A four-day, 1960s-inspired celebration of van life comes to Rye, Colorado, this month.
Peace Love & Vans, billed as America's largest vanlife festival, is relocating from Florida to Rye, Colorado — roughly halfway between the Great Sand Dunes and Pueblo. More than 1,000 people and 600 vehicles are expected to attend.
Festival organizer Josh Theberge said van life is more than just living in a van.
"It's a nomadic lifestyle, so to speak," he said. "It's often associated with vans but it doesn't have to be a van. People who consider themselves van-lifers who are car camping, converted ambulances, skoolies, box trucks. Just basically a nomadic lifestyle."
A skoolie, for the uninitiated, is an old converted school bus.
When asked about the appeal of van life, Theberge kept his answer simple: "Freedom, really."
PLV Colorado will set up on 360 acres and include a DIY Van Build contest, yoga and breathwork in a giant geodesic dome, community activities, local food trucks, a tropical Tiki Bar, and live music by Colorado acts, including Sqwerv, Rapidgrass, and Shakedown Street.
Peace Love & Vans runs June 12-15.
All are welcome — even those who sleep in houses that stay in one spot.
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