A Letter from the Director: Introductions & Announcements

Dear Backwoods Family,

Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Aubrey Warren, and I’m your new Event Director. I’ve been with Backwoods since we stepped foot onto Mulberry Mountain in 2018. Until now, I’ve been serving as your resident yoga teacher and workshop coordinator.

I’m the mom of two teenage boys, and I met their dad (my husband and best friend) over twenty years ago at a rave post-party. We stopped raving for a few years when the boys were babies, but then the festival gods started whispering in our ears and the forest fairies started pulling us here. Our first camping music festival was on Mulberry Mountain in 2012, and that’s when our love-affair with this venue began.

During that magical weekend, we let go of all the roles that life demands and remembered just how much we love getting lost in the music together. We’ve prioritized attending music festivals annually ever since then as a form of marriage therapy.

My degree and early work experience were in the entertainment industry. I had some health issues that led me to yoga in my early 20s, and I ended up falling into the wellness business by default. After teaching yoga for fifteen years, my first festival-teaching gig fell in my lap and the Festival Fairy Godmother was born.

I planned to pursue this sort of position after our boys left the nest. However, our Backwoods Executive Producers thought it needed to be sooner than later. As they felt the need for the Backwoods leadership to evolve and grow, they surveyed their options and decided to extend the opportunity to me. So, I’m surprised and grateful to be here at this point in the game. Do I have room to learn and grow? Absolutely. Am I ready to rise to the challenge? Hell yes!

I believe deeply in the importance of gathering in community. Studies show that healing is more profound when witnessed by another. And I think we all can admit that we have some healing to do as a society. We have experienced more collective grief in the past three years than the total of which I’ve experienced in my lifetime. COVID-19 brought to our attention just how bad we need each other, as loneliness surfaced as a new and rampant killer in our culture. Science has revealed that feeling isolated from others can disrupt sleep, raise blood pressure, lower immunity, increase depression, lower overall subjective well being and increase the stress hormone cortisol (at sustained high levels, cortisol gradually wears your body down). Thus, what better way to heal ourselves and our world than through prioritizing COLLECTIVE JOY

Maybe we’ve met before. Maybe we haven’t. Regardless, I’m so happy you’re here. I promise to sprinkle my fairy dust all over Mulberry Mountain and make Backwoods 2023 the best yet.

I assume you’ve seen our lineup by now. But just in case you haven’t, let me tell you about what we have in store for you this year.

Join us April 20th through April 23rd, 2023 on Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas.

This marks the 15th year anniversary for the event and the 12th festival to date. More than 25,000 people are expected to attend over the course of four days. Expect to experience over 150 artists (both visual and musical), 80 vendors, daily workshops, an open-hearted community, and all-around good vibes.

Our initial lineup announcement includes headliners Big Gigantic, The Floozies, Lettuce, and two sets of The String Cheese Incident as well as many other top national touring acts.

Other artists on the bill include EDM and bass heavy Apashe, Of The Trees, Dirt Monkey, Boogie T and the up-and-comer Zingara as well as psychedelic jam and funk from the likes of Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Papadosio, Keller Williams, and Boogie T.rio. More than 36 major acts have been announced.

Those attendees who purchased tickets after String Cheese was announced last year, and prior to their cancellation in 2021, will receive free tickets to a Late-Night Acoustic Taco Party with the band if they have tickets for this year’s festival, while other attendees this year will be offered the additional intimate experience with the band for a nominal fee if they choose to attend. The acoustic jam session will constitute a third performance essentially for The String Cheese Incident, as they plan to perform two headlining sets on the main stage Saturday.

To those of you who are curious: Yes, I am still your resident yogi. I’m not ready to let that go yet. So please, come take one of my classes and introduce yourself. I would love to hear about your experience, learn your name and feel your vibe. My wizard husband will be the workshop stage manager and ensuring the positive energy flows abundantly when my attention is needed elsewhere. I’m bringing back my Thai yoga and Laughter yoga teachers, however I'd love to add some flow classes to the schedule.

If you are an experienced instructor, please apply.

All of our applications are live. Vendors, live painters, artists who do installations, performers, DJs, bands - we have spaces to fill. Combing through the offerings and talent throughout this community is a lot of work and awe-inspiring simultaneously. 

To all the rave kids and festi-family Jacob and I have acquired over the years: please prioritize Backwoods on your 2023 party agenda. I’m trusting YOU to be my eyes and ears on the ground. Should you see any dropped balls or gaps in how we’re taking care of our people, I’m giving you permission to text me during the event and let me know what’s up. You know my heart and you know how important it is to me for us to kill it this year. It takes a village, and we all have our parts to play. Thank you in advance!

FYI: since announcing our initial lineup, tickets are going fast. Get yours before prices increase and limited ticket options are sold out.

Although we’re proud of the work we’ve done, there’s still a lot to do. As more plans get ironed out, I’ll let you know. Stay tuned. I can’t wait to see you on the mountain.

All my love,

Aubrey Warren 
Event Director