FLOYD - If you're a lover of live music who's not yet been to FloydFest, picture Roanoke's Festival in the Park on steroids.

And out in the wilds of Patrick County instead of downtown Elmwood Park. And with a crunchy granola factor of 11 (on a scale of 1 to 10). With tofu pups for sale instead of hot dogs. And microbrewery beers (Vermont's Magic Hat and Charlottesville's Starr Hill) instead of Bud and Miller Lite.

With tie-dyed T-shirts instead of black Git-R-Dones.

With grown women in flowing skirts dancing with Hula-Hoops instead of tiny-tot majorettes in sequins.

In red-state Virginia, Floyd-

Fest is an island of blue.

Here's a handy field guide to FloydFest 4, which starts Friday and continues through Sunday.

What's new?

More musical acts, including seven stages' worth of near-concurrent music hailing from seven continents.

Headliners are Hot Tuna, Ani DiFranco and Donna the Buffalo. (See accompanying schedule or go to floydfest.com.)

Organizers Erika Johnson and Kris Hodges have added a permanent stage at the Global Village fire circle and late-night drumming site, with Middle Eastern percussionists (Raquy & the Cavemen), Afro-Latin soul music (Bryan Vargas & Ya Esta) and Ghanaian musicians who also perform magic and eat broken glass (African Showboyz).

What's that buzzing?

The Global Village will include several environment-friendly demonstrations, including one on how to convert cooking oil into bio-diesel fuel - don't try this at home - and a beekeeper who has manufactured a setup "where the bees can't rage on the audience," Johnson promises.

Festival attendees from farthest away:

A family of New Zealanders, followed by some Alaskans. Among the festi-val-going set, FloydFest is becoming known as the new MerleFest, the heralded Wilkesboro, N.C., roots-music event that some think has grown too large. FloydFest organizers drew 5,000 in 2004 and are aiming for 6,000 this year, whereas MerleFest's four-day festival brings in 80,000-plus.

The musician traveling farthest is Australian Xavier Rudd, who plays the didgeridoo among other instruments and has been likened to Kurt Cobain - on Prozac.

The average FloydFestian

... is about 40 years old, has been to college and maybe even grad school, drives from more than 100 miles away, is a homeowner somewhere in the mid-Atlantic region and has kids.

Cost

A three-day pass is $115. Daily passes are $40 for Friday, $50 for Saturday and $45 for Sunday. Children 12 and under are free with a paying adult. On-site camping is included with the purchase of a three-day pass or two consecutive single day passes. Pay at the gates or charge by phone (800)594-8499. For more information, call FloydFest at 745-3378.

If you want to sleep:

"Quiet camping" is designated directly beyond the Children's Universe.

For the young and restlessly hip: There are two other camping areas near the late-night action.

You can really get away from it all if you don't mind driving at night. Nearby Rocky Knob Campground is at milepost 167 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (first come, first served; no reservations allowed).

Don't have the stuff?

Among the more interesting vendors at FloydFest is Dancin' Dave's Festival Camping, run by an aging hippie named Dave who will set you up with a six-person tent complete with hammocks, blankets, pillows and even a stocked cooler. E-mail dncndave@newnorth.net or visit dancindave.com or call (715)277-2737.

Knots in your back?

Try the healing arts tent, where you'll find yoga classes, Rolfing demonstrations, Sufi dancing and a workshop called "Reading Personalities Through the Feet."

Parking

Park at the Chateau Morrisette parking area - follow signs on the Blue Ridge Parkway - and take a 5-minute shuttle ride to the FloydFest main gate; requested shuttle-service donation is $5/car/day or $10/car for the weekend.

Who's the ambience coordinator?

That's the official title for Barb Gillespie, who's responsible for the myriad flower beds and water ponds. This year, Black Dog Salvage made the beer garden fence out of 150-year-old Egyptian wrought iron and fashioned wrought-iron street lamps.

What if it rains?

The show goes on, lightning permitting and the creek don't rise. For the first time, FloydFest organizers purchased rain insurance, which insures outdoor event planners against rain of a half-inch or more. WDBJ-7 weatherman Robin Reed will be there with his beaker and raincoat measuring any precipitation.

How many paid workers?

"It's so random. It's, 'Oh, you can't pay your rent this month? Here,'" Johnson says. "We draw a minimal salary, enough to break even, and we pay our office manager."

Some 30 volunteers provide the rest. The Johnson-Hodges husband-and-wife team run the entire operation out of their 100-year-old Floyd County farmhouse, which does not have indoor plumbing.

Funniest scene from FloydFest 2004

A vendor of marshmallow guns made of PVC pipe came under attack by a health-freak dad who claimed the spray paint was coming off in his kids' mouths and exposing them to harmful chemicals. An observer offered a quick fix - turn the mouthpiece around - and, dude, everything was cool.

Next on the Johnson-Hodges agenda

The Floyd County Faire, timed around the fall colors, emphasizing both music and art, possibly this fall.

"Now that we've got all the stages and electrical outlets on the site, it's basically a plug-in, turn-on venue," Johnson said. Earlier this month, the couple staged Wine Down the Trail, a music and wine festival with Goose Creek Symphony as the headliner.

"There comes a point when it's like having kids: It's almost easier to have two than one," Johnson said.

Performance highlights On the Dreaming Creek Main Stage:

• Hot Tuna, Saturday 6:45 p.m.
• Donna The Buffalo, Saturday 9 p.m.
• Ani DiFranco, Sunday 6 p.m.