Todd Rundgren and his own personal Burning Man: Coming soon to a town near you

Back in the late 1990’s, when music impresario/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer/performer Todd Rundgren was turning 50, he came up with a novel idea. Instead of having a stuffy, traditional , “I’m getting old, so bring your big cake and paper hats” kind of party, he opened up his property in Kauai, Hawaii to friends, family and fans who wanted to celebrate his milestone birthday along with him. The celebration, part camping excursion, part creative summit and part arts/music festival, was a great success, so much so that Rundgren went ahead and invited everyone back for each of his next several benchmark birthdays.

The event, affectionately named Toddstock by its devotees, grew in attendance and legend each time, and 15 years and several incarnations later the proportions of the event had clearly outgrown the confines of his own parcel of land. In the interest of continuing the natural evolution of the gathering and centralizing the location for would be attendees, Rundgren began searching for a new location to host Toddstock. After much searching and consternation, he eventually settled on …(drum roll please)… White Castle, Louisiana. For those of you unfamiliar with White Castle, the town is roughly equidistant from both New Orleans and Baton Rouge and very much right here in our own back yard.

The six-day celebration will take place June 17 through 22nd, 2013 at Nottoway Plantation, a sprawling 22-acre estate on which rests the largest antebellum mansion in the South.

Rundgren himself refers to the event as “his own personal Burning Man”, referencing the yearly festival in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada that celebrates human creativity, expression and hedonism. He hopes that the change of location will make guests more able to bring unique or oversized materials for their own camping set-ups or personal or group art projects, which have become a hallmark of daily guest activities at Toddstock.

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