Christie Kilaghbian

Fans waiting patiently for the next artist, Kali Uchis, to perform on the main stage at Camp Flog Gnaw 2023.

With Covid finally dying down, music festivals and carnivals have slowly come back to music lovers around the world. This includes Tyler, the Creator’s annual Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival that started back in 2012. Due to the unfortunate circumstances of Covid-19, the last time the music festival occurred was during November of 2019, featuring headliners like Drake and of course, Tyler the Creator. Ever since then, fans of the festival questioned when the carnival would come back, or if it would come back at all. Finally, in June of 2023, Camp Flog Gnaw 2023 was announced and was up for presale. Within the span of only one hour, all the passes were sold out, including VIP and Super VIP. Tyler expressed in an interview with Nardwaur that he didn’t expect people to still care about the festival four years later. What once started in a theater parking lot with less than 1,000 people became one of the most popular hip-hop festivals hosted at Dodger Stadium.

People might wonder what makes this music festival so special, and I have all the answers as someone who attended Camp Flog Gnaw this year. Even though the lineup was not announced until two months after purchasing the ticket, I knew it would still be worth seeing countless different artists for two consecutive days. When the lineup was finally announced mid August, I was pleasantly surprised with every single performer, big and small. Some of my personal favorites included SZA, Kali Uchis, beabadoobee, d4vd, and The Hillbillies, which is a duo group between Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem. Abby Phan (11) shares, “I wish I bought tickets to watch SZA, my favorite artist. Her performances are always so incredible every time she steps on a stage.” To say the least, whether I knew the artist or not, every set was extremely spectacular and unique. Hearing the music you play daily on your phone performed right in front of you is an experience everyone should have. 

Since the gates opened at noon and artists didn’t start performing until around 2:30, I had some time to burn waiting for the performances to start. What’s great about the music festival is that it’s not just a place for music, but a place for carnival games and rides as well, hence “carnival” in the name. They had ferris wheels, swing rides, and your typical rigged carnival games. Although you had to pay to play the games, the carnival rides came free with your ticket. Personally, I played some games on the second day of the festival. Even though I technically didn’t win anything, they still offered free giveaways such as lighters, lanyards, and fidget spinners. I received a pair of socks and a lanyard from the games I played, which I’m honestly pretty satisfied with.

Because this was my first concert, I was unaware of what I needed to bring to have the best time without worrying about “dying” of thirst and hunger. Personally, I suggest bringing a nonmetal water bottle and some snacks since the food can be extremely expensive and unreliable. During the first day of the carnival, all vendors and water stations ran out of water. Although the rules say you cannot bring outside food or filled water bottles, they don’t check your bags anyways. Moral of the story: even if it says you can’t, bring it just in case. 

Other than the water fiasco and the never ending standing in lines and during performances, Camp Flog Gnaw was one of my greatest experiences and I hope to go back in 2024.