Reminisce on the First-Ever Bonnaroo in Honor of The Festival’s 20th Anniversary

After a three-year hiatus, Bonnaroo makes its big return bringing in thousands of festival-goers to enjoy the events, music, and reminisce on the past 20 years.

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival celebrated 20 glorious years of bringing events, art, and music to festival goers since its inception in 2002. Creole slang for, “good stuff,” Bonnaroo has grabbed the hearts of the many who made the trek to camp out on “the farm” to make memories.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bonnaroo had to postpone the event for nearly three years in a row. Now, after 20 years, many fans are looking back on the amazing years that the festival has given them.

The very first Bonnaroo Festival was held on June 21st through June 22nd in 2002, and sold more than 70,000 tickets in advance. Some of the big headliners for that inaugural festival included Widespread Panic, Trey Anastasio, Ben Harper, the String Cheese Incident, Phil Lesh & Friends, Bob Weir, and many more.

Over the years, there were very memorable performances, including Pearl Jam, Metallica, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, Nine Inch Nails, Herbie Hancock, Nile Rodgers, Paramore, The Police, Tool, Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead, The White Stripes, and much more. One of the most memorable headliners included Kanye West, who showed up hours late and was booed intensely by the crowd. Another big headliner was Kaskade, who’s huge performance left the crowd energized and craving for more.

Festival goers would wait all year for Bonnaroo, camp out for the three-day weekend in the mid-June summer heat, and leave muddy, sunburned, and in a state of bliss. This incredible experience, even after 20 years, gives many the ability to see some of the best performances in one place, by some of the greatest artists from around the world. Arguably one of the best experiences from attending Bonnaroo isn’t even the music. It can be what you can discover walking amongst the campgrounds, the side stages, and the standup comedy area, just to name a few.

This year’s festival took place June 16th through June 19th. For the 20th anniversary festival, Bonnaroo’s lineup consisted of Gryffin, J. Cole, The Chicks, Illenium, Tool, 21 Savage, Flume, Disclosure, Stevie Nicks, Machine Gun Kelly, Roddy Rich, Nathaniel Rateliff, and many more. With all of the excitement brought back to the Manchester, TN area, fans already can’t wait to see what next year will bring.

Be sure to listen to the lineup mixtape from this year’s Bonnaroo!