What happens when thousands of people who don’t want to be “judged” get together for four days in the middle of Missouri? Apparently, a lot.
The Gathering of the Juggalos, which has earned a reputation as one of America’s wildest festivals, had law enforcement officials preparing for the event for over two months because of how chaotic things can get.
The festival is seen as an alternate universe where a “Juggalo” can escape from the “mundanity” of everyday life and be their most unfiltered self.
Thousands of Juggalos descend on Missouri for four days of unapologetic chaos
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Thousands of fans arrived at Mother Nature’s Riverfront Retreat in Macks Creek for the annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival in August.
The four-day festival was hosted by the rap group Insane Clown Posse from August 19 to 22 for their loyal fans, who call themselves “The Juggalos.”
The terms Juggalo or Juggalette stems from their 1992 song “The Juggla.”
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The festival operates under the banner of being a “judgment-free” community, where attendees show up with face paint, ditch their undergarments, fling mud at each other, and wrestle in mosh pits if they feel like it.
“This is the most unique festival in the world,” Clide Christafari, a Juggalo, told KY3.
“I’ve been to tons of festivals. And there’s nothing like this anywhere in the world,” he continued. “This is the greatest thing, and we owe it all to the Insane Clown Posse.”
Insane Clown Posse went against the mainstream, and its fans found a sense of community in the feeling of rejection
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To understand why the Gathering of the Juggalos became what it is today, you have to go back to the band at the center of it all: Insane Clown Posse or ICP.
ICP built a devoted fan-following around their horrorcore music, their onstage theatrics, their clown makeup, and elaborate live shows. They were also routinely treated as something of a punchline by the mainstream music world.
Earlier, ICP used to call itself the “most hated band in the world,” and a majority of their fans were young white men from working-class backgrounds, according to a Wired magazine article published in 2010.
These fans would see themselves as outsiders who felt judged their entire lives for being overweight, looking “weird,” being “poor,” or just simply being an ICP fan, according to the article.
But attending the festival gave them a place where they could be their raw selves, without fear of judgement.
The festival grounds become a place where attendees can flash their “man b**bs” or flaunt their scraggly or pink hair, and nobody makes fun of them, the article said.
The Gathering became a place where people could finally stop worrying about being judged
Nathan Rabin, who authored a book on the Juggalos fandom titled You Don’t Know Me but You Don’t Like Me: Phish, Insane Clown Posse, and My Misadventures with Two of Music’s Most Maligned Tribes, spoke about the sense of freedom that fans feel at these festivals.
“For 360 days, being a Juggalo makes them an outcast and makes them reviled and makes them a pariah,” he told NPR in 2013. “But four or five days of the year, being a Juggalo makes them the king of the world and everybody loves them and Insane Clown Posse is the most popular group in the world.”
“It’s this alternate universe they can escape into from the dreariness and the mundanity of everyday life,” he added.
The fandom is known to have their own slang, style, and culture, and to outsiders, their traditions may seem bizarre.
Juggalos commonly wear elaborate black-and-white clown makeup inspired by ICP, thus turning the festival grounds into a sea of painted faces.
Another recognizable tradition includes Faygo showers, part of their love for Faygo, a much-loved root beer local to Detroit where ICP members come from. Not only do Juggalos drink Faygo but the band even throws the soda into the audience, known as “Faygo Showers,” during their gigs.
Fans keep returning, saying the festival is “all about love”
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They also engage in extreme camping at the festival, along with mud-related antics. Aspects like playing with mud, getting filthy, and throwing mud around have become associated with the Gathering’s anything-goes vibe.
N*dity has also become associated with the festival, where attendees push the boundaries with their costumes and outfits.
This year, thousands of fans attended the festival in August for four days of uninhibited revelry.
Christopher Harris said he’s been to the festival 13 times and every single time he’s “been nothing but picked up.”
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“That’s why we come back for the love of the Insane Clown Posse and what they have given us,” he told ABC 17 News. “It’s all about love. You can’t do anything wrong here.”
Amber Stewart said she was not only a fan but was even pregnant the first time she attended the festival.
She said all the attendees were kind to her, adding, “Nobody was pushing me around or throwing me around. Everybody was making sure I was OK.”
Emergency responders across Camden County, including emergency medical services, fire departments, and law enforcement agencies, took months to prepare for the festival.
Camden County Chief Deputy Scott Hines said a large number of first responders were posted in the area on the festival days to handle the “influx population.”
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Meanwhile, some residents living in Macks Creek said they were unhappy with the location chosen this year.
“The issue that we had was not so much the people being here, but the venue that decided to drop that right in the center of a residential community,” one resident told KY3.
“What that did is it brought complete disruption of peace, privacy, and complete chaos.”
People online have mixed reactions to the festival, with one calling it the “Best place in America.”
“Half of me wants to throw up,” one commented online, while another said, “I”m scared of the culture NGL.”
One said, “I think they’re onto something.”
“All I’m saying is….. there are communities for everyone,” one commented online
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