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September 25, 2011 8:22 PM

Exclusive music festivals with big name acts for only 500 people or less. Do they exist?

I love weekend music festivals and camping out in the country side. But I don't like the huge crowds of all the festivals around. And being closer in age to a hip replacement than to a hipster, I don't want to have to cope with hauling stuff, camping in mud and eating crappy goop cooked for thousands only to realise I can't get anywhere near the stage to see the music live.

But I still have a music festival budget and I'm not spending it. I'd like to save up to attend a really exclusive small-crowd fully catered (food, luxury camping etc) weekend music festival with a hot act or three. USA, UK, NZ or Australia. Anyone know of such festivals or keywords to google?

posted by the fish to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

Best answer: Golden Plains Festival in Australia. A bit bigger than 500 people, but still a decent size. Boutique camping festivals do exist, like the Boogie Festival
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 8:50 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

A lot of big music festivals will sell limited numbers of some sort of "VIP" pass, which should get you some of what you want (guaranteed close seating is a biggie, right?)
posted by desuetude at 9:24 PM on September 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Bumbershoot, a music festival in Seattle that happens every Labor Day weekend, has something like this with their Gold and Platinum Pass.

Platinum especially features a "Bumbershoot Music Lounge in a secret location. Bumbershoot Music Lounge is a tiny “not on the map” venue, co-hosted by KEXP, and featuring intimate performances from many of your favorite Festival artists." This might be exactly what you're looking for.
posted by spinifex23 at 9:34 PM on September 25, 2011

Also - Bumbershoot, isn't in the country, it's in the middle of Seattle. So no camping in mud required!
posted by spinifex23 at 9:36 PM on September 25, 2011

Best answer: Doe Bay Festival has 750 tickets available, and is in one of the most beautiful places possible (the San Juan islands). It features mostly more low-key northwest acts, but it did have Head and the Heart this year. AFAIK, you can stay at any of the options of the Doe Bay Resort which gets relatively luxurious.

Shockingly, however, this year it sold out in ~3 minutes.
posted by jacalata at 9:45 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Closest (numbers wise) to what you are looking for that I can think of is Camp A Low Hum in New Zealand. You don't know who you are going to see until you get there, and it doesn't really promise 'big names'. But I did see Neil Finn there is 2009.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 9:50 PM on September 25, 2011

(Having said that, it wasn't a line up of complete unknowns.... Highly recommended.)
posted by Trivia Newton John at 9:51 PM on September 25, 2011

Best answer: Not necessarily huge names per se, but Pickathon goes out of its way to showcase artists in small, intimate settings that are more like outdoor jam sessions than big huge shows.

I haven't been yet but it's supposed to be great.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:29 PM on September 25, 2011

Not a camping festival, but by far the most comfortable festival I've been to is Mona Foma in Hobart. After grabbing a giant complimentary beanbag and dragging it across the astroturf in under a shade sail, park your arse with your bottle of wine (yes, trusted with glass) and watch the bands in the company of about 100 people. (Nights and weekends get bigger crowds, but it isn't hectic) Very few of the shows have tickets, most things are free. You can wander out of the gates (and back in) at any time and go and get some non-festival food across the road.

Spend the money you would spend on entrance prices on nice accommodation and the tasty Tasmanian food and booze (distillery in town opens at 11am)
posted by Trivia Newton John at 11:00 PM on September 25, 2011

Best answer: One of my friends loved Cayamo. It's a cruise. You'd have to be into folky singer/songwriters to enjoy it. There are also train trips like Roots on the Rails.
posted by rdr at 11:05 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Almost all of the smaller UK festivals (secret garden party,latitude, big chill, etc.) now offer luxury camping areas - these generally don't guarantee seating for anything, but do give you entrance into a special area of the festival grounds, a 'tent' that is really a hotel room, special eating areas (often with chefs), and lounges just for the VIP guests.

There's also ATP, which occasionally does weekend festivals, booked by the headlining artists, at Butlins resorts.
posted by Wylla at 11:49 PM on September 25, 2011

Best answer: Not quite festivals, but the Day on the Green series has acts like Meat Loaf and Rod Stewart in boutique winery settings. There's also the yearly Hanging Rock Festival, where acts like Leonard Cohen play in an intimate setting.

Let me know when you're heading to Australia and I'll find more info for you.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:14 AM on September 26, 2011

Even big acts play smaller shows every so often. As a New Yorker, I think of all the huge names that play the Beacon Theater, or that Jane's Addiction is about to play two shows at Irving Plaza. It's not 500 people, but more like 1000. Still... You just have to keep an eye out for when these things happen. Not every show is at a big festival or at an arena. And if you're willing to pay, lots of these places offer exclusive seating. The Best Buy Theater in Times Square offers VIP sections.
posted by soy_renfield at 8:24 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Excellent, thanks. How do you folk know about all these gigs? Is there a wiki with all the world's festivals on it or something?
posted by the fish at 4:12 PM on September 26, 2011

Best answer: Excellent, thanks. How do you folk know about all these gigs? Is there a wiki with all the world's festivals on it or something?

I work for an Australian music website. Don't know how kosher this is, but here's the link to our Festivals page. I update it constantly
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:57 PM on September 26, 2011

Best answer: It's not quite 500-small, but I've heard really good things about Jam Cruise. No hauling crap or camping out since you're on a cruise ship, good food, and you even have maid service. Even more awesome if you spring for one of the rooms with a deck.
posted by polymath at 10:13 PM on September 26, 2011