Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

“This is my sister and my best friend. We came to Okeechobee last year—it was my first camping festival. Nothing is wrong with any style of dress, but we were in jeans and crop tops. So we’ve been thinking about how to express our style since last September…we’ve been morphing into this. She’s so good at makeup. I can’t draw, I can’t paint, but I picked out her entire outfit. Throughout the year, we evolved into what we are now. We’re dressed like this because of Okeechobee. The festival ignited our creativity.”

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Traveled from Evansville, Indiana

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Sunshine Grove

Okeechobee, Florida

“I’m from New York. Well, I’m originally from Costa Rica. I’ve lived in a lot of different countries, but now I live in New York—most of the time. When I was little, we moved around because of my dad’s job. I’ve lived in six different countries: Costa Rica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel, Chile and the U.S. I learned a lot about the diversity of people. When you spend time in different places, you realize that people are very different. But in a lot of ways, they’re really all the same.”

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Traveled from New York, New York.

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Sunshine Grove

Okeechobee, Florida

“I made my coat. I have an Etsy page where I make fur coats and different things that interest me. I’m pursuing costume design for theater, so every day I’m sewing. Every day I’m creating clothes for people… for characters, really. My grandma taught me how to sew when I was 10 years old, and it’s all I’ve been doing.”

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Traveled from Miami, Florida

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Sunshine Grove

Okeechobee, Florida

“I was a rock hound for years. I mined crystals all over the country. Whenever I see something shiny on the ground, I want to pick it up and see what it is. I mined all 48 states. Fluorite, amethyst, smoky quartz, clear quartz, Herkimer diamond, labradorite, fire agate, lace agate, geodes. Petrified wood and Herkimer diamonds are my favorite. Herkimer diamonds because I could give a girl a diamond any time I wanted to, and they were the first real crystal I started mining. I tracked down a form of black petrified wood that wasn’t known to be in existence, and I’m the only one who knows where it is. Whenever I go get it, everyone freaks out.”

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Traveled from Everywhere, USA

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 2017

Sunshine Grove

Okeechobee, Florida