Going to a festival in New Orleans had been on our bucket list for a few years. When a lineup including The Floozies, Rezz, Cashmere Cat, Grizmatik, Tycho and Big Wild dropped, we had to go to Buku.

First off  – the costs: Tickets were a little pricey for a two day festival – we paid $200+ per ticket after fees. Our Airbnb, which was STELLAR was $600 for March 8-13. We spent about $200 on Uber rides while we were in New Orleans. Our flights were super cheap through SouthWest airlines (we did experience the worst turbulence of my life on those flights, but that’s not SouthWest’s fault). We probably spent about $600 on food and so many MANY drinks.

TOTAL COST for TWO:   $2600 for 5 Days (two of which were festival days)

HIGHLIGHTS:

• NEW ORLEANS: HOLY CRAP. Love this city. It’s steamy and mysterious and over the top in all the right ways. The city is another headliner on the lineup. Do not skip exploring.  Do not skip the grilled oysters.
• WHETHAN!! – had only heard one track by him before Buku, and was not prepared for the most awesome set of the festival. It was amazing.
• BUKU MERCH & DESIGN: Whomever is doing the art and overall creative vision for Buku is killing it. The Buku zine, tees, flags, even the wristbands, were part of a cohesive/colorful/quirky and 100% perfectly connected to the spirit of the city artistic vision.
• ROVING MINSTRELS: The roaming DJ’s, and various music and dance acts that popped up around the festival throughout the 2 days were unique and so fun.

ROOM TO IMPROVE:

• seating/shade spaces: Most people ended up sitting around on the cement to eat or chill between sets. More seating options, especially around the food vendors, would be great.
• ID/over 21 bracelets: You have to go verify the authenticity of your ID first, then get your bracelet, then show your ID every time you buy a drink, even though you have the 21+ bracelet on. This was slightly annoying because it meant you’re constantly taking out your ID and the chance of losing it increases as the beverage tally grows. We get that Buku is an 18+ festival, so caution is good, but honestly, in a city where you can take your drink on an adventure from bar to bar the level of scrutiny was unusual.
• Art: It was cool to get to see some of the parade floats, and the graffiti setup was impressive, but for a music & art festival there wasn’t very much art.

Overall, Buku Project had a solid lineup and is in a fantastic city. We had a blast, fell in love with New Orleans all over again and are now obsessed with Whethan. While we probably won’t hit up Buku in 2018, it was an incredible experience in one of the loveliest cities.

Packing List:

• Water Bottle
• Breathable Clothing – it gets really hot in the Float Den.
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Wet wipes (super gross porto-johns)
• Plenty of $$$ for food, drinks, etc. within the venue. There isn’t a lot of options located directly next to the venue.
• Tapestry/picnic blanket to create your own chill spot on the concrete.