By Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner

Entering its sixth year, the 2008 Langerado Music Festival in Florida, set for March 6-9, has established its place as the unofficial kickoff to music festival season. Next year, organizers are taking it to the next level and moving the event to the expansive Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. Since its inaugural event in 2003, Langerado has grown from 3,500 in attendance at Fort Lauderdale Stadium to 15,000 per day at 2007’s hugely successful event at Markham Park. The initial talent line-up will be announced on Nov. 8, and tickets go on sale Nov. 15.

For the upcoming edition, festival-goers can anticipate all-inclusive on-site camping, plenty of late night music, and an expanded VIP ticketholder experience. The transition from day festival to a camping event marks Langerado’s exceptional growth over the past five years. Airport shuttles and area hotels/shuttle packages will also be available to festival-goers. Langerado’s new festival site at the 600-acre Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, which previously played host to Phish’s three-day millennium event in 1999, is located approximately 30 minutes west of Ft. Lauderdale in the heart of the Florida Everglades.

“Since the very first Langerado, it has been our dream to bring the event to Big Cypress,” said festival co-producer Ethan Schwartz in a statement. “Langerado has grown into an amazing event that encompasses so many different genres of music. The move to Big Cypress allows the audience the opportunity to spend four days with their friends really soaking up as much of the music as possible.”

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Past Langerado headliners include the Black Crowes, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Widespread Panic, The Flaming Lips, Trey Anastasio, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and The String Cheese Incident , among many others.

“The Seminole tribe has been incredibly gracious in allowing us to host Langerado on their land,” added co-producer Mark Brown. “This is one of the last spots in South Florida that hasn’t been paved over, and we feel very lucky and blessed to be able to bring the Langerado fans into this naturally beautiful environment.”

In a continuing effort to make Langerado a “Green” event, organizers plan to implement a wide variety of earth-friendly initiatives, such as the use bio-diesel fuels to power the stages, compostable vending materials, a festival-wide recycling and carbon-offsetting program.