Having first heard about The Echo Project late this summer, I was excited by the formation of a new music festival and that furthermore, I would be able to attend. Connections fell into place, stars were aligned, and I found out I was going to be able to cover TheMilkCarton’s second music festival. I could not have been more ecstatic. And as typical for me, I knew we had to hit a grand-slam. Calling upon the help of a good friend and great photographer Corey Jenkins, I planned for our weekend to be a major success.

Fortunately, The Echo Project was a tremendous success – but not due to any of my efforts. The security, staff, PR, musicians, and everyone working for the festival truly came together and put on one of the best festivals I have ever been to. While I had faith it was going to be, the first year of The Echo Project was a resounding success that we can only hope will return every October. Attendance at this first year was smaller than I was anticipating (probably due to the most recent festival I’d been to previously was Bonnaroo), but it is a sure bet that this year’s attendees will spread the good word.

Arriving to the festival Friday morning, a good few hours before the first artists hit the stage, Corey and I bounced back and forth from different entrances trying to find where we were supposed to check in. In reality, it was our own fault for not knowing exactly where to go at first. The farm where The Echo Project is located on sits on the banks (literally) of the Chattahoochee River, nestled in the foothills of Georgia. I could not believe how beautiful of a site the festival was set into.

Enjoying the surrounding greenery of the trees, I wished that the festival was postponed for a few weeks simply for the fact of enjoying the colors of fall. However, that would cause an issue with incredibly cold nights, which were already cold enough for all campers. Weather could not have been more accommodating and near perfect. Through the three days of the festival, a cloud was not seen in the sky.

Searching for the media tent we bumped into Caren West, who we came to discover was in charge of media for the festival. Throughout the rest of the weekend, Caren and her staff took excellent care of me, TMC, and all other news sources. A special thanks goes out to everyone who made us feel at home – it was appreciated more than I can express.

Glancing around the concert areas I noticed that the main stages were the size of the medium stages at Bonnaroo, which was slightly disappointing, but after evaluating the size of the crowd for the weekend they seemed to be perfect. As at all music festivals, food, drink, and craft vendors were found in plenty throughout the concert areas. The Bohemian-style shopping was as sweet as candy, satisfying for the collector, and an excellent way to put your wallet on a diet if you felt it was getting too fat. Unfortunately, mine is currently anorexic and to avoid temptation was just left at home.

Activity stations outside of concert stages were limited during Echo’s first year. One centralized tent within the concert area called the Echo System Experience Tent held a vast majority of the activities. There attendants could enjoy Yoga, meditation, art projects, ecologically-aware videos and speeches. Unfortunately, due to the business of the remainder of the weekend, my time here was limited to a few minutes on the first day. All reports and discussions I had heard about the area were only uplifting and positive.

My only complaint about the concert area was the lack of shade. Only two of the stages were underneath tents, and there were no large trees to be found. Although still hot, the days in October were fortunately considerably cooler than the temperatures of mid-summer. Still, this is a problem for future festivals that will need to be addressed. Making sure I consumed plenty of water, I saw at least one person that had not and passed out due to the mid-70s heat.

Consistent with all farm-based festivals, the dust at the Echo Project was often unbearable. Some water was put down to keep the dust settled, but this was minimal and created a muddy terrain. Pick your poison, I suppose. Having never had an issue with dust at previous festivals, I am just currently getting over a sore throat and congested which arrived a few days after the festival – which really could have been due to an ironic start of my fall allergies.

But, alas…. Onto the musicians!

Reporting by Charlie
Photography by Corey Jenkins

go to: Intro / Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Gallery