How It All Began
The roots of The Festy Experience can be traced back decades through two of
its co-creators: Justin Billcheck and Michael Allenby. Both grew up in Virginia
and attended high school together in Williamsburg before separately relocating
to Charlottesville and establishing their own small businesses within the music
world: Justin Billcheck Productions and The Artist Farm.
Justin founded Justin Billcheck Productions (formerly Cerberus Productions),
which focuses on planning and executing music festivals and events such as
Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and Coachella.
Michael is co-founder of The Artist Farm. Focusing today on producing
experiences that bring people together, the company originally provided
management services to artists and musicians, counting The Infamous
Stringdusters as one of their clients.
In 2009 The Stringdusters played the Brew Ridge Trail Music Festival on the
grounds of Devils Backbone Brewery. The event was created and produced by
Cerberus Productions, bringing together the 2 Charlottesville-based businesses
and The Infamous Stringdusters for the first time. After Brew Ridge, it became
obvious that Justin, Michael and The Stringdusters all shared the same vision for
creating an idyllic fall-festival camping experience. In 2010 The Festy was born.
In 2014, we are all excited to celebrate 5 years of The Festy Experience, but we’re
celebrating more than the music, the location and the Experience itself. We’re
celebrating the successful venture of 2 small local businesses that continue giving
back to the community that has helped nurture The Festy to grow into the annual
event we all look forward to every Columbus Day weekend.