MANCHESTER, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University is working with the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival again this year, giving students the chance to get hands-on experience covering a major event.
A team of students from the university's College of Media and Entertainment will livestream around 40% of the concerts at Bonnaroo, broadcasting coverage worldwide on Hulu's online streaming platform.
MTSU said the student teams would work behind the scenes during 53 performances, operating cameras and soundboards to show viewers at home concerts by artists like Chappel Roan, Thundercat, TV Girl and Grouplove.
MTSU and Bonnaroo started working together in 2014 when Bonnaroo's founders arrived on campus to answer questions from students about how the festival is promoted, according to a release from the university. The following year, media students were invited to work at the festival. During subsequent years, Bonnaroo gave MTSU students more responsibilities.
A total of 32 students from two classes will fill production roles for the shows including directing, camera operations and audio. They will work from two control rooms, including ten cameras for both stages.
MTSU's Mobile Production Lab is also there, taking the audio and video feeds captured by students and sending them to a master control center in Austin, Texas. The team arrives three days before the music starts and stays after the final song comes to an end, working a full week. Before the fun starts, students lay cables, cover wires and work to protect production equipment from dancing crowds.
On each day of the festival, students will work around 14-and-a-half hours to broadcast the performances. People can watch the performances on Hulu, starting at 7:05 p.m. with a concert by Matt Maltese.
