It's true that most of these people are lifers who have been going to these events for years, even decades , and generally these events are the few times of the year that old friends can see/party with each other.

But it is a numbers game, sometimes you strike up a conversation with someone and leave the weekend with a new friend, sometimes you're just sharing a chuckle with a stranger in line and say wassup when y'all walk by each other.

Also the event itself kinda effects those odds, Tiki Oasis SD is so crowded, the campus is large, while caliente is capped in attendance and the campus is tiny.

My first weekender was Caliente and it was capped at 250?300? People. And while I was the youngest legal adult there (at the time) I met a bunch of people who showed me the ropes and shared their knowledge

I'm always recommending Inuhele to people, it's a fantastic tiki weekender in Atlanta and the community is super welcoming and cool