2016 #GRIDLIFE South at Road Atlanta
According to the encyclopedia of everything, Wikipedia, #GRIDLIFE is an automotive lifestyle festival that started a few years ago at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan. For 2016, the series made its first long distance trek and came down to the infamous Road Atlanta, located about 60 minutes outside the city with which it shares its name.
#GRIDLIFE is definitely a lifestyle event, featuring all of the vendors you expect hocking shirts, stickers, and other goods. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though.
As with most automotive lifestyle events, the display of slammed and stanced vehicles was large. Whether you are into these things or not, everywhere you looked you could find something that caught your eye.
One of the big draws for #GRIDLIFE are their night-time events, which include a pretty stellar concert lineup. Headliners Andrew W.K. and Waka Flocka Flame performed on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Throughout the day, though, the DJ booth kept the tunes flowing with a great selection of both rock and party music. In an interesting twist, this was also playing over the PA and track radio except during announcements. It was kind of nice.
And, as with most lifestyle events, certain… lifestyles… were on display. There were definitely more skateboards/longboards than bicycles, and the occasional drift tricycle, too.
#GRIDLIFE is a festival that not only allows but encourages camping. And not just in the infield, but in the paddocks, too. The atmosphere is definitely very laid back. Some people were just rolling out of tents to start their day around lunch time.
