From broadcasting the festival on Hulu to mixing the sound for live shows, MTSU students work tirelessly behind the scenes of the four-day Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
For years, MTSU has sent students from the College of Media and Entertainment to capture the festival – from audio to video and the behind-the-scenes stories worth telling. This year, a team of about 40 students take part in the one-of-a-kind learning experience. This includes reporting stories, mixing live sound and filming 20+ performances during the four-day event. Bonnaroo takes place June 12-15 in Manchester, Tennessee.
The partnership began a decade ago under the relationship of festival promoters and former College of Media and Entertainment dean Ken Paulson.
“[Paulson] had a relationship with the promoters for Bonnaroo,” said Robert Gordon, interim chair of the Media Arts department at MTSU. “I think [in] 2014 we brought the promoters to campus and we had a big lecture to a lot of [recording industry] and media arts [students] about festival promotion.”
Following the lecture, Bonnaroo representatives invited students to work the festival grounds through a class, starting on the small Who Stage and evolving into larger coverage over the next decade, including the What Stage, Gordon said.
This opportunity allows students to experience the media field before entering the workforce, said Beverly Keel, the dean of the College of Media and Entertainment since 2019.
“It’s thrilling. It’s very much real-world. You’re in it and you can see if you like it or not,” Keel said. “You know you’ve got deadlines, you have standards of very high quality, you’re working with professionals. I don’t know how it could be any better.”
Students acquire hands-on experience by filming, editing and reporting on the festival, and these opportunities can open doors for future jobs, Keel said.
“We had one student who had the Bonnaroo experience working on our mobile production truck, then graduated and went on to work with Justin Bieber, Carrie Underwood and Beyonce, because this is real world, hands-on experience.”
Some of the students who participated in the class last year, Gordon said, return in 2025 as directors for sets from Tyler, The Creator and Olivia Rodrigo.
Troy Steward, a Media Arts student, is taking Gordon’s live production class for the second time this year. Steward has accepted a job offer with a video engineering company, Tennessee Digital Video. He received the job offer as a result of working at Bonnaroo. He starts the new position after he graduates.
“I get to work on video engineering and use some of the knowledge that I’m learning in school out in the real world,” Steward said.
Also, students can use new technology this year, Steward said.
“We’re adding on robo camera operators, which means that they get to sit in the truck and use the joystick to operate two cameras out there, which is really cool,” Steward said.
Tune in: Those who want to experience Bonnaroo but can’t make it to Manchester can livestream the festival via Hulu.
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