Bonnaroo Attendee 'Hopes to Be Clean Soon'

Horton Houston of Murfreesboro, who attended the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival almost two months ago, says that he may feel clean again with perhaps only another dozen daily showers.

"I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, hygiene-wise," the soft-spoken insurance clerk says. "I mean, I'm not some sort of neat freak, but three days of living in a dusty field with no way to get clean, combined with another eight hours or so stuck in traffic to and from the place—I was pretty caked over."

Houston says the first month after returning from Bonnaroo, every shower would result in muddy water flowing down the drain.

"I'm kind of not sure where all that dirt was, but I've talked to people who have attended Bonnaroo in the past, and they tell me it's completely normal to have it coming off for a couple of months. Some years when a hard rain comes, the mud factor makes things even worse."

Self-described "hippie chick" Zinia Jones-Turley says that she sometimes speeds up the post-Bonnaroo cleanup by bathing up to 20 times a day in the first week after the festival's end.

"I use Clairol Herbal Essences shampoo and basically use it not only for my hair, but all over," she says. "Sometimes I feel sort-of clean in only a week, but I have to take time off from my job to commit to constant bathing. It's just part of the Bonnaroo experience for me."

Experiencing all that dirt may have a positive side effect for soil-encrusted music fans.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the dust and dirt act as a natural sunscreen and that exposure to the filth actually stimulates the immune systems of attendees.

"I have felt pretty good in the weeks since the festival," Houston says. "Now if I could just get this dirt from between my toes, I'd be set."