At 7 a.m., Wednesday morning, Juggalos across Ohio and beyond masked themselves in clown make-up and prepared for another year of the Gathering of the Juggalos.
The 15
th
annual outdoor festival, hosted for the first year at Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio, will take place through Sunday with music and comedy galore as the “Juggalo family” meets once again.
The rap and rock festival is an independently-sponsored festival that carries music in the same vein as the that of the Insane Clown Posse, a rap-metal duo out of Detroit that profess to playing horrorcore.
The group is in the middle of a sexual harassment lawsuit involving the group’s former publicist. Music star Kid Rock was dragged into the mix Wednesday when the court subpoenaed Rock to supply a glass dildo for evidence in the case. The case is ongoing.
Lawsuits involving the group have dominated headlines recently. Insane Clown Posse brought on a case against The United States Justice Department and the FBI after the band and it’s fanatical members were classified as part of a criminal gang. The case was dismissed earlier this year.
Despite the controversy, thousands of fans will surely flock to the festival grounds.
“This year I am looking forward to bringing my thoughts and energy to the stage in an uncondensed form that'll be strong enough to manifest a positive impact and allow the fans to walk away with a higher sense of awareness and connection with themselves, each other, and of course the music,” said rapper Sedated, who performs in the daytime lineup on the Pendulum Stage. “But at minimum I want them to walk away with a good experience and a memory."
In addition to the music, there is a variety of comedians coming to the event. The comedians at this year’s festival include Gilbert Gottfried, Mick Foley, Sherrod Small and Joey Gay.
“Whether the audience is wearing clown makeup or not, laughter is always the goal,” said Cameron Buchholtz, the opening comedian for Joey Gay. “Ideally if they laugh enough, I'll make some lasting fans there. Juggalos in general are such die-hard supporters of what they love, it would be great to be able to have some of that support among my fanbase.”
What makes this festival more atypical than your average outdoor festival, especially in the Ohio area, is that the fans are more vocal about when they distaste something on stage. In fact, they have even gotten violent in years past.
“I've heard horror stories about comics having full cans of Faygo thrown at them, so if the set turns bad it could turn really bad,” Buchholtz said. “But I'm confident enough in what I do for that to only be a small concern, and I'm mostly just excited to perform and experience the event.”
Rapper Cryptic Wisdom will attend the annual festival performing his music on the Pendulum Stage, one of his biggest stages yet. He said he feels blessed to be performing for such a lively and active crowd.
“I am mostly looking forward to expanding my music to a broader audience. I am not a Juggalo, but I feel as if my music will still relate to them in some way,” Wisdom said. “I am honored to be performing in front of such a well targeted demographic, and I hope that they walk away from my performance feeling a little more enlightened on who I am as a person.”
Overall, however, like every musician and performer during the festival’s activities, he just wants to make an impactful and unforgettable experience.
“I want to touch a few hearts and also start a couple of mosh pits,” he said. “I want them to feel like they got the best of both worlds at my show.”
Weekend tickets are still available at the gate for $150.
Contact Will Ashton via email at wa054010@ohiou.edu or on Twitter @thewillofash
