Please note: this is my experience. I am not making generalizations or claims about Dirtybird Campout. This is my honest and fair review of Dirtybird Campout.
I’ve been putting this write up off and procrastinated it for the longest time. As some of you know I attended Dirtybird Campout earlier this month (October 4-6). I had been wanting to attend for the past two years after seeing several of my friends attend. I was excited that this was finally my time to check it out after being a fan of Dirtybird for so long. My boyfriend first mentioned he wanted to go and I was so stoked he was interested in it. My boyfriend and I packed up our bags and flew out from Austin, Texas to Oakland, California and took a shuttle to Modesto Camp Reservoir to get to Dirtybird Campout.
This weekend was very eye-opening in the sense that Dirtybird Campout did not live up to whatever pre-conceived expectations I had in my head. I try to attend every festival with an open mind as I have been to so many. I try to treat every new festival I attend with fair judgment like it’s my first festival ever. However, leaving Dirtybird Campout I didn’t have this fulfillment feeling leaving that I ever wanted to come back. I didn’t leave thinking, “wow that was the best weekend ever let’s do it all over again”. Something fell flat for me and I’ve been reflecting on why that might have been.
I’m breaking down this review to give you a full glimpse of Dirtybird Campout.
Planning Travel Arrangements
We traveled from Austin, Texas to Dirytbird Campout so we knew we would have to plan ahead to accommodate for us flying to California. As this was also a camping festival, we wanted to plan for what we might need for this trip.
Flights
We booked our flights through Southwest in late August. It worked out well that I had some points that I could use on a one-way flight to Oakland. We ended up getting in Thursday night since our shuttle left at 10 am on Friday there weren’t any flights that got in before that time on Friday. We stayed at a hotel nearby so we could wakeup stop by a Walmart and get to the shuttle. On the way back, we accounted for if any shuttle issues would happen so we had a later flight just in case and got back Monday at midnight.
Shuttle
There was only one shuttle that left at 11 am on Friday, we ended up getting in around 3 or 4 pm. I wish there would’ve been a shuttle on Thursday since a lot of the activities start that night and on Friday morning. I felt like we were coming late to the game and people had already gotten settled in. Nonetheless, the excitement was in the air as we were with fellow campers on the shuttle to share the excitement.
One thing was that we did make a stop at a grocery store on the way; however, this was not communicated before. Ryan and I went to Walmart before we went to the shuttle since there was no indication we’d be stopping for anything which made me nervous since we were camping. They gave us about an hour which was more than enough time for everyone to get what they needed. I’m glad they did make a stop just wish it had been communicated beforehand.
When we got there, we got to bypass the car traffic (though there weren’t many cars) and workers came onto the bus to check IDs and give us our wristbands. I think they briefly searched the bags under the bus so we didn’t have a super long wait time. (I heard there were ridiculous wait times for Thursday Arrival…yikes). The shuttle almost dropped us off on the edge of the campgrounds which would’ve been a very far walk to Carefree camping. A majority of the people on the shuttle were also doing Carefree camping so it would’ve been a walk to get to our camp set-up. Luckily, they routed us to the actual shuttle drop which was about a 10-minute walk to Carefree Camping.
The shuttle on the way back left at 10 am to head back to Oakland. All in all, I felt that the shuttle was pretty reliable transportation for getting to and from Oakland if you didn’t want to rent a car. The shuttle pass was $101.88 which if rented a car from the Oakland Airport most likely would’ve been more.
Carefree Camping
This was my first time camping with a pre-setup tent and supplies. We did Carefree Camping since we didn’t want to have to bring all our camping stuff with us for a three-day camping festival vs. a five-day camping festival like Electric Forest. We also weren’t going to rent a car so this was an ideal option for us. There was some slight confusion when we first got dropped off because the map layout seemed a little different and that Carefree Camping got moved. When we arrived to Carefree Camping, things were a little chaotic as the tent we were originally assigned was taken. The guide took us to multiple tents until one was empty and told us this was ours.
Carefree Camping came with a tent, pillows, “air mattresses” and a lantern all set up for us. It was great to have this all set up so we didn’t have to worry about it. The only thing was that on the website and when we purchased it said we’d get an air mattress which when you see that you expect this:
But in reality, it was an “airpad”.
I wish this was clarified beforehand as we had this same set-up for Electric Forest and we had extra padding between us and the pad which made for a comfortable sleep. Having only the air pad was not as much cushion and mine had a hole in it somewhere as I had to keep re-blowing mine up.
