I work out at The Spirit of the Suwannee and have all kinds of good answers and rumors, instead of a lot of random post responses. Some of these are the basics of Springfest and Mag survival. Other info just comes from someone who’s flipped every rock and scoured every trail.

~Other than last minute availabilities, POWER AND WATER SIGHT ARE SOLD OUT. Primitive only. First come, First serve means early birds will feed first. I haven’t seen any yet, but I guarantee I’ll see some this weekend. Some go as far as to pseudo-camp by paying for several days of camping before the show and setup a ghost camp of empty tents and marker tape.
~As with any camping issue, RESPECT THY NEIGHBOR. Before, during or after the show, respecting and cooperating goes a long way.
~BE PREPARED like a Boy Scout on street corner. The next couple of subjects (or all of them) fall under this subject. To some people, we’re not too backwoods. To many others, Suwannee County is a third world quagmire. Let’s start with where.
~Low temps down to 70. High temps up to 90. Under the right conditions, you may get too much heat and sun. Or get a good chill under a thunderstorm. THE CONSTANT THUNDERSTORMS. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll be dry for days in a row in north Florida, sometimes. Clothing, food, DRY SHELTER and every little thing you might need. Other-wise it leads to a lot driving and cash. That leads to what.
~We almost have one of everything around here. Stress “almost” and stress “one”. A Wal Mart by the highway will quickly be drained by thousands of needy hippies. Live Oak is a fairly small town (6000+ city, ~40,000 county), so don’t be surprised you can’t find a damn thing (or that one place is closed, or that guy’s on vacation, ororor).
~Another good what is BUGS. Few are fatal (black widows barely count), but the long list of our littlest monsters breaks down to two kinds. Repellable parasites (mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, horseflies) requires Deet except for the smallest of children. And the rest are random assortment of bugs that will light you up. From obvious guys like small scorpions to bright decorative caterpillars with stinging spines. Just keep your eyes open. Same is to be said of many of nature’s things. POISON IVY, OAK AND SUMAC carpet LARGE AREAS of the park. Yeah, I know. “I not allergic” . Tell it to the nurse. PS: scorpion and black widow bites are rarely fatal and brown recluse are rare in Florida (never mind what that guy told you).
~The good and bad of mother nature, all the people in the park will scare away most large snakes or creatures along with any animal may actually want to see. It’s the two-legged critters to look out for. Who.
~For all intents and purposes, the park is metropolitan during big shows. And believe it or not, living with 12 to 15 thousand of a similar demographic, you get the same problems. Treat the whole park like a public place full of law enforcement, law deforcement, good neighbors, bad neighbors and one of every sort of yahoo and freak, to avoid problems.
~Lastly, at 800+ acres, I have little good advice for GETTING LOST. You can spend months there and then get lost in a sea of tents. It’s difficult to wander out of the park, but some back trails just cross to other back trails till you hit the river. Keep your eyes open for ever changing landmarks of any sort. Fence lines, solid objects and distinct lighting might lead you to camp at night. JUST HAVE FUN, BE SAFE AND BE PREPARED. stymie

Admin.???... is that you???

Now....let's hear some good rumors.

Thanks Stymie!

cable,pool,bird,fish guy. the primitive rumor is technically bad rumors. but as tasty rumors goes, a couple of weeks ago, i heard a number of 5000 presold tickets. it was 3 days till i talked to my boss about the number and he scoffed that was the little number from days ago. that's average Mag/Spring numbers. easy 12,000 in the park (approx record?), maybe 15 plus. yummy

Yummy, indeed!

yummy?? 15 plus?? i got lost, people??

After reading this I feel much better now!

I think for the first one or two Wanee's, I remember hearing around 7,000 in attendance.

If there are really gonna be 15,000 there, better run to that Mushroom stage for DTB on Friday night!

I think it means, unless someone cancels their reservation last minute, you are outta luck if you want a site with hookups..