Shoreline Media Writer

While the ROTHBURY Festival campground serves many functions during the four-day event, the least of these seems to be for sleep. More often it's used as an eating area, a meeting spot for friends and strangers, and, frankly, a place just to put your stuff.

There is a healthy amount of commerce going on at all times in the camping area as well. Hundreds of people selling all manner of food and drink, cigarettes, tattoos (real and painted-on) and other art work, among just about anything else you could imagine. That includes plenty of illicit drugs, from the full course of cannabis and psychedelic offerings to perhaps those of a more dedicated variety.

Dealers float through the tent city day and night, not exactly advertising their wares, but instead looking into a potential consumer's eyeballs for a quick sign that he or she is looking for a seller. These are true no-pressure salespeople, and a quick, dismissive wave of the hand will send them elsewhere.

The campground fills slowly as the evening (or early morning in most cases) wears down, as the party moves out from inside the festival grounds. The party reaches an apex around 5 a.m., when the rising sun begins to stain the sky, when conversations, music and fireworks bleed together into one giant, festive noise. Then, most people begin to trickle into their beds, leaving only the most strident partiers to continue their search for the next, best soiree at ROTHBURY.