The first annual WonderWorks Music Festival at Hartwood Acres park was a hit.
I mean, it was hot, I had a major allergy attack, and I was so tired that I literally sat down on the ground and fell asleep at one point. But it was a major hit.
As far as logistics go, this was a pretty well thought out festival:
- Parking was arguably the best experience I’ve ever had at a festival. You could pay $$ to park on-site, or $ to park off-site and take a free shuttle. I opted for the shuttle service option, which meant parking at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall and riding a school bus for about 25 minutes, then being dropped off a short distance from the gates. The ride home was even better, with short wait times for the shuttle and no fighting traffic to leave the park.
- They had shade areas, a few cooling fans, and free water refilling stations throughout the grounds. It was a brutally hot weekend, but the festival did a lot to make sure guests were cool and hydrated.
- Wait times for security, food, drinks, restrooms, and merch were all relatively short. The festival was well-staffed and well-stocked when it comes to refreshments. Maybe I just picked the right times to visit these areas, but lines looked pretty short throughout both days! I also felt that the pricing on refreshments was reasonable for what you received.
- The selection of music was a good variety of older and newer artists, and while there was a decent amount of overlap earlier in the day, the stages were close enough together that you could still pretty easily split your time. Additionally, I noticed almost no sound bleed from stage to stage, which was surprising considering how close together they were.
- Instead of VIP taking up the full width of the front of the stage, it was split in half and went deeper into the crowd. This allowed GA guests the same opportunity to make it to the very front row if they wanted to make that effort!
There were a couple items that could be improved on for next year:
- Stage 3, the smallest stage, had some major sound issues that ended up delaying sets and leaving guests (and bands) irritated. The bands handled it gracefully though, and the show went on! I was bummed to miss out on a couple sets after I had already committed to a spot in the pit at this stage, as there was no designated space for media.
- Perhaps more of a personal planning problem, but the medical tent didn’t have any solutions for allergies. With this festival being outdoors in a park in late spring/early summer, I would have expected they carry some type of allergy relief. I caught wind of a surprisingly large number of people who ended up having unexpected allergy issues on day 2 and no way to fix them aside from going home.
- The setup for stage 2 was a bit goofy to me. The stage was at the top of a steep hill, and as you went away from the stage it went downhill. I understand from a sound perspective why this choice was made, but the setup was very unforgiving to just about everyone past the first few rows after the ground started sloping down. This setup did allow more people to sit and hang out in the back though, which I would have certainly enjoyed if I wasn’t working. 🙂
Some bands from the lineup:
- Hozier
- Jason Mraz and His Superband
- The Head and the Heart
- Mt Joy
- The Revivalists
- Coin
- X Ambassadors
- Stephen Sanchez
- The Airborne Toxic Event
- Matt Maeson
- Wilderado
- Andy Frasco & the UN
- The Aces
- The Blue Stones
- Smallpools
- almost monday
- Daisy the Great
- Michigander
- The Heavy Heavy
- Ruby Waters
- Jess Williamson
- Ax and the Hatchetmen
- The Vindys
- Abby Holiday
- Kahone Concept
- The Roof
Overall, WonderWorks had a great first year and I think they have great potential for their festival next year. I am looking forward to seeing what elements stay, what changes, and what new items they add in for next time! Check out my photo gallery below:
Live from the Pitt 