Another thing I wasn’t expecting is that Carefree Camping was in straight-up dirt so not like the grass I was used to. Our site also had no shade so when we got to our tent at 4 pm on day 1 the sun was directly on it and really hot to be in. We quickly changed and moved on with our day one activities and knew that the rest of the weekend we wouldn’t really be in our tent from 12 until the sun went down.
All in all, I was grateful to have a place to sleep and while it was weird not having a car to store my stuff in, we made the most of it. Very fortunate no one broke into our tent as that was definitely a concern I had. I think Carefree Camping was worth it for the price. For two people, it was $216.21 which had we brought all our own camping stuff would’ve been around the same on top of renting a car.
Cost
This cost is just for me personally.
Ticket: $257
Flights: $140 (used Southwest points for one way)
Shuttle Pass: $101
My Half of Carefree Camping: $108
Merch: $100
Food/Drink: $75
Walmart Trip: $35
Outfits & Braids: $110
TOTAL: $926
Dirtybird Campout
Alright enough of all the boring stuff, let’s get into the actual festival itself. Like I said I was super excited to attend Dirtybird Campout because I love Dirytbird Records. I love the artists and I love Dirtybird takeovers at any festival. I have also attended Dirtybird BBQ so I was excited to see how this translated to a full-on festival.
Activities and Team Colors
The whole vibe of this festival is that it’s the Summer Camp for Adults. When you get in, you go to Games HQ and get assigned a team color. Whenever there are big game activities you can represent your color. I was team purple and Ryan was team ___. They have a whole schedule of activities from arts and crafts to dodgeball and more. The activities were typically going on at the same time as sets so sometimes you had to pick and choose to participate vs. being at a set. I thought that the activities would be more inviting and that you had to participate, but you could be as involved as you wanted to be. Ryan played a game of night time soccer, I did screenprinting with Sacha Robotti and we watched dodgeball and tug of war if we had a break. Also similar to Holy Ship! Is that these activities are hosted by artists so you could go for a jog with Justin Martin or learn how to screenprint with Mija. It definitely lets you get to know the artists more making it a lot more personal experience.
What I Wore
I have will have a separate blog post for what I wore and tips on what to wear!
Security
One thing I was super excited to hear was that once you were in Dirtybird Campout, you were in. No security after camp security and that was it. I was excited we could bring drinks to the dancefloor and what not and have that open festival vibe that other festivals like Lightning in a Bottle have. That wasn’t the case this year and by speculation that because Dirtybird was sponsored by Coors Light, there had to be security between campgrounds and the festival and no alcohol was allowed inside the festival gates. This was a major bummer to find out as we weren’t planning on spending money on alcohol inside the gates. Security was very impromptu and thorough some days and not so much on the other days. People still snuck in wine bags and drinks and what not so I don’t know how effective it really was.
Venue and Layout
For 2019, they made some changes to the layout which I heard from veterans was super clutch. Last year the two stages were on opposite ends so it was a very long walk between the two stages. This year they moved the two stages by each other and was less than a 3-minute walk to bounce back and forth between the two. I also loved this venue with it being right on the water. It was truly picturesque to be there and so calming. Ryan and I would go out by the water in the morning and just hang out. You can also jump into the water to cool yourself down.
Everything in the layout was super close to each other and had multiple areas for bathrooms. You could easily get from one stage to the other as well as to merch, Games HQ, Claude’s Cabin, Crafts Center and the game field. The water stations weren’t all that clearly marked and I think there were only two water tanks. There were also several food options however; not a whole lot to choose from. There were food options right by Birdhouse and then some near the game field which I felt they were kinda tucked away from everything.
The Stages and Production
The stages of the festival added to the whole experience for sure that you were truly at a summer camp. The two main stages were Bird House and Bass Lodge. Bird House had a Dirtybird Egg-shaped disco ball that was so fun and featured major house and techno artists.
Bass Lodge featured a lot more diverse artists that didn’t just play house music. I’d like to think this was more of an experimental stage where artists just played how they felt and didn’t stick to a genre.
If you wanted to take a break or get a good laugh, you could also go to Claude’s Cabin to see what activities were going on there. I saw Claude VonStroke twerk, there was a lap dance for your life and also comedians on day 2. This stage was a fun set up for some real community bonding.
