Heaven on Earth

5 reasons the Hill Country's homegrown camping fest is a musical utopia

UtopiaFest returns November 2-4.

When the sun shines down without scorching everything in its path, you know festival season has arrived in Texas. And more specifically, camping festival season.

For the uninitiated, the very phrase bubbles up visions of Woodstock-esque mud pits, 4 am impromptu jam bands, and people stumbling into your tent all night long. In fact, camping festivals are the strangely perfect blend of time in nature plus musical adventure, solving for both camping woes and big festival frustrations.

Several camping festivals take place near San Antonio, but one in particular that seems to deliver year after year — Utopiafest. Originally located in Utopia, Texas, they’ve moved the event to Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, only two hours away in the Texas Hill Country. Before this homegrown fest returns for another year November 2-4, here are the five reasons why camping festivals are the best festivals.

1. The bands.
From humble beginnings, this fest has grown into its own, bringing back performers like Wild Child each year while adding Patty Griffin, STS9, and Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real to the lineup. The daily activities, too, have expanded to include yoga, MelodyDanceFit, a wine “sensory” lab, a crystal grid workshop, and more. If you’ve never been to a camping festival, this is a great one to start.

2. The community.
There’s a sense of community that naturally bubbles up along with the lower stress atmosphere. Being surrounded by big sky and the beautiful Texas Hill Country inspires a kind of folksy friendliness, and it’s surprising how much pressure is relieved from being mere steps away from your campsite. Take a nap during the day, enjoy campground activities, or hang out at the tent between bands. You can even put up a hammock and listen to the tunes from the trees, if you so desire.

3. BYO ... Everything.
Often, as is the case with Utopiafest, you can bring your own food and drink so you’re not locked into a certain kind of beverage — and the cost that comes along with it. Food is available at a little commissary or on-site food trucks.

4. The bathrooms aren't that bad.
Maybe the thing that looms largest is the bathroom issue. Of course, they’ll have portable toilets (saving you from going in the woods) and there’s usually a shower offering for a small fee. If you’re super serious about a private bathroom, spring for the RV ticket.

5. It brings out the best in everyone.
Perhaps the most fun part of a camping festival is the people watching. Attendees come from all walks of life, ranging from the REI adventurer, the face-painted ingenue, and that one guy who is always up front dancing. Because you're all headed the same direction, people often join camps, playing cards, sharing food, and forming long-term friendships.

In a time when there is a lot of division in the world, this kind of togetherness feels a little like magic.

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Tickets for UtopiaFest are on sale now, and priced at $109 for daily passes, $215 for weekend passes, and $499 for VIP weekend passes.

festivals

Holiday News

American Airlines expects record-setting travel on Thanksgiving 2024

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

American Airlines ready for takeoff.

The holidays are looming and American Airlines is ramping up. Over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, the Fort Worth-based airline expects to process nearly 8.3 million customers across more than 77,000 flights.

According to a statement from American's COO David Seymour, the airline is having a good fall season and canceled fewer flights than its peers during October.

“Thanks to the hard work of our 130,000 team members, we canceled fewer flights than any of our major competitors this October and beat our own records for on-time departures and arrivals,” Seymour says.

That's surely good news. One hates to rain on their parade, but in June 2024, the only flight I booked this year, my flight was canceled less than 24 hours before take-off. I had made hotel reservations, scheduled a pet sitter, planned events, and arranged for a friend to pick me up at the destination airport. One employee speculated that it may have been "insufficient crew." Their only solution offered was: Feel free to reschedule your flight.

Thanksgiving facts and figures
The travel window runs from November 21 to December 3, and the airline expects to carry more than 500,000 more customers than it did last year.

The most-traveled day will be Sunday, December 1. The second most-traveled day will be Monday, December 2.

The peak of peak: 1,035 mainline and regional aircraft will be enroute at 10:45 am on Sunday, December 1 — the highest number of flights handled at any given time during American’s travel period.

The airline expects to serve more than 6.8 million Biscoff cookies on board from November 21 to December 3.

Travel tips
Download the American Airlines app and check in for your flight, noting added any bags to your trip. This will save you time at the airport.

If traveling internationally, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which can speed up your entry into the U.S. Global Entry members can download the Global Entry app, which allows you to submit your entry and go straight to the officer.

Upon arrival at the airport lobby, scan your mobile boarding pass to print bag tags quickly at a kiosk. If you’re not checking bags, go straight to TSA security with your mobile boarding pass.

holidays