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.

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Shopping for a cause

Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms spreads its wings with 2 DFW Airport stores

DFW Airport

Bonton Farms stand at DFW Airport

South Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms is going international without straying too far from home. The organization is debuting two storefronts at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: one that just opened and another coming this fall.

The larger Bonton Farms marketplace, a 2,895-square-foot space in Terminal A, quietly opened in mid-August.

A second, smaller 551-square-foot newsstand near the A-Pier will open in October, when the airport's A-Pier expansion is scheduled to open, a spokesperson says. (Exact date is still TBA.)

The shops are called, simply, "Bonton Farms" and are operated by Marshall Retail Group, a subsidiary of WHSmith North America, which is partnering with Bonton Farms on the airport concept.

According to a release, both stores will sell Bonton Farms products such as locally made honey, handmade jam, and goat-milk soap, along with apparel, merchandise, and products made by "Bontonpreneurs," the local entrepreneurs supported through the nonprofit's business-development programs.

Bonton Farms' goods are now sold at DFW Airport Terminal A. Photo courtesy of Bonton Farms

The stores will also offer fresh grab-and-go food, including sandwiches, wraps, salads and sweet treats, as well as travel essentials and souvenirs and gifts.

The airport project was first announced in 2024 as a partnership between Bonton Farms, WHSmith, and DFW Airport. The plan called for Bonton Farms products to be sold alongside goods from other North Texas businesses, including Fort Worth's Sons Coffee, Lettuce Cook, and Pearl Honey Spreads.

Bonton Farms began in the Bonton neighborhood with a small beekeeping operation and has grown into a nonprofit farm, market and community hub. Its operations now include two farm sites, a coffeehouse, farmers market, preservatory and farm-to-table Market/Café, along with programs focused on workforce development, education, health and wellness, economic opportunity and access to fresh food.

"This opening represents an exciting milestone for Bonton Farms and the community we serve," says Mark Jones, President & CEO of Bonton Farms, in the release. "For the first time, our products and our story will reach travelers from around the world. Through this partnership with WHSmith North America, we're creating new opportunities to share the mission of Bonton Farms while generating additional support for programs that help our neighbors thrive."

The airport shops are designed to introduce Bonton Farms to travelers who may not otherwise encounter the organization or its products.

"This store isn't just retail space, it's a front door to our mission," says Kendra Charisse Smith, Director of Operations at Bonton Farms, who oversaw execution of the partnership. "From sourcing and packaging our products to meet the demands of a whole new scale of distribution, every step was about making sure Bonton Farms shows up authentically in one of the busiest airports in the world. This launch reflects the same care and intentionality we put into everything we do in South Dallas.”

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