Telluride Bluegrass Festivirgin here! We have four-day passes for the 2019 festival and for Mary E. Ilium campground, but Mary E. Ilium vehicle passes are already sold out. How do we unload? Where do we park? So excited for June!!! 
Hey there. First off Ilium campground officially opens the Saturday prior to the festival beginning, I believe thats the 15th. You can arrive anytime after 8am. Ilium is really nice cozy place to camp with lots of room, especially if your an early bird. When you arrive there will be folks at the gate to help out and guide you. You’ll drive in and find a camping location, unload your vehicle then park along the road outside the campground. I don’t think they are that strict about not having your vehicle in the campground until Tuesday or Wednesday but Skyrunner can probably clarify that. All the experts in this forum will agree that you should arrive as early as you possibly can for many reasons. 1. you’ll get the better campsite,2. there’s lots of activities planned in the Town Park campground that anyone can attend until wednesday, 3. there’s lots of hiking, biking fishing, climbing and floating to be done within walking distance of camp. You at least want to be there and set up before 5pm on wednesday as that is when the "First Grass shows will happen up in Mountain village. You’ll hear more about that later.
Hope that helps. We camped at Ilium our first year, and had a blast. If you are a cyclist of any type I’d suggest bringing bikes. And though there’s not really a bad site in Ilium, there are certainly sites that are better than others. You will have potable water available, and portapotties, no fires.
Hello, Yup Todd is right. You are allowed to park in the campground till Wednesday morning. That’s when you will need to move your car to the road side. Don’t worry, there will be people there who can tell you where and when. We are a friendly bunch of volunteers out there. :cheers
We camped at Mary E in 2016.
We did have a vehicle pass, though it really wasn’t needed. But, we stored our instruments in the truck at night.
We got there Monday evening, and there was still plenty of spots available. We loved the spot we chose. ALL the way back, and to the right.
Couple of suggestions:
Mary E is very close to a river, so it get’s much colder at night, compared to in town. We were one of the only campsites with a propane heater, and were very popular with the campers in the back 40.
There is absolutely zero lighting walking back to your campsite at night. So, alcohol + grabbing the last bus back to Mary E after midnight and a GreenSky Nightgrass show was definitely aided with a flashlight of some kind.
Did I mention it’s probably 10 degrees colder at Mary E at night? (Pack clothing accordingly)
You are probably looking at a 90 minute round trip, if you attempt to leave the festival during the day/early evening, for Mary E., and back again. We started each day in shorts/T’s, but packed jeans and extra layers in our back packs, and layered up after dark at the venue. So, we didn’t ever return back to camp, until the day was over.
My wife and I are traveling with our 1 year old to the festival. I didn’t anticipate the time it will take to shuttle back and forth to the camp site. Is there a way to drive into town and drive back out to the campground? We are going to need to lug a lot of gear to keep the little guy comfy so we can stay and see the headline shows.
Technically you could park your car in the road side parking at Ilium and instead of catching the shuttle that drops you right at the festival front door, drive your car up to the Mountain Village parking garages, walk to the Gondola and take the Gondola into Telluride, then walk the couple blocks to the festival grounds. If you have a vehicle pass you can not drive in and out of Ilium after Wednesday. You also can’t drive any vehicle in and out of Telluride after Wednesday.
What you need is a collapsable wagon to haul all your daily gear with, and a couple day packs ought to get you everything you need. A round trip on the shuttle from town to Illium and back to town is about a minimum of 1 hour if you are quick.
Great info. Thanks so much, Todd!
I see for Mary E we park on the road after unloading? Does anyone know if it’s possible to get your car out in case one suddenly needs to get home during the festival? We have family medical issues back home and I’m nervous about being trapped in case of emergency…