Sonic Temple Festival VIP Experience

We traveled to Columbus, OH for the inaugural Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival. The festival features three days of music from hard rock’s and heavy metal’s biggest bands like Foo Fighters, Disturbed, Papa Roach, System of a Down, Ghost, Halestorm plus a lot more. The festival also features talented artists, amazing vendors and delicious food. We were fortunate enough to be given VIP access to the festival and now we want to show you what our VIP experience was like.

Transportation

Columbus is only about an hour drive for us so we took a road trip. Once we got to the hotel, we took an Uber or the hotel shuttle to the festival to save on the $25 parking fee. When not at the festival, it was very easy to drive around town to go where we needed.

Accommodations

We stayed at Marriott which is like our home away from home. This hotel was called Marriott Columbus University Area. It was a very nice, large hotel which was just down the street from the Ohio State University Campus and about 10 minutes from the festival grounds at Mapfre Stadium. You will definitely want to check this out if you decide to take in an Ohio State Football game.

Food, food and more food

When we got to the festival, it was around lunch time so we were ready to check out the food situation. The food vendors did not disappoint! There were so many options it was hard to choose. There was pizza, burgers, ribs, noodles, funnel cakes and so much more. We went with cheeseburgers and fries. The burgers came with lots of topping options so it was much nicer than just your average stadium burger. The stadium vendors were also open so you could get popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, etc. In the VIP area, there were a couple specialized vendors and food trucks. On the second day, I ate at one of the food trucks. Mama Can Cook, in that area that specialized in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. They also had a chicken and rice bowl which I got and it was amazing!

When we got back to our hotel the first night it was late and we were so happy to see that the hotel restaurant was still open for all of us party animals. Lol. I got a turkey club sandwich and fries and Tony got a burger and fries.

The second day, we discovered there was a Miller’s Ale House nearby and we knew we had to go. We discovered Miller’s Ale House in Orlando, FL and make sure we stop there every time we head down to see the mouse. 🙂 Their specialty is Zingers which are boneless wings. We like the hot ones although they aren’t really all that hot.

Activities

Obviously, a lot of our activity revolved around live music. Over the course of three days there were over 50 bands that played. The bands were strategically scheduled so you could catch most, if not all, the performances. The festival had three stages, the main stage was located inside Mapfre stadium. And there was the Echo and Wave stages on either side of Mapfre stadium. One of the many benefits of having VIP access was being able to watch performances from the comfort of the VIP air conditioned tent.

Although music was at the heart of the festival, there were other aspects that made the festival entertaining. As we walked around the festival grounds, there were artists creating amazing artwork. The festival also featured a tent for comedy and spoken word performances. Just a few of the performers were Andrew Dice Clay, Henry Rollins, Tom Morello and Pauly Shore. Another popular activity was The Music Experience tent where you could walk through and try out different guitars. You could also meet bands throughout the weekend. Fans had another opportunity to meet their favorite bands at the FYE pop-up store on the festival grounds. You could buy vinyl and CDs of the artsits playing the festival and then have them signed by the artists. We walked away with an autographed Halestorm record and a box of Struts cereal.

While the Sonic Temple Festival offered an amazing weekend of music, art and activities, the experience was only heightened by the addition of the VIP access. As you can imagine, three days packed full of entertainment can be fun but also exhausting. The VIP area offered us a chance to sit down, relax and recharge our batteries. We had access to our own food, drinks and restrooms without having to wait in long lines. The staff at the Sonic Temple Festival gave us the rock star treatment. We would like to thank the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival and Danny Wimmer Presents with this amazing experience.

Be sure to keep an eye out for future festivals this summer brought to you by Danny Wimmer Presents!