MANCHESTER, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's back. Twenty-one years after the very first Bonnaroo, tens of thousands of people are again descending on a farm in Manchester for the music and arts festival. In recent years, another Manchester tradition has also carried the name Bonnaroo.
David Pennington runs a true Manchester tradition, a very busy little hamburger joint.
"Okay, so you want the short version?" he smiled. "Originally, this place was built in 1957 as Frosty Top Rootbeer Stand."
By the 60s, with new management, it was renamed Jiffy Burger. David's parents bought it in 1965. Now, alongside wife Nancy, he runs this little place of melty cheese goodness and nostalgia served up with hot fries.
"Oh, it hops," David said. "We sell between 4,500 and 5,000 hamburger patties a week. That's a whole lot of cows!"
Jiffy Burger's seen a lot change in Manchester over many years, with one big change 21 years ago: the arrival of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
"I was the county mayor from 2006 to 2014," David said. "Bonnaroo did a lot for this community. They help the schools. They help nonprofits, and I like having a Woodstock every year. I love it."
David was happy to accept an idea from Bonnaroo, to have Jiffy Burger become the one place to carry the official burger of the music festival. They sell the Bonnaroo Burger all year round, but David said it's just especially popular around the festival for both locals and people visiting town for the festival.
"You can't get them all in your mouth at once!" laughed one local.
"My wife had heard stories about this place," said a man from Ohio, who'd brought his family for a round of Bonnaroo Burgers.
"You got the onion ring, you've got mayo, the hamburger, cheese, egg, bacon, tomato, lettuce," said a customer, naming all the ingredients. "You've got breakfast in the same meal you got dinner!"
"You have to mash it down too to take bite," David laughed.
"It is a stretch for the mouth, but it's good," said Nancy. "It's delicious, and people love it."
