of Nashville, who was camping next to my rented RV with about a dozen charming young people. A Hula first-timer, Kyle is a seasoned veteran of other music festivals including Bonnaroo, Hang Out, and Coachella but was looking for something more intimate when a chance encounter with a fan of Hulaween set him on his quest to come here. It was the first morning of the festival when we talked and the bands hadn’t even taken the stage yet, but the vibe was already working its magic on him.
“When I was walking around this morning, and I was listening to the sound stages as they were warming up, I started to cry unexpectedly,” he said. “No bullshit! Tears of joy. I felt like I was back home. People were great. The experience is awesome. Moss hanging from the trees, and everyone is nice. You can come here, and you meet people, and you can be anybody you want to be. There’s no rules. But, there’s no rules in a less anarchic way, in a poetic way, the way society could be in an idealistic mindset. So therefore, it’s people sharing, caring and ultimately here for the music. So, I’m happy to be here.”
There is no other venue quite as beautiful and perfect for camping festivals as The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, a sentiment echoed by many attendees including Mike Flanagan (50 something) who splits his time between Bar Harbor, Maine, and Delray Beach, Florida. Camping with a crew of 20 on the other side of my RV, he is a veteran of Hula, this being his fifth.
“I think this is the most amazing music venue ever created,” he said. “And it keeps evolving and getting better and better. There’s nothing like this. Most venues are in a farm field if they need a large property of two, three hundred acres, and they don’t have any facilities. This place (SOSMP) has evolved where they have three miles of frontage on the river and 800 acres. I love the way this place has evolved. Like the evolution of life, the same as this place evolves into getting more and more amazing every time I get here.”
For some it’s just discovering the simple pleasures in a beautiful natural setting, surrounded by uplifting vibes and celestial music that make for keepsake memories. I ran into 20-somethings Rana Fouani and Grace Klochko Bull on Sunday afternoon soaking up the warm air and relaxing on the banks of Spirit Lake. Relative newbies to Hula, this was Rana’s first time and Grace’s second.
“My favorite memory is the first day we got here, we found this little desk and chair over there,” Grace said pointing to one of the installations. “And it started pouring rain but we were just sitting in the chair together and laughing. And we had no idea how to get home. So, we were just sitting in the rain and saying this is how it’s going to be tonight.”
Finishing the thought for her friend, Rana continued, “I remember we kept thinking we’re lost, but then we’re like we are home! Yeah, we’re home! We’re at Hula!”
A person would to have the spiritual hide of an armadillo not to feel the collective joy pulsing through Hulaween and the park. The feeling of positivity was a theme I heard over and over. While resting my sore feet at Spirit Lake on Sunday, the last day of the festival, I chatted with a group of friends (40-somethings and first-timers) from St. Petersburg, about good vibes.
“I really like how everybody is so open and friendly and bringing their best intentions forward, whether it be in their costumes or just in their presence,” said Ganesha Barojas. “I really enjoyed the way things are organized. I think the crew did a great job, and it’s just the magical moments. Watching people’s interactions is just hilarious and amazing.”
Daniel Barojas added, “I think the raddest thing about Hulaween is everybody’s super-positive attitude. Everybody is having a rad time and sharing; that’s contagious and just amazing.”
This being Spirit Lake, its magic was also high on everyone’s list of enchantments including a third friend in the aforementioned group. An occasional resident of Planet Earth bearing only one name and looking younger than his 400 years (hey, we said you can be anybody you want at Hula), Olsen marveled at the amount of work put into the staging of the festival.
“My favorite thing is the transformation” he said. “I was here a couple of days before the festival right here at Spirit Lake when they were putting up a sculpture. Everybody was super cool and vibing, just doing their thing. And then like a few short days later, it was this magical spectacle of amazingness like I’ve never seen before. This is my first Hulaween, and I’ve never seen anything like that. I was just blown away.
If you’re feeling the love, it’s by purposeful design. It’s the key ingredient that Hulaween producers Silver Wrapper and Purple Hat Productions sprinkle over every aspect of the festival. “What you hope for out here is we try to put on a festival that is very inclusive and inviting,” said Paul Levine, director of Purple Hat Productions. “The bands have a message of love and inclusiveness and community. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
“If you pay attention to social media that’s out there these days, it’s hard to have a conversation without somebody getting angry,” he said. “There’s so much vitriol and anger in people. But come out here, and the conversation should be about being together and having this incredible experience together and loving each other and then taking that back out into the community. Take the love and the togetherness that we find here, and hopefully that can impact people.”
Mission accomplished, Paul. We promise to do our part to carry this feeling with us until we’re able to recharge our souls again at Hulaween 2019.
Author’s note: There’s a long list of people to thank for what was my third Hulaween and best one yet. Thank you Paul Levine. Thank you Michael Berg and Leif Moravy of Silver Wrapper Productions and thank you to all your staff. Thank you Andrew Carroll of Synergy Event Production, who makes Spirit Lake a reality. Thank you all for your vision and hard work bringing joy to so many. Thank you to The String Cheese Incident for recognizing the immeasurable potential of Hulaween and upping the ante year after year.
Thank you Destiny Beck of Brotherly Love Productions and Max Freiser of Infamous PR for herding cats so expertly and coordinating publicity and media. Thank you Spirit of Suwannee Music Park and all the staff, security, vendors, and volunteers who made our experience safe and memorable. Thank you to every musician and artist for sharing your gifts. Thank you to every sound engineer and production person for amplifying those gifts and bringing Hulaween to life.
Thank you to the all the videographers and photographers including MFN’s own Mandi Nulph and Bryan Edwards, who killed it as staff photographers for Hula. Thank you to Zach Sanders, our photographer who logged about 40 miles chasing every photo request asked of him and crushed it in the process. And thank you to our noble editor, Scott Hopkins, and his wicked red pen for giving me a shot at telling Hula’s story.
And most of all, thank you to all my fellow Hulaginz, especially my co-pilot in mayhem, my sister Audrey Jake, for your open minds and open hearts. We’ll be seeing you again next year under the oaks where we’ll take each other even higher.
