In less than two months, more 30-thousand rock fans are expected to converge on Nelson County for the fourth annual Lockn’ Festival. This year organizers will have help from VDOT, Phish and a large contingent of beavers. Sandy Hausman has that story.
Phish is the headliner for this year’s show, and festival co-founder Dave Frey is excited.
“Phish is a great rock band,” he says. “They’ve kind of taken the mantle of the Grateful Dead as far as the audience goes.”
But that’s just the start. Lockn’ has booked about 30 other bands and purchased 385 acres of scenic farmland where festival goers can camp and hike. They’ve even hired a guy to create special trails.
“He’s kind of like those golf course guys that have the feng shui,” Frey explains. “They know where to put the sand trap and all that. Dave does that for mountain biking.”
Local restaurants will feature their best-selling entrees and appetizers, while local breweries keep the beer flowing. Recovering alcoholics can camp in a special area – away from temptation, and organizers will offer twice the recommended number of port-a-potties for such an event. That said, Lockn’s 10-year-plan includes construction of indoor bathrooms.
“There’s nothing good about a port-a-potty,” Frey admits.
And the organizers are working with VDOT to improve traffic flow to the site, which is 90 miles west of Richmond, midway between Lynchburg and Charlottesville.
“For the sake of our audience and also just for the sake of our neighbors who are like – I couldn’t get across the street to buy a carton of eggs, and I go, ‘I know, I’m sorry.’“
There are no guarantees of good weather, but flooding should not be a problem. Frey says a large population of beavers has kept the Nelson County Preserve dry.
“They’ve made about 12 dams, and it seems to me that they do maintenance. The main dam was broken by the storm, and they’re out there fixing that thing up as fast as they can. Any type of water issues we might have otherwise, they handle all of that!”
In their honor, the festival’s unofficial motto is: Respect the Beaver, and organizers plan to add a live camera to their website, so people can keep an eye on those industrious critters.
Frey admits, hosting a large rock festival is no easy task in the 21st century.
“Everybody is at home on their device," he says. "There’s amazing entertainment. Why leave the house?”
But he’s convinced Lockn’ will lure people from their homes and once the event – set for August 25-28—ends, Frey and his team will gear up to host The Festy – another Nelson County festival that outgrew its home at Devil’s Backbone.