Jam In The Valley

Jam in the Valley is a wild time. This was my first real camping experience, as I have gone to Montauk to camp on the beach several times throughout my life thinking it was going to be comparable to the camping I could expect at Jam in the Valley and well, it was not. First things first, you need a vehicle with all wheel drive, seriously. Wear rubber boots because the second you step out of your truck onto the camp site, you will be ankle deep in mud. It will bother you for about 10 minutes until you realize, everyone else around you is dirty and just doesn’t care because it’s Jam in the Valley and the last concern on anyone’s mind is how much mud they got on their jeans. The experience consisted of a lot of drinking games, great music, lots of BBQ’ed food, more drinking games and fun people. The camp sites are on top of one another so you become immediately acquainted with the people next door and you hope they like to share food as well as your taste in music. It is one big party, loads and loads of fun. Bring games to play like washers or ladder balls. A deck of cards is a good idea and lots and lots of solo cups. The porta-​potties are nasty, they just are. The couple who stayed at the site we visited had their own standup shower tent with a luggable loo toilet which the girls thoroughly appreciated. I highly recommend getting the same. It saves you the trouble of walking through all of the mud to the porta-​potties that are not cleaned and used by everyone on the camp grounds. Bring a tent and a good amount of blankets as it gets cold at night. The bug spray is an absolute must as well. The concert on the 4^th of July was unbelievable. It was $ 50 at the door to get in and worth every penny. They had great deals on beers once you were inside the concert. We got a plastic cooler, two koozies and twelve blue lights for only $ 54. That was an awesome deal. They had a couple tents where you could donate money to different hospitals, spin the wheel and have a chance of winning a price. I thought this was cool. We were on the left side of the stage by the VIP entrance and this was the perfect area because we were all singing and dancing and didn’t have to worry about standing in anyone’s way who were sitting on lawn chairs. There were no chairs in this section of the field. The fireworks at night were the most unbelievable fireworks I have ever seen in my life, BY FAR. Friends of mine told me that I was in for a real treat that night but I thought they were all talk. I have seen fireworks at Disney, in NYC and in Montauk and all four of those shows combined didn’t compare to the display they had here on the 4^th. Listening to the music and watching the fireworks was so serene and the perfect way to spend a 4^th of July night. After the concert people went to the food trucks, hung out at each other’s camp sites and eventually went to sleep. The camp grounds were pretty quiet around 1 am. Overall, it was a very different but exciting and eventful way to spend the holiday weekend. If you haven’t had this experience, I highly recommend you give it a go.

The fireworks are the best I have ever seen. This is a must do camping event. Or at least a day in the valley for the concert and I only care for country music a little.