Showing the Colors

By Donald Frazier

One glance around the festival grounds confirms our observation that something very much like a festival-going lifestyle has emerged. And it’s not just youthful party animals either (although the ‘Brews’ part of this year’s event has certainly attracted a good number of them as well!). It’s people in their forties and fifties who come out in force as well.

To judge by their teeshirts, these festivarians are a broad-minded lot. Sure, we saw the logos for a number of blues-themed events. But they also attend festivals for jazz, indie rock, mainstream rock, country, bluegrass, folk, and even classical music. They attend these events all over the country and beyond, from Georgia and Rhode Island to British Columbia and even Spain. They travel great distances, such as the Festival Preview neighbor who rode out on his Harley from Scranton, Pennsylvania.

And they come well-prepared to party. From their lovingly-prepared campsites, taking in the festivals is not something they do casually. Rather, it’s something they take quite seriously, packing in and setting up with the supplies and the well-practiced order of a military campaign. All the better for those of us who need to borrow a working stove but hey, the spirit of sharing is where it’s been at ever since Woodstock.