Where we live, the annual music festival, Hinterland, is basically in our back yard. Or, maybe we’re in its backyard? Regardless, there are about three miles between us and the festival grounds. This is its fifth year running, but only its third year down at the Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater in our little Saint Charles, Iowa!
It is pretty cool to watch the evolution of the whole set-up in the weeks and days leading up to the first day of the festival. First, we see a lot of mowing and grooming in and around the grounds – they use a lot of the land on either side of the grounds for parking and camping.
Then, equipment starts moving in – commercial lights, side-by-sides, parking and camping flags are placed in the ground, and porta-potties (or is it kybo? or port-a-john?) are situated in their strategic places. And fencing starts to appear all over to contain the impending madness of 20,000+ people in our small (population of 600!) town.
This year, the headliners for Friday night were Kasey Musgraves and Hosier. I’m a big fan of Kasey and am somewhat familiar with Hosier, so we thought we better go experience it first-hand instead of waiting to see if the wind is just right to hear the show vaguely from our back deck. Ha!
Eric & I 
Hinter-Tree 
Kristin & I
our Top 3 List
Here is the Top 3 List from our experience yesterday at the festival:
1. Inclusivity & Diversity
Look, we’re in rural Iowa. It’s no secret that there isn’t a whole lot of diversity in this neck of the woods. That’s why this event is so refreshing and fun. It’s one of the most inclusive events I’ve ever been to. This is an awesome opportunity to open your mind and learn about different lifestyles.
It’s chill. It’s friendly (think “Iowa Nice”). People don’t really give a shit. They are there to listen to good music and enjoy the scenery.
It’s fun to people-watch (much like the Iowa State Fair).
PSA: The tricky part about people-watching these days is that shirts have some sassy and smart-assy verbiage on them that you really need time to read to fully appreciate. It’s hard! People move too quick! I’d recommend wearing some good sunnies so you can really stare some people down without getting hit or arrested.
And don’t even start Judgemental Judy… I see you over there acting as if you’d never, ever do something so “ridiculous”. News flash: everyone does it whether they’re trying to or not, especially with all these graphic tees floating around! And if you’re not doing it, maybe you are the one people are enjoying watching! Just a thought.
It’s also really fun to talk with other festival-goers to see where they’ve traveled from to attend! It’s almost like a Bed & Breakfast experience on steroids (we love B&Bs!). We parked next to a family from Rock Island, IL that has attended Hinterland every year. They come with their teenage kids and make it a fun family weekend each year. How cool is that?!
2. Food & Drink
Yum! They had such a great selection of food vendors. Something for everyone, that’s for sure. I also thought it was nice that they had local vendors. I bought from Cafe Fuzion and enjoyed their “Hinterland Sampler” which included two pork pot-stickers, two crab rangoons, and two fresh spring rolls.
Eric got a chorizo and cheese curd burrito from an organic vendor. He thought it was pretty good. I also got a scoop of thin-mint ice cream from The Outside Scoop – delish! Thelma’s ice cream cookie sandwiches were also there. And, we had to share some cheese curds later in the night!
For drinks, I thought they had a great selection – beer, wine, mixed drinks. You purchase tokens for alcohol and tickets for other beverages like water and pop. Then you just redeem your tokens or tickets when you get to the beverage tent instead of dealing with cash handling each time.
I enjoyed sangria and a mule. They also had a good selection of beer.
They had boxed water…which I thought was interesting. There was a heightened sense of “going green” – lots of compostable containers, recycling bins, etc. With the boxed water (or your own water bottle that you take in) they had refill stations. So you can fill up your water bottles/boxes whenever you need to.
Price-wise, I thought it was all reasonable…pretty much State Fair prices. Expensive, but it is what it is.
3. Weather & Atmosphere
I don’t think you could ask for better weather for a summer-time music festival. It was gorgeous the whole night, and it’s supposed to be that way all weekend for the remaining two days!
Overall, the music venue has a great vibe… you’re immersed in this bowl of live music and fun. when you are up on top eating or heading out, it’s amazing to hear the difference in how much of the sound is held down in the “bowl” or amphitheater.
I haven’t really talked much about the music. Honestly, I don’t think it would be very fair to critique the sets since we aren’t super-fans like many of the people there.
We caught part of Jade Bird’s set. She was pretty good. But again, we’re not familiar with her or her music. We also saw Hippo Campus. They were fun and I enjoyed their music. They’ll be one I’ll look into a bit more.
I am fairly familiar with Kasey Musgraves, and I thought she did a fantastic job. She sounds very much like she does on-air. Her set was slower than I anticipated, and I thought I’d know more songs. You definitely could’ve been chilling on a couch smoking a joint during her set (I’m not saying you should or that I would, I’m just saying that’s the vibe)… very chill and easy-going. Haha! She is classy and sassy, and it was fun to watch her live. She’s a new fave of mine to get more into!
Hosier was very impressive. We both enjoyed his show, but we did leave with about 20 minutes left in his set to avoid the mass chaos of everyone leaving for the night. We actually sat in lawn chairs in our front yard when we got home, at like 10:45pm, and listened to the last of his set. Remember we’re about three miles away, and the wind must have been just right because we could hear pretty darn well! We especially wanted to hear “Take me to Church”, and we did, just from the comfort of our (very dark) front yard!
In summary…
Overall, we had a good experience at Hinterland! It was fun to get out without kids (although you can take your kids to Hinterland. They even have a Hinter Kids area!) and enjoy adulting with friends for a bit. I think if we knew more about the artists and their music it would be a stellar experience.
They have incorporated a lot of fun activities to enhance the experience throughout the weekend. There’s The Campfire Stage, which has late-night concerts on a more intimate level in the camping area. And they even have the HinterHalf – which is a road-run they’ve put together on the Saturday morning of the festival. You can run the full half-marathon, 10k, or 5k.
Lots of fun right in our backyard…why wouldn’t we take part in some way?! They’re getting ready to kick things off for today’s lineup, you should go and check it out!
Have you been to Hinterland? How was your experience?
Also, do you have big events that happen in your “backyard”? Do you enjoy them or are you more annoyed with the backup in traffic, the mass amount of people infringing on your space, etc.? Just curious!
I had three people here at the shop today going again tonight. One local, one from Cali and the other from Minnesota. They were heading out to get ready.
Very nice read. I like your style.
❣️Mom
Very nice! Glad people are getting out and about while they are here.