...Saturday, 7:00AM, in the lotto corral continued
At 9:30AM, the doors will open and we’ll be walked in our groups in order. When we arrive on site we will be instructed to WALK our tarps to our preferred spots. Of course everyone breaks out into their best impression of a champion run-walking racer. Some may even qualify for the Canadian Olympic team. The whole system is in sharp contrast to how the lineup worked in my youth. I met the guy who broke his leg in the last year the seating was decided by a tarp RUN which saw hundreds running from the top and bottom of the hill. Just think about the best parts of any gladiator movies and switch out the weapons for lawn chairs & flip flops and you’ll get the idea of how this used to go. The lotto is truly one of my favourite parts of the festival. And one of the very few occasions in my life where I’m pleased to be out of my bed before 6:30 am. I wouldn’t miss this adventure, this community builder, this Folk Festival, ‘game of cribbage’.
12:00PM, re-entering the park
Foy vance is playing as we re-enter the park at noon for the day. I have to admit to having had to take a nap after the intensity of the lotto. Foy Vance is one of those artists that has been in my vinyl collection now for a couple of years yet his records don’t come out often enough. His live performance couldn’t possibly be captured in recordings but if you don’t get the opportunity to see him live get yourself to Listen or Blackbyrd grab his albums. As Foy plays his brand of Van Morrison-esque musing, I see the empty tarps on the main stage hill popping up above the apex of the workshop stage 7. Odd how we all worked so hard to find our spot on the main hill only to see them empty now. That will change in a few hours.
2:00PM, on the main stage tarp
Treat your Folk Fest acquaintances with something every chance you get. One day they may become your friends. We met our friend Janelle at her booth at the EFF marketplace three years ago. She’s invited to our wedding now. Today we brought her to our main stage tarp for the 2pm throw-down with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. After our invite & copious hugs, we make our way to the hill. Skaggs is already in full swing as we bob our way to our tarp to find our fabric EFF chairs. Ten minutes in, our friend turns to us and exclaims “I’m having one of my best Folk Fest moments ever!”. She explains how she never gets to step away from her booth or see many of the acts, let alone in a comfy seat close to the main stage. Sharing with Janelle seems to have lifted her already high spirits. That honestly makes my day.
3:30PM, in search of shade
After an hour of Kentucky Thunder I could use a bit of overcast to block out the sun. We wander the grounds looking for a shady spot to listen from. As soon as we start, we find my brother and his boyfriend in the very spot we’d been looking for. We sit down as the horn section of Anderson East continues to heat me up. I never mind a bit of extra heat from a horn section.
4:00PM, Stage 3, in the shade
The EFF stages don’t often feature artists with overt political references save for those ideas that bring all ideologies together in general. World hunger and equality are spoken of in ways that everyone here can get behind. The hill is traditionally where the more left of centre amass but never have these concerts become a rallying against other, ’sides’. Today is different however. As we move from stage to stage I have noticed a new energy from the crowds. But moreover from the artists. Especially the American artists. Tift Merritt strums her tune and vaguely sounds like a cross between Emmylou Harris and Martha Wainwright. She is beautiful and so is her heart. “Are there any Canadian men looking to get married?”, or something close comes directly after her song. Tift laments the position the president has put her country in. We all seem to understand. This morning we all found out that the state of Virginia is at war with a small group of literal neo-Nazis. They’ve been emboldened by each of the so- called president’s statements on the events. Hard for me to let the spirit of the Folk Fest sweep over me entirely when I see some of the US artists working through the day’s events in real time. Tift adds, “Theres a new state of hubris these days, so we’re gonna have to let Icarus off the hook”. I’m with Tift Merritt and it appears the rest of the crowd is too.
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