On the second weekend of October, Dirtybird Campout, a festival created by Claude VonStroke (a well known EDM artist), was held at Silverado Canyon in Orange County.  This camping festival was far from your usual music fest.  Upon arrival, attendees were assigned one of 4 colors, representing the team they’d be on during the duration of the event.  Jesse and Max sought out this festival as a unique opportunity to shoot some footage for Culture Shock TV, so we brought a small crew with us to get some footage.

Each day was filled with a schedule of activities ranging from sack races to cheer-leading practice.  Reliving childhood camping experiences, adults ranging from 21 up could run around the beautiful canyon and participate in a variety of things.  All but 1 of the 6 of us ended up on the Red Team, and we sure killed it!  The boys won the couples boat race, dawning their banana costumes and jumped in on the frisbee game as well!

I spent some time doing acroyoga and sitting in the craft teepee making bracelets.  Back at camp, the set ups ranged from a simple tent to people with elaborate displays.  Many took this as an opportunity to showcase their art and encourage bystanders to come spend time them.  It felt like a mix of burners and ravers attending the fest.

At night, there was a pretty solid music line up, ranging from Green Velvet to Claude himself.  The stages were small and intimate, and while there weren’t as many big names, the music was well received by the crowds.  If you wanted to stay out at night, but didn’t feel like dancing, there were other performances to sit and watch.  One that caught my attention was a puppet comedy show that was hilarious and disturbingly creepy all in one.

On the final day, the teams duked it out for the title of winner.  Jesse and Max were elected to compete in the final boat race, where they ended up hanging out with Claude VonStroke.  The final competition included a rally-style competition where each team competed in one type of activity and had to run to the next group before they could start their competition.  At the end of it all, RED TOOK HOME THE WIN!  We all grouped together screaming and took a team photo.

This was such a unique festival in that it was less centered around the music and more of an all around weekend camping trip.  There was a great balance between the high energy activities and the laid back environment that made it a really approachable festival.  The price and distance make it favorable, and I could easily see this festival getting larger in the future.

For information on Dirtybird Campout visit: http://dirtybirdcampout.com/

Order the same banana costume that Jesse and Max have for future camping/traveling/festivaling situations from Amazon here: Rasta Imposta Lightweight Banana Costume, Yellow, One Size

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