We're Going to the Gathering of the Juggalos

After a much-needed two-year hiatus from the madness that is Insane Clown Posse's annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival, we're happy to report that this year, we're going back. We're is off to Thornville, Ohio for the Gathering, which runs July 20-23, and will be reporting throughout the week on all...

By Andy Hermann

July 18, 2016

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After a much-needed two-year hiatus from the madness that is Insane Clown Posse's annual Gathering of the Juggalos festival, we're happy to report that this year, we're going back. We're off to Thornville, Ohio, for the Gathering, which runs July 20-23, and will be reporting throughout the week on all the music, facepaint, Faygo, bare-knuckle boxing, and whatever other ridiculousness the Juggalos will permit us to document.

This is the Gathering's 17th year, so we plan to look at some of the ways it's changed over the years, for better and worse. We'll talk to veteran Juggalos and Juggalettes about the festival's early days (when it was, presumably, much cooler), as well as some first-timers and maybe a few hipsters pretending to be Juggalos, because apparently that's a thing now. We'll delve into Juggalo wrestling culture and the Juggalo economy, which we hear is run mainly on drugs, dirty-water hot dogs, and boob flashes. We'll probably hang out with Gary Busey's nephew Mike again, because why wouldn't we? And we're looking forward to catching some music, too — especially Gwar, because Gwar.

Look for our mad-clown-love coverage to begin Thursday, July 21. To tide you over until then, here are some highlights from our past GOTJ adventures:

Overheard at the Gathering of the Juggalos 2014: The Best Quotations
Wild Scenes at the Gathering of the Juggalos 2014 (Slideshow)
Insane Clown Posse Closes Out the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos (NSFW Slideshow)

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Andy Hermann has written for L.A. Weekly since 2012 and joined the staff as music editor in 2014. Previously he was the national music editor for Metromix and managing editor for ArtistDirect. His work has also appeared in XLR8R, the Daily Dot, Diffuser.fm, and the Boston Phoenix among others. He lives in Highland Park and still holds out hope for a Talking Heads reunion.

Contact: Andy Hermann

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