Working on Which – photo by Matt Inman

“At long last we have a beach,” Ashley Capps says with a wink as his production crew finishes transforming what was once winemaker Sam McAlister’s farmland into Bonnaroo’s Great Stage Park for the sixteenth time. Capps, whose company AC Entertainment co-founded Bonnaroo with Superfly in 2002, is referring to The Oasis mixed by Bacardi, a new, sandy enclave located just outside Centeroo on the outer banks of The Farm’s ring of performance spaces.

The Oasis is part of a larger metamorphosis of The Other Tent—a mainstay since 2003—into a haven for electronic and hip-hop music simply known as The Other. “This area is perhaps the single most dramatic change to the Bonnaroo landscape this year, and we’re eager to experience it with everyone,” Capps says of the new festival within a festival, which comes complete with palm trees and a deck. The Other’s first roster will boast performances by costume-clad super-star DJ Marshmello, duo Yellow Claw and festival mainstays Big Gigantic (the true nexus of Bonnaroo’s original jamband spirit and renewed focus on cutting-edge electronic culture), among many others. In order to outfit the open-air venue for a current strain of dance music, Bonnaroo brought in equipment capable of dropping heavy bass as well as club-approved eye-popping visuals. Robyn Reitzes, Superfly’s festival director of client services, promises that The Oasis will serve as the backdrop for “a beach themed dance party with great views of The Other.”

As the festival’s sponsorship team puts the final touches on an amusement park of installations and activations that includes Jeep Compass’ actual Centeroo Waterfall, Capps admits that the Bonnaroo site is always in a “constant state of evolution” and that there are “subtle changes” and improvements. In fact, some of this year’s newest additions are in the campgrounds outside the festival’s main Centeroo hub. Superfly’s Caitlin Maloney is part of a team working on new ways for Bonnaroo patrons—or Bonnaroovians in festival parlance—to show off their creativity onsite. She points to the new B-Hive, located at the Disco Ball Tower near POD 4, as a central focus of this new hub.

“The iconic Tower is a natural gathering place, so we’ve made it a center of activity,” explains Maloney, who was on hand as the first campers rolled in Wednesday afternoon and is at the heart of some of this year’s community-building projects. At the B-Hive, Bonnaroovians can participate in the Bonnaroo Census, have their photo taken for the first-ever Bonnaroo Yearbook and contribute to the Bonnaroo annex of The Sketchbook Library, which will be archived up North in the permanent collection at Brooklyn Art Library. (A few festival artifacts like a super-size cuckoo clock will even be on display at the B-Hive.)

This year, Bonnaroo has also set up several new community-based enclaves like Girls Just Wanna!, a newly designated camping area for woman-identifying campers. That’s So Retrograde’s Stephanie Simbari and Elizabeth Kott will use the site as their home base, hosting workshops and specialized programming.

A number of off-season Bonnaroovian suggestions have also been folded into The For Roo by Yoo activities, including Random Acts of Kindness Scavenger Hunt, a #RadiatePositivity Card Writing, events in Groop Camping and a Tapers Meetup. And, for the first time ever, fans will be able to participate in their own SuperJam at Noon on Sunday. (Rehearsals are slated for Noon on Friday and Saturday at The Grind in POD 7; interested parties should bring their instruments.)

While staff members hung a few final stage signs and tested the Which Stage lights, preparation for Bonnaroo’s signature SuperJam was also well underway. New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who lent their esteemed horn section to Jim James’ funky Bonnaroo jam session in 2013, will serve as the house band for Saturday’s signature SuperJam. Dubbed The Soul Shakedown, the late-night event will function as something of a survey of Bonnaroo’s own family tree, including appearances by Chance the Rapper, Jon Batiste, members of The Head and the Heart, Lecrae, Margo Price, Tank And The Bangas, Rayland Baxter, Cherub’s Jason Huber, Lukas Nelson, Nicole Atkins, Flint Eastwood, Boyfriend and Meters bassist George Porter Jr., who played on the Dr. John album which provided Bonnaroo with its name.

“It’s no secret that the festival has roots in New Orleans music and culture—and having Preservation Hall Jazz Band help curate the SuperJam this year was an easy decision,” says Superfly’s Robin McNicol, who helps oversee the SuperJam. “We wanted to work with as many artists as we could—both artists that were already on the festival and some that just understood what the SuperJam is and were excited to contribute to it.”

The New Orleans-themed SuperJam doubles as a nod to Superfly’s own milestone this year. The company, which was formed by a group of Tulane students, promoted their first show, “Take Funk to Heaven: Mardi Gras ‘97,” just over twenty years ago.

