Bonnaroo Changed My Life: The Yearbook Guy's Story

Season 9, Episode 13 March 11, 2026 1h 22m Video

Barry CourterLord TacoBryan Stone

Bonnaroo really does change lives, and today's talk with Caleb Arias, aka The Bonnaroo Yearbook Guy, proves it once again. From being too nervous to talk to strangers at his first festival to becoming one of the most recognized creators in the festival community, Caleb walks us through the moment everything shifted. He explains how a simple journal turned into the Bonnaroo Yearbook, how that idea exploded across Hulaween and Okeechobee, and how documenting festival culture helped him find confidence, connection, and purpose.

We also dive into the massive growth of the Yearbook project, the behind-the-scenes work that goes into each book, the emotional fallout of Bonnaroo 2025, what we're looking forward to at Bonnaroo 2026, and Caleb's new collaboration with the festival itself. Finally, Caleb sticks around for a little bit of vinyl talk, where we show off some of our most valuable records from our collections.

Get your very own copy of The Bonnaroo Yearbook at 50% using coupon code THEWHATPODCAST: bonnarooyearbook.com

Listen to this week's episode here or watch it on YouTube. As always, subscribe to The What Podcast wherever you get podcasts for weekly updates on Bonnaroo and festival news!

Topic: Bonnaroo

Guest: Caleb Arias

  1. Topics
  2. Bonnaroo
  1. Guests
  2. Caleb Arias
  1. Seasons
  2. Season 9
  1. Hosts
  2. Barry Courter
  3. Lord Taco
  4. Bryan Stone
In this episode
00:00Intro
01:17Caleb the Bonnaroo Yearbook Guy joins
19:22Origin story
32:54Thoughts on this year's lineup
36:09How to get a yearbook
47:30Bonnaroo adds 2-day ticket options
01:06:25Our most valuable vinyl records
01:21:31Outro

Episode Transcript

Listen Via:
Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Music Podchaser Amazon Music Pocket Casts Deezer Castbox iHeartRadio RSS


Also on The What Podcast

× Link copied to clipboard