“Be healthy, drink some water and stay in love,” one of the opening performers, A Hundred Drums, said.
The 10th BUKU festival returned to New Orleans for the first time in three years on Friday and Saturday, providing festival goers and artists with a space to thrive.
Artist Lango, a Baton Rouge native, was excited to join the 2022 festival lineup, which featured plenty of Louisiana artists, and gave them the opportunity to perform for a large audience while still being close to home.
“I know this year they brought a lot of local talent out,” Lango said. 
He emphasized the importance of his own presence, as BUKU does not have talent from Baton Rouge specifically often.
“I’m the only Baton Rouge artist in the line-up, the first since Kevin Gates,” Lango said. ”I grew up off College Drive and Perkins Road. All of this is for my city and n****s straight up —All my friends are here and they’re a part.”
Performing at the New Orleans festival has been the highlight of his career so far.
“It’s full circle, what is bigger than BUKU here? This is the peak for my opportunities.”
Headlining musicians for the festival included Tyler The Creator, Tame Impala and $uicideboy$.
Not only was the festival important for fans and artists, but vendors as well.
New York-based modern grooming company Faculty was also on site offering free nail-painting services to attendees.
“We sent out a sticker sheet to everyone who received the wristband in the mail. BUKU did that for us for free,” Faculty founder Umar Elbably said. “The audience is expressive and accepting and that’s who we want to cater to.”
Unlike Faculty, who paid for their booth, New Orleans-based recycled glass company Glass Half Full was invited to the festival for free, with the purpose of raising awareness for the organization dedicated to cleaning up the state and coastal restoration.
“We partnered with BUKU for the take action project,” Carissa Hibbert said, mentioning the project that gave away some free tickets in exchange for community improvement actions.
Hibbert, who works with Glass Half Full, appreciated the festival atmosphere.
“BUKU is a celebration of arts and culture and community, and this year it’s welcome back,” Hibbert said. 
With three large outdoor sections and an indoor ballroom section to boot, festival-goers had ample space to roam and also separate from each other a bit.
Excited at the prospect of seeing Tame Impala live, the unwavering smile on LSU Alumnus Alex Rodriguez’s face captured what BUKU meant to him.
“I’ve been coming since high school. They killed it off for COVID, but I’m glad to see everyone back,” Rodriguez said.
The New Orleans native considers it the perfect place for a large music festival. 
“You know what laissez les bons temps rouler means—we take care of each other out here,” he said.
One festival group was charged with the sole purpose of taking care of others: BUKU Budz. This group operated in a tent labeled “Safe Space,” and focused on harm reduction and comfortability without police or medics present, something that can deter some from seeking help. 
“Harm reduction is very popular at most festivals, but the South is catching up. It’s hard to approach police officers or even medical staff because they’re scared of getting in trouble, so it’s more approachable for everyone,” New Orleans resident and BUKU Budz worker Hampton Callais said.
Callais understands that most festival-goers are not sober, and the large amount of those people makes his job necessary.
“It is 100% essential for the festival experience because unfortunately, people pass away at these events, and our main mission is to get people home safe. [Astroworld 2021] was a national travesty and it shook me to my core because of the work I do at festivals. It feels good to be back out here making sure that doesn’t happen.”
Medics and police officers were present in other areas for anyone needing them.
BUKU was also a welcomed space for visual arts. The Live Painting wall featured spray paint artists with their own spot on the rafters creating art in real time during the festival.
“It was really cool to watch people paint and vibe to music,” said Baton Rouge resident Cameryn Lucas. “The music was inspiring them in a way to create something beautiful.”
Hester Rito, a Slidell resident, was the brainchild for Any O’Cajun, a Cajun food catering company that was the talk of the festival.
“We started after the BP oil spill when my family lost all of our jobs,” said Rito when discussing how Any O’Cajun came to be. “I buy it, I prep it, I cook it.”
As for the most popular meal during the weekend, Rito referred to “Saucy B,” a crawfish beignet dunked in sauce, a dish that represents Southern Louisiana like no other.
“That is our flagship; it’s what we started the business with,” said Rito.
Other popular menu items were the crawfish mac’ and cheese and the crab sliders with jambalaya.
BUKU provided an audience thirsty for the festival experience with exactly what they wanted, keeping New Orleans and the state of Louisiana in mind while doing so.