Ashley Capps

Buying most of the 700 acres where the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival sits in Manchester, Tenn., has proven a sound business move, festival co-founder Ashley Capps said.

“It has unquestionably been a great move,” said Mr. Capps, owner of AC Entertainment. “It makes all the difference in the world to have complete control.”

Before buying the property two years ago, festival organizers had to break everything down after the event and restore the land for farming. Since buying 530 acres for more than $8.6 million in 2007, they have installed permanent structures and roads and moved tons of dirt to control water runoff, Mr. Capps said. Electricity has been added this year to replace generators at the site about an hour west of Chattanooga.

The annual festival begins today, and Mr. Capps said he expects that nearly all of the 80,000 available tickets will have been sold. The economy has not hurt sales, he said, though buyers have waited a little longer than in the past to buy tickets at almost $300 each.

“We’ve weathered the economy fantastically, actually,” he said. “We are way ahead of where we were last year.”

The 2008 event drew more than 70,000 people.

Most of this year’s attendees are expected to camp on the site today through Monday morning.

For fans such as Clay Acup, a former Chattanoogan now living in Orlando, the festival is a chance to hear a lot of music from big-name acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Snoop Dogg, the Beastie Boys and Phish, as well as lesser-known performers.

“I love Bruce Springsteen, but I will always be able to catch him within three hours of my hometown on any given tour,” he said. “I go to Bonnaroo for the seldom-seen favorite acts and new artists I might otherwise never get a chance to see. Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3, St. Vincent, Alejandro Escovedo and Todd Snider come to mind.”

State highway officials this week said all lane-closing projects would be put on hold during Bonnaroo. Attendees headed from Chattanooga on Interstate 24 should stay to the right as they near Manchester, Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said.

Since the inaugural event in 2002, Bonnaroo has earned a reputation for being one of the best music festivals in the world. Rolling Stone magazine named it No. 1 last year.

It is popular not only with fans but with musicians, Mr. Capps said.

“We could have booked two Bonnaroo weekends this year,” he said. “We are very happy about the response that we get from artists who really do want to play Bonnaroo.

“The artists realize that we get a genuinely passionate fan base. They love music, and it is an ideal audience to perform to.”