With a celebration in store for July 4th weekend, the Highberry Music Festival will throw its seventh annual gathering at a new location this year. With the change in venue confirmed for Ozark, AR’s Mulberry Mountain (which has hosted both Wakarusa and Harvest Festival), located in the massive Ozark National Forest, it is to be expected that this year will come with new expectations. The 1.2 million acres of forest was created in 1908 by proclamation of President Theodore Roosevelt, is about as secluded as a festival gets, with nothing but nature surrounding festival attendees. This year the event will have a full fireworks show, live artists, workshops, kids camp, and a solar powered riverside stage. For the first time ever, they will be running music at three stages this year. We could certainly think of worse places to spend 4th of July weekend (purchase tickets HERE).Highberry Music Festival Finalizes Lineup With The Return Of Buckethead & MoreWith festival headliners that include Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams, and Papadosio, along with the recent addition of Buckethead to the lineup, Highberry is well on its way to a successful event. Rounding up the lineup in fine fashion will be Dopapod, TAUK, Jeff Austin Band, Steady Flow, Spoonfed Tribe, Greener Grounds, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, Isayah’s All-stars, Groovement, Henry & The Invisibles, The 1 oz. Jig, The Ozark Travelers, The Creek Rocks, Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings, Smar T Jones, and Brother Leadfeather. We had the chance to chat with festival organizers, Deadhead Productions’ Chris Anderson, about this year’s Highberry. Here is what he had to say:L4LM: With the change in location, what are your expectations for this year’s event?Chris Anderson: Concerning the move to the mountain…Change is sometimes difficult for people, but as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said “change is the only constant”. We are thrilled to be moving to our new home at Mulberry Mountain. We had several great years at Byrd’s Adventure Center but were beginning to burst at the seams a little bit last year. It’s like Jerry said, “all good things in all good time…” The timing worked out perfectly for us to make the move just a few short miles away to a place so many already hold dear. There is certainly magic on the mountain, and we are eager to add to its legacy. Attendees can expect more space to camp, a large shaded camping area available for general camping, along with the opportunity to make genuine connections with their neighbors and other music enthusiasts. Another element that we have preserved from our previous events is the ability to bring a cooler of one’s beverage(s) of choice right up to the main stage viewing area and get comfortable for the day. We believe it is important to maintain the feel of camping with friends at our events as opposed to feeling like livestock being herded through corrals this way and that. We believe in free-range music fans if you will.L4LM: How will the new venue change things for the better?CA: Beyond just the aspect of camping space, the move will allow for more creative space as well. We look forward to showing what we have in store for everyone in terms of interactive art and chill spaces. In fact, this year we will have a featured artist gallery with some really great talent! We are really excited to have these new areas to play with and get creative. When we plan an event we see it almost as a blank canvass to begin with, then, once the festival is comes to fruition, we see the “brushstrokes” come together to form the final masterpiece. It’s really a thing of beauty and our teams do a really great job of making the most creative use out of the available space, of which we now have much more. L4LM: What up and coming acts on the bill do you think will surprise people the most?CA: There are so many talented artists on this year’s bill and we are excited for each and every one of them, that’s why we chose to work with them! With that said, I think for those that haven’t seen them, the Handmade Moments show on top of their bus that they had a stage built onto will be one not to miss. Also, Groovement is a STELLAR funk rock band from Fayetteville, Arkansas that we have locally know and loved for years, but we think they are destined for greatness on a national level and their recent album ‘Clouds’ is gaining them well-deserved recognition in the press. Spoonfed Tribe has played a couple of our events now and they are really a lot of fun with a sound all of their own. Other up and comers would include The Magic Beans and Greener Grounds with their respective styles of improvisational jams and crafted songs. But really, every act on the lineup is one which we feel brings a quality performance with them. And with our festivals there are minimal overlapping sets so you don’t have to miss out on many, if any, of the acts you came to see or want to check out.Give a listen to Keller Williams’ entire set from last year’s Highberry:L4LM: What is something that is completely unique to Highberry?CA: Our events do not separate fans into “GA” and “VIP” because we believe every one of our fans is equally important! This goes along with the “free range music fan” concept and this experience at Mulberry Mountain will be unique for most guests in that they will have their choice of where to camp at the venue..other than the RV reserved sites, every other spot is fair game! Many attendees of past events on the Mountain have never had the opportunity to camp in the woods near the stage so that’s exciting and we look forward to seeing the creative campsites that spring up with this newfound freedom to roam the mountainside to find the perfect spot.L4LM: What was going through your mind when Buckethead confirmed? Considering he hasn’t played much since 2012.CA: “The hippies are gonna love this!” Haha. Buckethead is just beyond description. He is an artist who can take the music any number of ways at the drop of a hat. When the opportunity arose to add him to the bill, it was already pretty late in the game for us as we had pretty well finalized our lineup. We couldn’t resist though. As fans of multiple genres of music, Buckethead represented the icing on the cake (or the 10-piece homestyle chicken in the bucket). Whichever way you prefer to look at it, we were stoked. L4LM: Sounds like it is going to be a fantastic weekend. Good luck with the event!**** For more information on this year’s Highberry Music Festival, visit the event website HERE ****
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