FlodyFest made a triumphant and much-anticipated return to the music festival calendar this year with FloydFest 24~Horizon. Last year, due to situations beyond the control of the festival, they had to make the gut-wrenching decision to postpone the festival until this year. While we could spend a lifetime talking about the disappointment, we, like FloydFest and its community, can lean into the joy of its return and how this year was spent with loving and painstaking effort to ensure that this year was as perfect as possible. Reflecting on five glorious days of music magic mountains - FloydFest 24 ~ Horizon filled our souls with overwhelming joy as the hills of Floyd County, Virginia, roared back to life with the sights, sounds, and lights of FloydFest.

We want to take a moment to talk about FloydFest's new "forever home." How sweet it is to know that FloydFest owns the festival grounds and how it will be tended to, cared for, and cherished for many, many years to come. FloydFest has always been a home for music and a bucket list destination for so many. Sometimes, it feels like the list of artists who have NOT performed at FloydFest is easier to list than those who have not.

Although many of us will remember our experiences getting on the shuttles from the parking lots and living experiences in our previous home, we wanted to share with everyone, especially those who did not experience the Check, Virginia, festival grounds, why this festival should most definitely be on your calendar next year and every year!

With a new venue to call home, FloydFest welcomed back over seven thousand ticket holders who chose to roll over their tickets from last year to attend this year. After attending the festival, it is clear why. Floydfest is so much more than a music festival; it is a true community. From different workshops, vendors, and playgrounds, Floyd is a festival-goer's dream. Here are just a few things that make Floyd and its new venue space so spectacular.

FloydFest's new venue is expansive! Boasting not one, not two, but six stages: The Main Stage, White Claw Oasis Stage, Devils Backbone Higher Ground Stage, The Children's Universe Stage, The Floyd Country Store Stage, and The Canopy Grove Stage. With each of these stages comes different advantages. The Devils Back Bone Higher Ground Stage has a viewing deck with a full bar attached to the back of the stage where attendees can beat the heat while getting a bird's eye view of the festival. The Canopy Grove Stage is conveniently located next to The Depot, the hub of the canopy campgrounds. Canopy campers can shower, grab their morning cup of coffee, and catch a quick set before heading into the main festival.

 With the new venue comes more legroom, which includes some walking! FloydFest is in the mountains, so make sure to bring some good shoes! The Main Stage is a bit of a walk from canopy camping, but there are shuttles provided for those who don't want to make the uphill climb on foot. VIP and Glamping packages offer a bit more comfort, less walking, and exclusive concerts at the Bitchin' Sauce VIP Pub Stage. 

For those individuals who are looking to expand their knowledge or quench their thirst for adventure, there is one destination that can't be missed. The Outdoor Adventure Tent offers a variety of workshops run by experts in their field. DC Music Review was lucky enough to attend several of these workshops, including an edible plant walk led by Virginia Master Naturalist and fly casting led by professors from nearby Fareham College, teaching ecology and eco-tourism. These workshops were not only massively informative, but they were also such a pleasure to attend and learn a new skill.  The workshops weren't just for adults either; there was no shortage of family-friendly workshops, which included tie-dye, felted flower creation, and other kid-friendly crafts!

FloydFest is one of the most inclusive and family-friendly festivals around. Upon check-in at the canopy campsite, guests were informed that family-friendly camping, as well as sober camping, was to be located in the outer spaces of the canopy site, allowing families to get much-needed peace and quiet after a long day of activities tailor-made for families. There are many child-friendly spaces to enjoy while also enjoying FloydFest's many different musical acts. The Children's Universe Stage is located right next to a playground built specifically for FloydFest's smallest patrons in mind. This stage had different activities for kids and grown-ups alike, like a Find your Flow workshop where participants could play with different flow toys like hula hoops and silk fans. The Children's Universe Stage also had different activities as well as musical acts to keep the little hippies occupied. There was a parade led by the exhilarating Empire Strikes Brass band. In addition to the Activities at the Children's Universe Stage, there was also a rock climbing wall, face painting stations, and even Zumbini exercise classes for the little ones. 

For the adult exercise junkies, FloydFest also offers a variety of fitness classes. Most veteran festival-goers are used to early morning yoga classes to help keep their legs limber for dancing, but Floyd offers yoga and more! If yoga is not your thing, Floyd offers Zumba classes, breathwork and meditation workshops, guided hikes, disc golf, mountain biking, and, on Sunday, a FloydFest 5k (try saying that five times fast!).

Finally, the music! The hills surrounding FloydFest echoed with music! FloydFest is not only filled with music but a diverse and radiant selection of music. You have your national touring artists, artists on the rise, and local artists. There was music for everyone at FloydFest. We witnessed some artists who performed multiple times brought totally different energy during each performance. Go see all that FloydFest has to offer and aligns with your vibe.  One last mention of the beautiful mountains before we talk about the music.  One particular element of the festival grounds is the undulating and luscious green slopes, which create the perfect viewing experience for fans no matter where they are.  There was not a bad seat to be had as everyone could look down into the valley stages below, which provided everyone with a magnificent view of any of the stages.

