We just got home from Moon Groove 2023 at PSHS.
This was our second year attending, and across the board everything was bigger and better than last year. I’d estimate the crowd grew by about 20%, but not enough to feel “crowded”. My wife and I attended by ourselves last year, but this time around rented a camper and brought along another couple. It was their first time here, and they absolutely loved it.
The weather this year was perfect. Daytime highs were in the mid 70s, a welcome reprieve from last years 100*F days. Things got a bit chilly at night, but that is just a good excuse to grab a blanket or cuddle up with whoever you were with (or your dog). Due to our experience last year, we made the call that we didn’t want to tent camp again, and rented the air conditioned camper. We’ve since learned that AC has been added to the motel rooms on property, as well as two of the rental cabins. Hopefully by pointing that out we don’t screw ourselves out of reserving one for next year 😃
Due to last year’s heat, none of the acts wanted to perform during the day (and I can’t say I blame them!), so the schedule went completely out of the window. Music was starting up late in the afternoon and going all night. This year with better coordination, more manpower, and agreeable weather, the schedule was adhered to very closely. Stage resets were quick and smooth, with music shifting to alternate stages during changeover, so there was no real break in the music.
We remarked multiple times about how unbelievable it was that an event hosting hundreds of young, naked, and often inebriated people had zero issues throughout the weekend. No garbage anywhere, no inappropriate behavior, no visibly drunk or unruly people, absolutely nothing out of line whatsoever. We even left some items in the field in the front of the main stage one night, and when I returned in the morning to look for them, they were neatly stacked up under an awning.
All of the musical acts were great. Most of the performers were returns from last year, but I’m certainly not complaining. These are great bands performing mostly original music, and while there were covers, they all had a unique twist to them, this was not a weekend of generic tribute bands playing “Sweet Caroline” or “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. I’d love to see new acts for next year, but at the same time can’t see any of the existing acts not coming back. It was a nice touch to wake up to a (naked) guitar player doing a Hendrix arrangement of “The Star Spangled Banner” each morning.
Just to demonstrate that I’m giving the event a fair shake, I do have to share some negatives, and that would be the food. There were at least two food vendors advertised for this year, but apparently one pulled out at the last minute. This left a “BBQ” vendor, who was not very good. We resorted to leaving the grounds to eat dinner, and ordered delivery with Uber Eats. There are a few good food options nearby.
We have had a few fun/odd interactions with Uber/Lyft/delivery drivers over the years at nude places, and this was no exception. I made sure to write in a note with the order that it was a nudist place, and to expect to see naked people. Despite this, I greeted the driver in a towel, since they didn’t respond that they were ok with nudity. She jumped out of the car, and was glancing all around, and said “I never even knew this place was back here! This is so cool!”. I told her it was a music fest weekend, and gave a very brief elevator pitch on nudism. As I walked off, I dropped my towel to free up my hands to carry the food, and she shouted that she forgot to ask for the delivery code, which prompted me to turn around and shout it back. She didn’t bat an eye at the nudity. I wouldn’t be surprised if PSHS has a new visitor sometime this summer.
If you’ve considered attending this event before but never got around to it, you absolutely need to commit. It is an absolutely incredible, one of a kind event. We all agreed that it was not only one of the only (if not the only) event we’d attend even if it was clothed, but also that it was the most “naked is normal” events we’ve been to. We (both couples) have visited many clubs/resorts/beaches over the years, but for some reason we all remarked that the crowd here and people’s interactions, state of dress, etc seemed to be entirely natural and neutral, hard to put a finger on it exactly.
Some were. Most of the musicians and vendors weren’t nudists, but a few did choose live by the creedo of “When in Rome…”. There were a few musicians who performed nude, or stripped down to their underwear. I did hear mumblings about state law and paid performers being nude on stage being an issue.