Calling all van lifers, overlanders and road warriors: A new festival coming to Colorado will convene vehicle nomads for a weekend of camping, gear demos, and workshops amid the picturesque scenery of the high desert.
It’s called The Caravan, and it’s cruising to CampV in Naturita from June 6 to 10 for what event coordinator Josiah Roe anticipates will be the first of many years to come.
Roe is the publisher of travel publication The Journal of Lost Time, which hosts six annual van life-inspired events in the U.S. and Mexico. The Caravan comes to Colorado by way of Wyoming, where the pub previously hosted a meet-up called the Wind River Rally. After two years, the event outgrew its venue and needed amenities beyond an empty field, Roe said.
As he searched for a new location in the Four Corners area, Roe was introduced to Natalie Binder, co-founder of CampV, an artsy glamping destination built on a property with robust mining history near the border of Colorado and Utah. While at the Burning Man festival, the two connected over a shared love of music and art, and the partnership was born.
“Colorado has a really dynamic and engaged van life and overland community,” said Roe, who previously lived in Fort Collins. “(CampV) was ideally positioned and in an awesome little corner of the world that feels like a hidden gem that not everyone knows about just yet.”
The inaugural Caravan will include events like a Pride-themed float down the San Miguel River; cooking classes by Coloradan A.J. Forget, author of “The Buslife Kitchen”; a Cara-VAN-athlon with competitions in tire carrying and bucket-chucking; and workshops covering self-dense, dog training and breath work (with an optional psychedelic microdose).
Travel-friendly companies will also be onsite providing amenities and showcasing their wares. For example, Denver van fabricator Featherbuilt will be doing repairs; VSSL, which manufactures coffee grinders and brewing equipment, will serve coffee each morning; and composting toilet maker CompoCloset will run a photo booth it calls the “portrait loo.”
When the sun goes down each night, DJs and fire dancers are scheduled to provide live entertainment for campers.
Roe expects a modest 300 to 400 vehicles to join The Caravan this year and attendance to grow at subsequent events. The Lost Journal of Time’s biggest gathering, Escapar a La Baja, held in Baja California Big Sur, started five years ago and now welcomes about 1,200 road warriors annually.
“We are excited to welcome The Caravan as the event and group align with our mission to bring community together and support our rural local economy,” Binder of CampV said in a statement. “Many folks have not spent much time in this corner of the state and we look forward to welcoming The Caravan to the West End and showcasing the natural beauty and wild landscape. It is important that we continue to gather and support our rural communities and learn more about their history, culture and values.”
The Lost Journal of Time’s six events, hosted from February to October, follow a natural migration path of drivers chasing good weather. No two events are alike, Roe said, and they tend to take on the personality of their host town. Holy Toledo! in July, for one, tends to take on the moody vibe of the Oregon Coast where it takes place and local seafood plays a starring role.
Because there’s an installation at CampV called the Prairie Wind Chapel, repurposed from Burning Man, there will be a service on Sunday morning – an offering unique to The Caravan.
Ultimately, Roe said the goals of his events are to bring travelers together over shared interests in an increasingly isolated world and offer a sense of community to those who spend a lot of time on the road, especially those who ride solo. In that vein, some of The Journal of Lost Time’s previous gatherings have included speed dating; Roe said the campgrounds have proved fertile grounds for new relationships.
“I see these events as a corrective salve for the human condition. It’s a beautiful thing seeing people come together. There’s a joy one can find in that,” he said.
Tickets to The Caravan are now on sale at letscaravantogether.com. They cost $175 for a single vehicle with a single person. Each individual needs a ticket, however, and additional admission costs $75 per person. Coloradans can get a 20% discount with the code COLORADO20. Attendees can also book one of CampV’s glamping options through the same website.
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