Tennessee's 'Mayberry' 361 days a year
by D. Patrick Rodgers
Just off the first exit from I-24 into Manchester, a main drag runs through the dustier, less developed part of town. The streets are lined with gas stations and a handful of antique shops. A church marquee reads, "Striving to be New Testament Christians and nothing more." Bulldozers and heavy-duty pickup trucks languish in parking lots while orange-and-white construction barrels bake in the sun. Nothing moves, save the grazing cattle in roadside pastures.
At Green's Bestway, a young cashier informs me that anyone who might be interested in talking about Bonnaroo would likely be in the busier part of town. "You might try Wal-Mart," she says. "That or Sonic. That's where some of those folks hang out." Neither she nor her co-worker seems particularly inclined to share anything further, so I move along.
Just a few miles further down I-24, where an exit dumps you out just by the KOA Kampgrounds, the scenery is significantly different. Fast food restaurants and strip malls line either side of Hillsboro Boulevard as far as the eye can see. I spot a sign reading "Official Bonnaroo Tickets" just outside the local pop radio station, 101.5 Fantasy FM. The door is locked, and the speakers mounted beneath the building's awning are blasting what certainly sounds like Nickelback.
Pat Taylor, the woman answering phones at the Coffee County Sheriff's Department, informs me that this is Manchester about 51 weeks a year. "We're just Mayberry," she says. "[Bonnaroo] was a nightmare the first couple of years. But it isn't really a disruption since they've bought the land and are more prepared to keep people on the compound."
"They" in this case are AC Entertainment, and in 2007 they purchased the bulk of a 650-acre event space now known as Great Stage Park—which is technically just outside of Manchester proper. The town's population currently hovers somewhere around 10,000, but for several days every June, it's roughly 10 times that.
"We've definitely had to run a whole bunch of hippies out," says Ashley, a young woman working in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express at the Manchester Convention Center. She and her co-worker Mary explain that last year their hotel was the primary place of lodging for the Tennessee State Troopers working Bonnaroo, but they'll now be staying in Monteagle. This year, they say, mostly artists and Sony reps will be staying with them. And perhaps that's for the best. "We're always finding drugs left behind in rooms when everybody leaves," Ashley explains. "And the bands come in stoned and hitting on people."
Hosting one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the world certainly has its downsides. Mary at the Holiday Inn cites infuriating traffic. Ashley recalls a shoeless, weeping man she encountered in a median last year. Pat at the sheriff's department laments never seeing the fans she refers to as "the good ones." But the folks at AC Entertainment have been good to Manchester. They've donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Manchester organizations and charities, and they always give townsfolk opportunities to work the festival and attend for free.
Not bad for four days' work.
Email prodgers@nashvillescene.com, or call 615-744-2989 ext. 366.
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