Floydfest VA Review & What to Expect : A Laidback Music Festival In Nature

As a last birthday trip just the two of us before our new baby is born, I was looking for things to do close to home and FloydFest ended up being the winner. I had the perfect birthday exploring and dancing, and decided to share my FloydFest VA review for anyone thinking of going who is unsure (do it!). 

*I wasn’t paid for this review!

Complete Floydfest Review

For those that don’t know, Floydfest takes place annually in Floyd County of Virginia in the United States and is a laidback festival focused on connection, nature and most importantly – a passion for music. You won’t see huge big name artists at this one, which also means no huge crowds or hassles. This is why it was the perfect choice for a last weekend away as the two of us before our baby girl joins us in the world.

Originally I was looking at camping but once I thought about how much suck being pregnant, we decided staying in a hotel and driving in/out would be the best. Most of the hotels in Floyd were sold out so we got a hotel in Christiansburg about 30-40 minutes from the festival. 

Floydfest is in a new location now as of 2024, and although I never went to the original location, I thought it was beautiful. There are lots of hills which can get super tiring, but it also makes the site beautiful and unique. From below the canopy camping you can see the string lights, campsites dotting the hill and all the pretty trees. 

Driving in there was no traffic at all on Thursday around 2:00pm. Wish every festival was like this! They did search our car quickly on the way in – not necessarily opening things up other than the cooler we filled with sodas, but mainly to make sure we weren’t bringing in tons of alcohol (outside alcohol is prohibited) etc. 

We were given a spot at the very corner of the parking lot unfortunately. I highly recommend asking for a spot closer to the front if you have any sort of mobility issues. We forgot, but it ended up being okay because we used the amazing shuttles! 

Walking to the edge of the parking lot was a bit of a pain being pregnant and in the heat while carrying chairs & our gear for the day, but we caught the shuttle right as soon as we got to the Depot area.

This brought up right down to the main stage where we dropped our stuff and set up a spot for the day! We brought two beach chairs and a big outdoor blanket. 

It was way too hot to hangout here during the heat of the midday sun so we decided to checkout some of the other stages. I got a coffee at a drink stall along the way which was surprisingly cheap and hit the spot!

The Higher Ground Viewing Deck & Stage was seriously a lifesaver to cool off at as it’s big and completely shaded. It’s a really cool spot. Even though it looked like it was going to be too crowded to find a spot, we easily walked up and got a spot to hangout at on the steps. 

We hung out here listening to live music from one of the stages being played over the speakers and having a drink & a few snacks we brought in our backpacks. Meanwhile the cutest little toddler was running around saying hi to everyone and dancing. This made me extra excited to bring our little one to Floydfest one day. 😊

Speaking of kids, the kids stage is ADORABLE! We stayed for an act or two during the open mic slot and there was a big group of kids and their parents cheering everyone on. It was so uplifting and seems like a great idea all around to have at a festival. 🥰

We walked up the big hill through the Canopy Camping to get to the Canopy Grove stage. I definitely saw the slanted camping that we heard about BUT we also saw plenty of doable spaces and the woodsy area was beautiful. Quite the hill to walk up over and over though…. haha.

Happy to get exercise since we were taking our time but rushing up that hill to make a set would not be fun. Leave plenty of time for getting in between stages. 👍🏼

The Canopy Grove stage was my favorite area in the whole festival for sure. The Depot had food and drinks, plus there was a beautiful fire pit and of course the wooded stage. It’s also the spot where the festival convenience store is, plus the showers AND it’s a shuttle stop. 

I was feeling kinda faint at this point even though I had eaten earlier in the day. We stopped in the Depot to sit for a few minutes and listen to a DJ that was playing, and I noticed a bunch free peanut packets out (verified free with the bartender haha). 

I ate one and immediately felt better, which made me realize all I needed was some protein! I ended up eating probably 4 or 5 packets and I’m sure this made me feel so much better than I would have without them. I also had a few more on the go. Thank god for free peanuts and for the festival organizers who decided to give them out! 

The Oasis stage was definitely my favorite (as any wooded stage is). We sat down in the grass on our big blanket we brought to watch Lucid Evolution who were great.

I laid down for part of it to just take in the music. One of the best moments of the festival, especially with the food, drinks and bathrooms right close by. 

The headliner for the day we went was Mt. Joy, so we headed back to our home base and got set up there for the set. They were so good, and I especially loved the whole atmosphere of the set with the lights all around the grounds and stage, and the performer in the middle of the field. 

At some point I realized I hadn’t felt baby kick for a while, so I laid down in our spot and focused on her. This ended up being a magical part of the night where I got to spend some time thinking and focusing on her, while also listening to every detail of the music without distractions. ✨ 

It also made me realize how slight her movements can be, and how much I can actually feel when I close my eyes and pay more attention. Music always teaches me something! 

After the main stage we ended up catching a set we didn’t expect by Diggin Dirt who ended up being our favorite set of the day! I love any band with horns, especially when they’re in addition to the other instruments. Diggin Dirt is a 7-piece funk soul band and they killed it! 

The fact that their set was played at the Oasis stage after dark with under the canopy of lit up trees and lights everywhere made it even better. We ended up finding a spot for me to sit next to a tree still pretty close up to the stage and staying for the entire set. It was amazing! 

We stayed until the very last set of the night, on purpose to see Big Something. I just found them before coming to the festival and had been pretty much listening to their Spotify playlist for a few days straight! They were the perfect ending to the night and the Saddle stage was really cool with the lasers and projections. 

Before heading to our car a nice guy offered to take our photo while I was attempting to take a selfie of us.

We’ve traveled all throughout the US and to Europe over the past few years and had very very few people offer that, but it’s the positive, helpful and friendly attitude I expect now when I go to this type of music festival and the people are what keep me coming back. ❤️ 

Driving back the 40 minutes in the middle of the night down a windy road wasn’t the most pleasant, but totally worth it for our amazing day. And as a grand finale TONS of animals popped out to say hello as we were driving back.

My favorite was the family of two parent raccoons and 3 babies, and we also saw a possum, a cat and maybe 30-50 deer. Our convos as we were leaving consisted of planning our next trip back to Floydfest.