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MANCHESTER, Tenn. - The second day of the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival was a little drier than the first. A series of overnight thunderstorms created mud pits all around the 700-acre site and had campers mired in mud and water. Yet, by the time the first acts began to appear on stage at noon, the sky had cleared and the atmosphere was congenial.

Bonnaroo features more than 100 artists, performing for more than 70,000 music fans on farmland in Manchester, Tenn. The event brings together a diverse collection of artists and fans. Friday, acts included rap pioneers Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, blind Malian musicians Amadou & Mariam, R&B legend Al Green, young pop harmony group Grizzly Bear, rockers the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and headlining jam band Phish.

While the general Bonnaroo attendee is in his or her 20s, and from miles away, some were local and a little older. Sisters Paulette Potter, 60, and Janice Graham, 62, had come from nearby Woodbury, Tenn.

"I love it," said Potter.

"Same with me," added Graham. "I'll bet the next question you'll ask is 'Is it our first time?' and the answer is 'No.' "

The two attended Bonnaroo's predecessor event Itchycoo and have been to Bonnaroo twice.

"We're looking for Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Buffett," said Graham.

Springsteen will headline tonight and Buffett is expected to appear with ILO and the Coral Reefer All-Stars at noon.

Patrons and promoters say the festival has a "different culture," and the Planet Roo area of the site embodies that. The area is away from most of the music. Yet, when the Bonnaroo-goers need a little shade and a little break, they wander into the areas promoting charitable causes and environmentalism.

Homegrown, which is part of Farm Aid, promotes a return to locally produced food.

"It's basically an online social network for do-it-yourselfers," said Homegrown representative Cornelia Hoskins. "It's for growing your own vegetables, making your own cheese, backyard chicken keeping, urban/suburban homesteaders - people want to know where their food is coming from."

Members of the group create seed and seedling sharing events and potluck dinners. Hoskins said that interest was high.

"We have 24-year-olds who are wanting to learn how to can!" she said.

The Global Water Challenge had more altruistic goals. The organization is part of a collective determined to provide clean drinking water around the world.

Paul Faeth, president of the group, and others in the organization gave Bonnaroo patrons a demonstration of how cheaply clean water could be provided to people in impoverished areas.

Faeth pointed to an ultraviolet water filter that costs $2,500 and sanitizes the water for an orphanage in Rwanda. He had bottles of a chemical product called WaterGuard that could sanitize water for $16 per year for 1,000 children during a school year.

"The solutions are inexpensive," said Faeth.

At least one Bonnaroo business had embraced the idea, donating proceeds from sales to the cause.

Pacific Market International, which manufactures Stanley and Alladin products, partnered with Bonnaroo to drill wells on the site and purify the water from those wells, which normally has a strong taste of sulfur. The water was made available for anyone to refill containers, but the group had sold 2,500 of the special $22 Bonnaroo thermoses through orders before the festival.

Still, causes were secondary to the music.

Amanda Blomquist, 19, said she had not visited Planet Roo yet, but she expected to before the end of the festival. She is involved in organizations at Appalachian State University, including a group that works to stop mountain removal mining.

"We'll make it over there," said Blomquist of the Planet Roo area. "I think it's important."

Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6344.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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