MerleFest Camping 2017

[dandabradford]

what is a good/great place to camp at during Merle Fest, looking for people that have used campgrounds in the North Wilkesboro, NC

[Veebyes]

Grey Fox is massive. A very large hay field is laid out city block fashion. Sites are defined & if you are anything larger than a 30'er & have slides, very very tight. If you are unfortunate enough to be in the back half of the camping area you are in for a very long walk to the main stage.

For us it was simply way too many people both from a camping perspective & trying to enjoy the music. High powered binoculars were needed to see the stage in any detail. Then there was the heat in the wide open sunshine.

No question, the lineup was great however for the money & enjoyment Grey Fox was a tick off for been there, done that. Won't be doing it again.

[kfp673]

n8wgb wrote:

kfp673 wrote:


Nice, sounds like a great night. Gettysburg is actually the week before (16th-19th) and they have 2 festivals every year. The second is in mid-august. We have been doing both for about 6 or 7 years now and love it. Especially with kids because it is at an actual campground with hookups, a pool, and playgrounds. I have Greyfox, Delfest, and Merlefest on my list every year and never make them. Some day!! 😉 Enjoy!

Just looked at that Greyfox. Wow, what a nice lineup of acts!

Yes for sure! One of these years (maybe this year) I'll make it.

I was joking with my wife that my kids have never experienced a "real" festival feeling. We have 3 kids and have always had a travel trailer since they were born, and have always had electric and water, or generators when they go to festivals. As mentioned before, Gettysburg is actually at a campground so for that one they have all the amenities. Pre-kids and marriage, friends and I were regulars at the Philadelphia folk festival and many others with a tent where the corner of your tent is right next to the corner of the next persons tent forming a tent city. We had a blast. Showers?? who needs it?!?! 😉 As long as we had a tent, food, water, and beer we were happy campers.

[n8wgb]

kfp673 wrote:


Nice, sounds like a great night. Gettysburg is actually the week before (16th-19th) and they have 2 festivals every year. The second is in mid-august. We have been doing both for about 6 or 7 years now and love it. Especially with kids because it is at an actual campground with hookups, a pool, and playgrounds. I have Greyfox, Delfest, and Merlefest on my list every year and never make them. Some day!! 😉 Enjoy!

Just looked at that Greyfox. Wow, what a nice lineup of acts!

[n8wgb]

Veebyes wrote:
Festivals the size of Merlefest are a little too big for our liking. Much prefer walk to stage camping. Headed to the Pinion Festival next weekend.

Usually I like the smaller fests too, but once a year, Merlefest, is to hear a lot of the best all in one place in 4 days. I'll be at a lot of smaller fest all summer too.

Merlfest is a little overwhelming at 1st, but the music is so good, that trumps the size. And it's the best organized and run festival I have ever been to.

[Veebyes]

Festivals the size of Merlefest are a little too big for our liking. Much prefer walk to stage camping. Headed to the Pinion Festival next weekend.

[kfp673]

n8wgb wrote:
Well, I'm probably not telling you anything new about how great it is... Just an amazing amount of talent, and for a cheap price.

The jamming in the campground is good, and there is almost none at the festival(which is at a different site than the camping).

Sounds like the Gettysburg BG fest is Memorial Day weekend. I will be at a BG fest in Kendalville, Indiana the week before the holiday. I bought the camper to go to festivals with.

Hopefully, you will be able to get to some other festivals this summer too.

I'm writing this as I'm just getting back from a jam, at 1:30am...

Nice, sounds like a great night. Gettysburg is actually the week before (16th-19th) and they have 2 festivals every year. The second is in mid-august. We have been doing both for about 6 or 7 years now and love it. Especially with kids because it is at an actual campground with hookups, a pool, and playgrounds. I have Greyfox, Delfest, and Merlefest on my list every year and never make them. Some day!! 😉 Enjoy!

[n8wgb]

Well, I'm probably not telling you anything new about how great it is... Just an amazing amount of talent, and for a cheap price.

The jamming in the campground is good, and there is almost none at the festival(which is at a different site than the camping).

Sounds like the Gettysburg BG fest is Memorial Day weekend. I will be at a BG fest in Kendalville, Indiana the week before the holiday. I bought the camper to go to festivals with.

Hopefully, you will be able to get to some other festivals this summer too.

I'm writing this as I'm just getting back from a jam, at 1:30am...

[kfp673]

n8wgb wrote:
I'm at Merlefest again. Anyone else in the area?

No, but jealous for sure. Been trying to get down there for years but 2 kids in school and a 2 year old aways seem to get in the way of my Merlefest plans. Have a great time! 3 weeks until gettysburg bluegrass fest here in PA!

[n8wgb]

I'm at Merlefest again. Anyone else in the area?

[n8wgb]

The site I was at was nice. No shade, and just open lots, but big sites. Plenty of power and water. Dump station on site.

They had three to four inches of rain in the week before the festival, so they were trying their best to dry things out. The grounds were a little soggy, but you could drive on most of them. They spread gravel/dirt on the spots that were really wet, and that helped a lot.

The shuttles to the festival were 12 passenger air conditioned vans which ran at least every half hour. They ran them more often if needed, like in the mornings to get people to the festival and later in the afternoons when people were coming back. The AC was nice, because the heat index on a couple of days was >90, which I was not used to (being from Northern Ohio). This was much better than the un-air conditioned school buses that were used by many of the campgrounds.

I'll be staying there again next year if I can. They did not take reservations for next year due to ongoing discussions they are having with the local Rotary Club, who actually owns the site.

[n8wgb]

I'll be at the North Wilksboro FD campground.

http://www.nwfd.us/merlefest_camping.htm

I have a non-hookup site, and am on a list for a hookup site if someone cancels.

Friends stayed there last year and liked it.

[pulsar]

Assuming I would not be driving my RV back and forth, I was choose to camp at Bandit's Roost Kerr Scott Reservoir. It is about 5 miles from the MerleFest

However, if you haven't already made reservations, you will have a difficult time finding a campground in the vicinity.

Tom

[Veebyes]

Had a quick look at the MerleFest website. There is camping onsite. Not much info on camping readily available other than you can arrive on Tuesday before.

Looking at a few pictures, the thing is HUGE!!!! Not our style for size but I'll bet the music is great. We try to work bluegrass, or other music festivals into our trips but look for smaller festivals with onsite camping, 1, maybe a couple stages & plenty of after show campground picking, often the best part.