The Crowd
I was truly excited to meet other fellow Dirtybirdies from all over. I had always felt the best vibes in the Dirtybird crowd and this was one thing I felt fell flat for me. The crowd didn’t seem all that welcoming or wanting to meet others. Maybe I was standing in the wrong spots or something but I felt like anytime I interacted with someone I didn’t know I didn’t really receive that same energy back. I had a great time with my friends for sure, but I didn’t leave that festival with any new connections really. There was a very cliquey type of vibe with some of the attendees that I was surprised by. I also felt like the team colors didn’t really mean anything to anyone since I’d try to interact with people with my team color and they’d just kinda brush it off. Also before Dirtybird Campout, a lot of the attendees get little trinkets made like patches, jewelry, pins, etc. to trade with other attendees. Some people have a great mindset to handout to whoever, but some will only trade if you have something to trade. We didn’t have time or money to get anything so I felt like we couldn’t participate in that I did bring finger puppets to hand out, but I didn’t expect anything in return. I did get a couple of patches and stuff from my friends that were great tokens.
Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way was reading stuff before and after how people that attended Burning Man (a.k.a. burners) try to adopt, apply and preach the same principles to Dirtybird Campout. Those principles are great and all, but trying to apply them to another festival and force it on people just kinda turned me off because this isn’t Burning Man. Dirtybird Campout doesn’t have those principles posted anywhere so I guess it’s more of an unspoken thing. Burners were commenting on Facebook Group posts on how people need to apply these principles which I felt was off.
The Weather
Weather was honestly perfect. It was pretty hot during the day then cooled down a lot. I highly recommend bringing layers and packing for any weather just in case.
Camping & Renegades
Camping honestly wasn’t bad. Our walk to and from the festival was about 10 minutes. Carefree Camping was in a great location. At nighttime though, there wasn’t a whole lot of lightning walking throughout the grounds. Walking to the portapotties I didn’t feel safe even with my flashlight. Showers were $7 and they took cash. I guess there were two shower locations: 1. the one with the shower trailers had longer lines and 2. the actual shower building (the one we went to) never had a line. One thing I didn’t really know about is the other amenities within the campgrounds. Ryan and I should’ve walked throughout to see what else there was because we didn’t know about anything until day 3.
One of the important pillars of Dirtybird Campout are the renegade after-festival shows. Renegades are un-official parties throughout the campgrounds. You’ll hear music throughout the campgrounds that go until the sun rises. Carefree camping was right by the RVs where a lot of renegades were. We, unfortunately, did not do any renegades as the time difference affected us greatly. Being two hours behind to where 3 am felt like 5 am was very rough on us so we went to bed and put our earplugs in and passed out. I wish we would’ve had the energy to check this part out. I heard OMNOM played a set and I’m sad I missed out since he wasn’t on the lineup.
Favorite Sets
The music all weekend long was 11/10. I had a great time seeing some artists for the first time
Day 1 Standout Sets: VNSSA, Redlight, Walker & Royce
Day 2 Standout Sets: Sacha Robotti, Ardalan and Christian Martin
Day 3 Standout Sets: DUMB FAT (Sage Armstrong, Franklyn Watts, and Stead Rock), DJ Glen B2B Bruno Furlan, Will Clarke & Shiba San
Day 3 was probably my favorite day! For those that don’t know too on the last day for the last set, they have a Family Set where any artist could go up and play a song. It’s a Campout tradition so we stayed the full time and used any little bit of energy we had left.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The Music
- The Venue
- Stages
- Activities
- Carefree Camping
- Shuttle
Cons
- Security
- Crowd
- Time Difference
- Logistics and Planning could be improved (Wait times on Thursday arrival, RV placement issues)
Would I return?
Like I said I didn’t come back from Dirtybird Campout feeling all that jazzed to return as I do about most festivals. I’m happy I went and experienced it and don’t regret it at all. If I lived in California or Arizona, I’d love to go again and hope for a better experience. It’d be pretty expensive to try and go again, but maybe we can return in the future one day.
Advice for DBC 2020
Like I said this was my experience. I felt kinda alone to have this experience as I have heard nothing but great things about DBC. I was pretty sad about it that it didn’t live up to what I had hoped for. I still encourage people to attend this festival and check it out for yourself. Something might have just been off for me and that’s totally okay. Not every festival is going to be the best weekend ever, but I still kept positive and enjoyed the time I had with my friends with fantastic music. Let me know if you have any questions!
You can check out my video review on YouTube!
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