(CNN) -- Four days, 12 stages, 175 acts, 700 acres of land -- the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is thriving in its tenth year.
Having been deemed America's Glastonbury by the music industry -- the highest accolade in the festival world -- Bonnaroo will attract more than 80,000 people to Manchester, Tennessee, beginning Thursday. The small city, between Nashville and Chattanooga, has been home to the festival since its summer 2002 debut.
It's hard to believe the all-encompassing music festival came to be from an office in a New Orleans dive bar called Snake and Jake's.
"Very humble beginnings," Bonnaroo and Superfly Presents co-founder Jonathan Mayers said.
Since then, the festival has evolved into a complete musical experience: Drawing from indie rock, hip-hop, jazz, bluegrass and more, today, a more mainstream Bonnaroo continues to honor the spirit the festival was founded on a decade ago, Mayers added.
Jessica Robertson, the managing editor of MTVHive.com, says Superfly and AC Entertainment, the production and marketing teams behind Bonnaroo, achieve the perfect balance by featuring headliners like Eminem and Bonnaroo veteran Widespread Panic alongside jam bands like String Cheese Incident and the legendary classic rockers that make up Buffalo Springfield.
Some people might criticize the mainstream shift, but, Mayers says, "If we just kept doing the same thing, we probably wouldn't be relevant right now."
And with tickets costing about $240, it's important that Bonnaroo maintain its relevance -- especially in a time when people are wary of paying full price for individual shows.
"So much music today is experienced on a computer screen that it's really great to get out and experience it," Robertson said. People are used to listening to an eclectic mix of artists and styles on their portable media players, which is why the musical sampling that Bonnaroo offers is so appreciated.
In addition to featuring different types of music and countless activities -- from yoga classes to the use of a 175-foot-long inflatable water slide -- festivals are considered to be a great value for the average concert-goer.
"Festivals have been one of the few bright spots in the music industry in the past few years," said Doree Shafrir, RollingStone.com's senior editor.
With a silent disco, a comedy theater, cinema, Wi-Fi and restaurants covering Manchester's grounds, the relatively unknown city is transformed into a unique destination.
For festival-goers, it's not uncommon for people to have completely different experiences during the course of the long weekend.
And it's not just for the attendees. Many artists would rather perform in front of thousands of people, interacting with other talent rather than playing a solo show, Shafrir said
"You're isolated when you're on tour, going from city to city," she added. "At a festival, you can interact with other artists, be inspired by them and feed off the crowd."
Location, Robertson said, is another seller for the festival. It's centrally located and easy to get to. That could be why other festivals, such as Rothbury, which was held in the Michigan village of the same name, struggled to stay afloat.
Meanwhile, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which takes place in Indio, California, is doing so well, it recently added another weekend to its 2012 schedule.
Perhaps a festival's true test of success is measured by how good it tastes. As a result of a partnership between Ben and Jerry's and the Bonnaroo festival, the ice cream company created Bonnaroo Buzz, a light coffee and malt ice cream, which made its national debut this year.
While Bonnaroo certainly thrives on the extras it offers festival-goers, as well as its diverse musical acts, Mayers says the festival's charm and success really come down to community.
"People are here, living on site," he said. "They're building a true community. People are totally immersed in it. There's no TV, or hotel to go back to. ... It creates a whole different environment and live experience that you can't replicate."
And it's constantly evolving.
"Music is just the entry point for this platform for all arts -- for people to be creative," he added.
In the future, Bonnaroo, which Mayers calls his "huge, never-ending art project," will probably engage the audience even more and become a platform for people to get involved.
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