There are music festivals, there are arts festivals, there are even Halloween festivals, but there is nothing like the one and only Suwannee Hulaween. This beloved North Florida festival was born in 2013 and has grown exponentially as one of the last independent, large-scale music festivals in the country. Known for its eclectic mix of jam bands and electronic DJs, the musical acts absolutely lived up to the hype featuring incredible performances from the likes of Pretty Lights, The String Cheese Incident, John Summit, Trey Anastasio Band, ISOxo, and many more. Recounting the filthy basslines rumbling from the magnificent tree-covered Amphitheater stage and the guitar riffs reverberating from the immense Meadow stage would give you a glimpse into the Hulaween experience, but to adequately portray the event’s transformative nature we must dive into the heart of the event, Spirit Lake.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Hulaween went all-in on its Spirit Lake art experience, recruiting new Creative Director Justin Bolognino to take it to the next level. Justin “JB” Bolognino is the founder and CEO of live experiential design company META, which has created groundbreaking multi-sensory experiences with world-renowned musicians including Skrillex, Phish, Questlove, Porter Robinson, and Tiësto as well as global brands like Spotify, Twitter, HP, and Google. The “Synchronicity Architect” was gracious enough to take us on a stroll through Spirit Lake, giving us the inside scoop on the project and “The Art of Being There.”
An altruistic champion of creators, JB has always placed artists at the head of his projects. His strategy is driven not by economics, but rather by cultural impact, a principle that is deeply intertwined with his company. “Originally META was a talent rep for specifically immersive experiential artists because they are so under-credited, under-paid, and under-protected… Imagine if a production owned the music that was being made. The standard work-for-hire agreement for most productions takes artists’ IP (Intellectual Property).” Still today, he strives to create a platform for artists to flourish, “That’s my art. That’s what I’ve been doing for almost 20 years now. With Spirit Lake too, it was a huge opportunity to do that in literally just naming the artists that are here, crediting them, celebrating them, and making sure that they have the resources to do what they do, to the best of our ability.” While Spirit Lake historically kept its art programming a secret, this year it held its first open RFP (Request For Proposal) and credited artists across the festival app, website, onsite signage, and more. Justin also emphasized that a huge success at Hulaween this year was mandated wellness to avoid contributors getting burnt out by opening day.
Bolognino was recruited to the team by Hulaween co-founder Michael Harrison Berg, who saw this as a great opportunity to work together after wanting to for many years. “This is a family if I’ve learned anything and it’s very difficult to come into a family nine years on, especially in a leadership position, and I’ve been hired to evolve it, so there’s a very delicate dance,” Justin said when describing his approach to incorporating new works with the classics. Some of the returning hits were unchanged, while others were creatively modified. You could hear the excitement in his voice as JB showed us a top-secret example of this method. Alien Autopsy, which was neither announced nor placed on the map, took last year’s Alien Crash Landing and expanded on the story with a lifesize extraterrestrial Operation-style game, complete with wishbone, lights, and buzzing. “My ROI (Return On Investment) is the look on people’s faces and that thing is a joy machine!” he laughed.
Justin’s quest to evolve Spirit Lake began in March, with the goal of injecting more thematics and intentionality while still allowing for individual interpretation. “You can’t tell a story that’s just a straight line, hero’s journey. You have to create a story that dances, that is asynchronous and that also allows for the audience to project their own story onto it… So much of the beauty of this is finding your own meaning amongst the skeleton of a story that we’ve created,” he points out. It all boils down to the Swamp Spirits logo, which is based on the duality of life and death, and acts as a visual reference representing the lake itself. The map is conveniently set up in a clock system, an allusion that also makes it easy to communicate your location. The journey through Spirit Lake is a circular narrative that begins with a walk through the shadows of Death and moves you through multiple story cycles before you come around to the giving of Life on the other side.
Your odyssey begins in the Valley of Death, where the Witch, Ogres, Gnome Village, Alien Autopsy, and sixteen headstones all hide secrets for you to unravel. Following the instructions of a headstone, you realize that the Ferryman points the way through the Light House and straight at the House of Lost, indicating that the only way to become found is to get Lost. In your mission to get Lost you must take a gamble at Frick Frack Blackjack, just don’t bet your Soul with Fleeble Flobble attempts at the so-called American Dream. Instead, take a detour through Irregularly Scheduled Programming of the Soul and have a nice rest at the Birdhouse village to let your Soul take flight! You are now a Lost Cause, ever finding within the House of Lost. Catch a sermon while worshiping the altar of roots and get your vibratory state in order in the Sound Cave. At this point, you glow through the Prism Portal to go beyond what the eye can see, Beyond Light, in the UV-based zone. Hitch a ride on an Alebrijes spirit animal to take you through the fires of Incendia in order to be fully cleansed.
On the other side, you are transmutated through the Cosmic Portal and reborn in the light of the Oasis where you may find your breath, your body, and maybe even Self. Here you enter the Giving of Life and proceed on your journey of growth at the Deliberate Creation Station. The opposite of Death, Life is manifest through Deliberate Creation in its pure form, Art. This effortlessly guides you through the Mural Maze that is life. Finally, you return to the Ground of Being, under the protection of the Spider. The Shadow Work process of gaining self-awareness is found here and never really ends. It is all connected through networks of the Bioshrooms within the Elementary Sanctuary of Duality, where all begins and ends.
Set out to create a container for artists to thrive, Bolognino also harnessed his own creative passions in his contributions to the Lake Screen Lightshow that set the tone for the entire space. He crafted a mesmerizing 2-hour audio-visual mix that includes 18 minutes of his own custom music, tailor-made for the environment. The entire production was an ethereal masterpiece.
In speaking about the future of festivals and society in general, JB shared his views, “We expect things to be easy and fast, and the more that happens the more we need to slow down and zoom out.” With the growth and accessibility of technology, the rate of consumption keeps climbing, but he believes there is an end to the cycle where it becomes exhausted. He expressed, “My purpose in doing this is to provide a container where people can evolve, where you can have really deep experiences with nature, art, science, and most importantly other people.” He attests that festivals are seeing immense success right now because people need these experiences in this era. Beyond Hulaween, Justin has two top-secret projects in the works. One he could not disclose at all, however, he shared that the other is taking place in New York this December and uses science to support these theories about the transformative power of immersive experiences to reset the mind and body.
As we closed the interview, JB suggested we try the Chatterpillars, “What is the meaning of life?” I asked through the beautifully vibrant sculpture. His voice echoed from the other side, “To create more meaning.”
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