CHILLICOTHE, Ill. (WMBD) — Summer Camp Music Festival has returned to Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe for its 21st year.
More than 10,000 music lovers flocked to Chillicothe from all around the country, including Florida, Michigan, Kentucky and Colorado. They said they are here for good music and good vibes.
“The love and the people, and everybody is so kind, energetic. The energy is fabulous,” said Stephanie Zielinski.
“It’s the people, we had the best time last year. You meet incredible people, the music is obviously fantastic,” said Kat Miller.
Bilau Davis, a festival volunteer, said Summer Camp is all about “peace, love and unity.”
“It’s a welcoming environment,” he said.
The music festival boasts seven stages and dozens of performers playing as late as 4 a.m. It is Neal Evans’ ninth year playing at Summer Camp.
“So many stages, always having music at all times. There’s so many bands to see at all times for many, many hours through the day,” said Evans, drummer for Dopapod, a rock band from Boston.
Brad Pierson, emergency management director for Summer Camp, said the biggest obstacle so far has been the rainy weather.
“The other night, we did stop the stage for about 15 to 25 minutes because we had a lightning strike within the perimeter of our park,” he said.
Heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday resulted in muddy conditions on festival grounds.
“A lot of the parking, a lot of the activities are on grass that is now kind of muddy, and trying to get large amount of RVs and cars in the park on the grass has caused a little bit of problems. We’re hoping for it to dry out a little bit more,” said Pierson.
Pierson said their number one priority is to make sure everyone goes home safe.
“We always plan for the worst, but hope for the best,” he said.
Summer Camp Music Festival goes from May 26-30.