The Debut of The Other – photo by Matt Inman

“Our first shows were in New Orleans and featured a lot of amazing New Orleans artists so we have always tried to represent that spirit at Bonnaroo,” says Superfly co-founder Kerry Black. “From Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club to having bands like Pres Hall Jazz Band or Boyfriend and, of course, the SuperJam, which we first did in those early years in New Orleans.”

The festival’s booking team brought in Texas-bred, Brooklyn-based guitarist and producer Sam Cohen as the SuperJam’s musical director. Cohen—who worked with Preservation Hall on the cross-genre “Jam The Vote” concert at Port Chester, N.Y.’s Capitol Theatre around Election Day this past November—knows a thing or two about all-star collaborations. His recent credits include the Cap’s semi-annual “Last Waltz” tributes, the indie-jam mixer Day of the Dead and, perhaps most notably, the Man in the High Castle audio counterpart he crafted with Danger Mouse. (The latter album featuring a dizzying array of vocalists such as Beck, Norah Jones, James Mercer and Karen O). He’s no stranger to The Farm either—Cohen made his first pilgrimage to Bonnaroo in 2007 with his old psych-rock band Apollo Sunshine—and an artist he recently produced, Kevin Morby, is slated to play on Friday. The SuperJam’s core band will rehearse offsite throughout the coming days, though at least a few surprises are likely to pop up as show time draws nearer.

While this year’s lineup is particularly heavy on emerging acts, current hit makers and first-time performers, those festival roots are represented throughout the lineup as well. Chicago jamband Umphrey’s McGee—veterans of the first Bonnaroo—will offer both a late-night rager from 1:30-3am in That Tent on Saturday and a marquee Which Stage spot from 5:15-6:15pm on Sunday. Alaska indie rockers Portugal. The Man—Roo regulars since 2009 who have participated in some of the festival’s most colorful pop-ups and parades—will arrive with the new studio album Woodstock. Frontman John Gourley describes the album’s feel as “like a festival or flipping through a CD binder” in terms of its mix of rock, funk, hip-hop, psychedelia and soul. Likewise, Capps sees a familiar old-school spirit in Price, who attended Bonnaroo as a fan in 2003 and 2004 and will return this year as both a performer and the weekend’s Bonnaroo Works Fund Ambassador.

“I can’t get enough of Margo Price, so I’ll be seeing her again this weekend,” he gushes, also citing Matador blog-favorites Car Seat Headrest and Swedish singer Léon as acts he’s excited to take in. In terms of classic albums that helped lay the groundwork for the open-earned, panoramic style that Bonnaroo has fostered for years, Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo will reimagine Talking Heads’ expansive 1980 release Remain in Light in its entirety during her set with the help of a choir and members of the Afro-beat collective Antibalas.

Flea at Bonnaroo 2012 – photo by Dean Budnick

This year’s Bonnaroo’s headliners are split between returning favorites and first-time performers. Of note, Roo newbies U2 will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their iconic The Joshua Tree album; if their recent tour dates are any indication, then expect Bono, The Edge and company to open with a mini-set of pre-1987 material before performing the classic LP in its entirety. They’re also likely to touch on the album’s political themes by weaving some pointed imagery into their set design. Then, at the tail end of the festival, Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer The Weeknd will roll into Manchester, Tenn., for the first time on his mammoth tour supporting one of last year’s biggest releases and one of this summer’s enduring anthems, Starboy.

U2 had actually been on Bonnaroo’s bucket list for years. “We’ve looked into it before, but it hasn’t really been realistic until now because of their elaborate stage show,” says Black. “There is a reason they don’t usually play festivals—their shows are not built for it. For this tour they are doing a more stripped-down version so it actually made sense and the timing was right. They are, of course, one of the biggest bands in the world, and it has always been a dream to have them at Bonnaroo. They are one of the most classic rock bands of all time and Joshua Tree is seminal record for so many people including myself. It will be quite a treat.”

Saturday night will boast two return headliners: First, Red Hot Chili Peppers will offer their first show on the main What Stage since their 2012 headlining spot. It is also possible that Porter, who joined the band during their New Orleans-area show earlier this year, will offer a repeat sit-in. (Longtime fans may remember that the Chili Peppers covered The Meters’ “Africa” on their 1985 album Freaky Styley.) Bringing Bonnaroo’s recent history full circle, Chance the Rapper will return for his first What Stage headlining spot. Though on paper “The Mayor of Bonnaroo” hasn’t booked a Bonnaroo set since 2014, he offered surprise appearances in both 2015 and 2016. He’s the latest artist to grow with the festival by applying the festival’s original “summer of love”-approved mix of improvisational sit-ins and stealth super jams to a new generation of festival-goers.

“There’s a lot of serendipity and spontaneity to the Bonnaroo experience that’s very real,” Capps says, encouraging all in attendance to keep their ears to the ground. “It’s integral to the magic that is Bonnaroo.”