Part of the beauty of the new space that Floyd has crafted is how close the majority of the stages are together. The Main Stage, White Claw Oasis Stage, and Devils Backbone Higher Ground Stage are close enough together that it is easy to catch as much music as possible. Some of the highlights on the main stage included Female Friday, and all acts that were performed on Friday's mainstage were performed by female lead artists. This girl power-packed day included powerhouse sets by Cat Clyde, Catlin Krisko, The Broadcast, Jamie Wyatt, and Sierra Hull, finished by a commanding headlining set by Sierra Ferrell. The Main Stage was just one of many venues where a wide variety of musical acts were performed; some other highlights seen throughout the weekend were hometown hero Isaac Hadden, who may have been the hardest-working man at Floyd that weekend. It seems like there wasn't a band that Isaac wasn't sitting in with, and Floyd was all the better for it!  One of the most poignant moments of the entire weekend was when Issac Hadden led a celebration of life to the dearest friend of FloydFest and Roanoke legend - Paul Tressel in the Canopy Grove Stage. Tressel was a profound member of the FloydFest and local music community and there was not a dry eye as we all remembered him under the canopy.

 The White Claw Oasis stage featured performances by Swim In The Wild, mandolin maven Wyatt Ellis, Eggy, and Leftover Salmon. Leftover Salmon is a FloydFest staple, boasting a whopping twelve times playing the festival! Leftover blessed fans with a bright and breezy set Saturday evening, followed by a dynamic late-night set with Keller Williams after the exhilarating set by psychedelic soul group the Black Pumas.

With music pouring out of every corner of the festival grounds, we can only tell you of our biggest lament - there is just too much good music and whimsical activities going on simultaneously. If these are the "worst problems" to have at a festival - we'll take it! Despite these "problems" of choosing from multiple amazing artists, there was pure joy radiating from all corners of the new festival grounds. We were lucky enough to see Happy Landing's performance at FloydFest while then rushing off to see Wyatt Ellis. (Editor Note: Please keep your eyes peeled for an exclusive interview with Happy Landing at FloydFest).  One of the more magical aspects of the music at FloydFest was that every band on stage performed like they were a headling act and were celebrated by the audience as if they were a headlining act. You did not have to be Charley Crockett or Maggie Rose to get on stage and put out some ferocious energy, and be received like world-class rock stars. The palpable energy, excitement, and love at FloydFest is both magical and infectious! Don't get us wrong, some of those late-night performances by Maggie Rose and The Black Pumas will be ringing in our heads like sugar plum fairies for the rest of our lives.

Fans continued to share stories and compare notes about performances that they missed.  We heard about some magical performances by Neighbor, Circles Around The Sun,  and other acts. Each morning, fans awoke from their tents and spent the mornings exchanging events and experiences from the day before.  

So many bands, so many stages - how can we see it all?  The magic of FloydFest - The struggle is real!

This brings up another one of Floyd's many benefits: a wide-ranging list of late-night options. If you're like us at DC Music Review, you want to soak up as much music as possible. There are three stages with late-night options: The Canopy Grove Stage, The White ClawOasis, and Devils Back Bone Higher Ground. Late-night performances went on till two am and left crowds begging for more, which, lucky for all of us music junkies, Floyd was happy to provide.  

FloydFest is back in a big way, and with its new home, it's here to stay! Floyd is an otherworldly experience with a little bit of something for everyone. It's truly hard to put into words the energy that the Floyd community brings. The music is the great equalizer, but people are there for so much more. Most of the crowd at Floyd are people who have been going for twenty-plus years; many started going as kids and have continued into young adulthood. Floyd is home away from home for one mystical weekend of the year. There is a rare sense of community that is hard to find at festivals its size. Many attendees expressed a similar feeling. At Floyd, you see the same faces every year, and they become your Floyd family. FloydFest is that friend that you see once a year, but every time you see them, you pick back up right where you left off like nothing has changed. 

For those of you in the DC and Baltimore area - this festival is much easier to get to than you would think. Just a few turns on highways, and you are almost there! It is truly within your reach, and we cannot recommend enough that you get yourself to FloydFest next year! We, like everyone else, are looking forward to next year's lineup and ticket drop. We don't know what awaits us beyond the Horizon of FloydFest ~ Horizon. Still, we know there are going to be five days of unforgettable music magic mountains in our future.

As two signs told us on our way to the Main Stage at FloydFest, "Welcome Home. Let The Wild Rumpus Start," we can only add that we look forward to being back home once again at FloydFest, and may the wild rumpus never end!

A quick note by our onsite photographer, Liz Pappas:  If you see yourself in one of the photos in our gallery, please be sure to DM her on her Instagram account, BarleyMoon_Photog, and she will be able so send you a digital souvenir of your adventures at FloydFest.