Where in the Woods

Print Shop || Location: Puzzle || MANCHESTER, TN
Tools and Supplies: Briteline Duration X IM3201X vinyl film, Briteline Shield UV Overlaminate, UltraFlex Vulite Pro BL PVC backlit media, Briteline 13-oz Frontlit PVC Banner, Vivak PETG polyester sheet, Coroplast 4-mm and 10-mm Corrugated Plastic Sheet OL, Baltic Birch sheets, Pre-Primed MDO Sign/Industrial Exterior sheets, Palight-Matte 3-mm and 6-mm PVC foam sheet, CET Color X-Press 500 flatbed UV printer, CET Color X-Press 1000HK hybrid printer, HP Latex 560 press, HP Latex 360 press, GBC HeatSeal H600 Pro laminator, AXYZ 5010 CNC router, AXYZ AVS Vision registration system, Mimaki CG-160FX vinyl plotter

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four-day event that draws headliners ranging from Phish and Childish Gambino to Kacey Musgraves, Hozier, Tame Impala, and Lizzo to a 700-acre farm and campground in southern Tennessee. The festival entices campers with much more than great music, however. Bonnaroo offers yoga, art classes, a 5K run, interactive art installations, parades, and an assortment of plazas. There are campground hubs with WiFi and activities, including a Sanctuary of Self Love curated by Hayley Williams, and Where in the Woods, a stage, dancefloor, and creative oasis hidden in the forest.

For Bonnaroo 2019, Akron, Ohio-based PSP Puzzle was challenged to “create an area that would fill the woods with visual aesthetics [to] freshen up the wilderness … [creating] a place to relax and enjoy entertainment outside of the main stage,” says Mike Belofi, managing partner, Puzzle. The shop worked to bring the city to the woods in a six-week turnaround, designing and manufacturing a custom DJ booth with boombox backdrop, large-scale games to capture the audience’s attention, a graffiti wall, 10-foot spray cans, and wayfinding and front entrance signage. Festivalgoers were able to explore their creative sides in the graffiti area, which was cleared each evening to create a blank canvas for the next day. Puzzle navigated a number of challenges to bring the plaza to life, including all items larger than five feet in dimension requiring approval from the Bonnaroo engineering department. The end result? A unique and immersive experience for campers that is slated to be revamped for the 2020 festival.