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ALREADY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 20TH...
Well, it was our first time and hopefully it was the first of many. I can hardly believe how amazing and wonderful the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance would be and was. There were so many great moments creating lots of wonderful memories that they are simply too numerous and varied to list them individually. Instead here is my brief recap of our festival experience.
Just arriving to bustling Trumansburg and the Fairground area increased the excitement. There were people absolutely everywhere and it seemed they were all in a festival state of mind; excited, colorful, diverse, and sincerely happy to be there. Old friends met with new ones and the party kept growing with each arrival. As with the Great Blue Heron Fest there was a huge range of age, geography, diversity, and miscellany all around. Babies waiting to be born, in a couple of cases it looked like any day, to tots and teens and tweens, twenties, thirties, on through and beyond to people with the salt and pepper seasoning of life in their appearance.
You know, I'm still not sure which age group danced more. The kids bopped around with boundless energy; the teens created new dance moves and circles or cavorted throughout the festival; and everybody, absolutely every body was moved in some way by the music. One of my favorite sights has always been the cadenced dancers that flow together in time with the music. Couples whose steps have matched from the first dance to individuals that just seem to have the melody in their feet and step in time with their partner at the moment. It didn't matter if one dancer was 20 something and their partner was 60, their feet kept time with the music. The tots are another of my favorite dance memories. They simply allow the music to move them. No set steps, no measured moves ~ just dancing for fun.
As for the music, awesome, amazing, wonderful, toe tapping, heartening, incredible, and hundreds more accolades to the artists and performers. Seriously, you all outdid yourselves! What's more, it was totally apparent that each group really enjoyed the experience as well. I hope we blew you away and warmed your hearts with our sincere, thunderous applause! You all deserve hugs, pats on the backs, and even awards for the phenomenal performances you presented! To name just one or two groups would not do proper justice to the many tremendously talented performers that participated. Of course, we have our favorite groups and favorite performances, but we'll leave it at that... However, it was clear that every single performer brought their very, very best to the festival and they all had fun too.
Of course, there were free hugs at the event and peace ruled the days. Composting was the core theme of this year's festival and all of the vendors stock was compostable. The plates, forks, spoons, containers, product -- everything was compostable. It was actually a requirement for vendors at the 2009 Grassroots Fest and there were clearly marked bins for every type of waste, which festival volunteers kept clean.
There was art and education and music in everything and impromptu performance pieces were all over the place. I saw one group teetering on a makeshift tightrope; a seven or ten piece "found objects band" marking the beat with empty jugs, cans, and boxes; hula hoop dancers that managed to keep their hoops in motion to the music; and drumming circles everywhere. The art wall and VW bus behind the Dance Tent had decoration on top of art on top of decoration. And there was the rare and special treat of an art gallery full of local talent on the premises. It was a wonderful place to visit and contemplate -- rain or shine.
The little kid area had all kinds of great toys to help the kids have some homegrown fun. Many of the items looked like they might have come from someone's family playroom with slides and playhouses and colorful imagination generators. I'm sure they were well worn and much enjoyed by the end of the festival. Every time I went by the area it was full of laughing, playing kids.
There were dreadlocks and carefully manicured coifs merging among hats and baldheads and unique hair colors. There was the almost inevitable tie-dye garments and flowing skirts counter pointed by crisp pressed cottons, suits, shorts, jeans, and so much more. Everyone brought their own style to interact with the festival partiers. I even saw one young man looking dapper yet wrinkled in an old-fashioned style tux.
The food was delicious and the choices were really impressive. Laotian/Thai foods next to wholesome juices, BBQ near Vegetarian, Indian fare in close quarters with hots and hamburgers. Whatever your preference there was something for everyone to enjoy and some new things to try, like alligator, Native American Indian foods and wares were also very well represented. Plus, there was a family walking the crowds selling homemade Quaker Oatmeal Cookies. They sure made a lot of cookies and hopefully sold a lot too.
After dining on your own homemade goodies or gobbling some of the festival foods you could stroll through the fairgrounds browsing and shopping at a variety of vendors. Faerie wings flew off the shelf onto a LOT of ladies shoulders. Henna tattoos and the very clever painted make-up tattoos increased in number as the festival wore on. There was a medley of drums and hemp bags; tie-dye clothes and lovely jewelry; fancy home decor and amazing artistic tees and lots more.
The whole weekend was just completely amazing and I wonder how I enjoyed life before the festivals. We had so much fun that I have very little to compare it with. The joy of the experience might be equivalent to bouncing around in the cool surf on a steamy hot summer day or going as high as you can on a swing, but it's much more... I still feel energized, renewed, and truly happy from the festival.
When do tickets for the 20th annual Grassroots Festival go on sale? I'll try to be at the front of the virtual line because I almost cannot wait to go again! Hope to see y'all there!
Cheryl
cb@greatbluerootsradio.net
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