VooDoo Fest 2019 Review

Festival in General

VooDoo Fest was 3 days packed with music, food, and fun. From roller coaster rides to a decorated "cemetery", it was very themed and a ton of fun. Around 64 bands/performers played over the course of 3 days and that included all different types of genres including rock, pop, EDM, and more. Each day began around 12pm/1pm and finished up by 9pm/11pm. It was not only a music festival, but also falls on the weekend of or before Halloween as per New Orleans tradition. This means that there are an insane amount of incredible costumes and during some of the shows it was not uncommon to see whole families at the festival along with the crazy 20-30 somethings. 

Line-Up

There were so many different genres and bands ​that it was hard to go wrong. Personally, I am so sad I was not able to see Post Malone, and I wish so so much that he'd been scheduled for Friday or Saturday instead, but Guns n' Roses and Bassnectar were both incredible main night acts as well so I think it would have been hard no matter who played Sunday. One thing I also enjoyed about the line up was how fun it was to walk around the grounds and catch artists you didn't necessarily know. There was not a single artist I didn't enjoy while there, I only wish I could have seen Bae Miller (canceled due to whether) and Post Malone. Check out the line up here for more details.

Food/Drinks

While the food was a little pricey, it really wasn't too pricey. There was a long line of booths similar to the BAR booth pictured but with sturdier structures. that were set up to have similar labeling and decorations, but were essentially food trucks from around NOLA. This was called the "Forked Up Food Court". My favorites  were the pretzels at Bratz Ya'll! and The Big Cheezy's Grilled Cheese (yum!). I also did not hear any complaints about anything ordered from our friends, which is saying something because we came with a group of 30+ people.
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For beverages there were cans of water, High Brew Coffee, Red Bulls, Seltzer Water, Sodas, Beer, Wine, and Cocktails. There were also quite a few hydration stations to fill up water bottles, hydration packs, or canteens for free. The coffee was great considering that the days are long and a quick boost can really make a difference, but I also enjoyed that the bars were selling White Claws at every bar in the park. 

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Uber/Transportation

The transportation system was extremely organized and efficient. On Friday night  we left a little early during the Guns N' Roses and Big Gigantic sets, meaning that while there was a line for anyone seeking an Uber it was not a super long line. We arrived, asked for help on how the process worked (there were ropes and people scattered everywhere), and ordered our Uber. That evening there were only 4 of us so it only took 10 minutes for our Uber to arrive and get through the lines. 
On Saturday our group was a bit larger, including 6 people instead of 4.  The Ubers in line were pretty strict on only taking 4 individuals at a time, so we needed an Uber XL and getting one at the festival gate was unlikely. There were also a lot more people leaving at once because we stayed for the full Bassnectar set. We took advice from the Uber driver who dropped us off and walked 4-5 blocks away from City Park before we attempted to call one. While the wait was still around 10 minutes it did allow us to have an Uber that fit all of us at once, was about the same price as the 4 person rides, and we were able to avoid some of the initial traffic going back into the city from that area.
All in all the separation of Lyft and Uber, the nearby parking, and the racks for bicycles all seemed to provide adequate and reliable transportation for attendees. While my experience was pretty limited I did talk to others who took different routes and no one seemed displeased with the system. In fact, one of our drivers commented that of all the years he has worked VooDoo Fest this one was the most efficient for Uber/Lyft drivers.

Staff/App

Throughout the festival the staff was great. They were nice, they were helpful, they offered ADA services to individuals who needed them (including interpreters for those Deaf or Hard of Hearing), and consistently sent out helpful updates about the festival. This translated into the App. The VooDoo App was extremely helpful in sending push-notifications to inform patrons on any changes to the shows or times, entrance locations, messages from sponsors, and other helpful information. When first downloading it I was worried because it did not show a lot of information, and even after purchasing my ticket there was no way to log anything for it to recognize that I had done so. However, a week or two before the app started to develop and gain different features, and even allowed you to build your own schedule for the shows you wanted to see and when. 

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My Experience

Personally, Adam and I had a great time! It rained a lot the first night which was pretty rough, but our ponchos made it bearable. It helped that we signed up knowing rain was a possibility, and it did not get to cold even with the weather being the way it was. You can see a picture of us and a few of our friends below on night one all 80s themed dressed and poncho-ed up! A bonus to this was the Speak Easy lounge, a hidden lounge set for individuals who registered for the festival in the largest group/groups through Fevo. Originally it said that the top 3 groups would be chosen, but as the festival grew closer we noticed the marketing changed to "groups over 50, limited to top 3 groups". Our group, the Three Eyed Ravers, placed 2nd with 32ish people, and while we weren't technically granted admission to the Speak Easy Lounge, once we found it the entrance staff let us in anyway. In the Speak Easy Lounge there were tables, chairs, and a bar that served cheaper drinks than what you could find at other bars in the park. This was a great place to meet new people and for us to get off of our feet every once in a while. It really added to our group's experience and made me consider looking at the VIP or Platinum passes for future years.

By Saturday the weather improved immensely so a few of us took some time to explore the French Quarter. We had breakfast at Cafe du Monde, checked out some of the street art, and tried gelato macaroons at a corner cafe. Since Adam and a few others in our group had never visited New Orleans before this weekend it was an added bonus to the festival because of all of the exploring and history the city has to offer. At the festival the grounds were pretty muddy still, but everyone who had appropriate shoes (rain boots, teevas, or washable Walmart shoes)  didn't mind. The festival was a lot more crowded which could have been because it was Saturday or because it was not raining as much, but even so it never felt "too crowded". You could always get semi-away from large groups if needed, and the views of  the stages even from farther back were still really good.

We weren't able to stay through Sunday because Adam and I needed to be back for work and my sister needed to get back for an accounting test, but the friends who did stay said it was a blast! VooDoo Fest was a lot of fun and I hope we can make it back sometime in the future.