Happiness through the music community
Festivals of music, dance, community, peace, love, and compost.
I go to music festivals to study the craft of other performers, to get lost in the music, to learn about the inner workings of hosting a festival, and to become part of a community that embraces music, dance, community, peace, love, and compost.
In this blog, I'll share the festivals I attend and the experiences I encounter, musical and otherwise.
Great Blue Heron Music Festival - Sherman, NY - July 5-7, 2019
The Blue Heron Music Festival usually falls on the first weekend in July. The location is on a working farm in Sherman, NY, so far south and so far west in New York State that it's almost in Pennsylvania. The festival is hosted by Donna the Buffalo and the folks who own the farm and, being a farm girl, I find this particularly inspiring. There are 3 stages- Main Stage, Dance Tent, and the stage in the woods for more acoustic acts. You can come for the afternoon, or dance through the evening and "camp a little while in the wilderness" (that's a reference to an old Appalachian song).
Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance - Trumansburg, NY - July 18-21, 2019
Grassroots Festivals are also hosted by Donna the Buffalo, but they happen during multiple seasons in different states along the east cost. These festivals are meant to support local musicians and culture, so bands vary depending on location. Grassroots in Trumansburg has food vendors from surrounding cities, along with the traveling troupe that cooks food at all the Grassroots festivals on the east coast. Last summer, I had the pleasure of volunteering in the Hospitality tent, washing dishes and preparing food for folks. It's a great way to meet people, to feel useful, and to get free admission into the festival. There are lots of options to volunteer, and your shifts are scheduled around the bands that you want to see.