Gettin' Our Folk On...

Well, when all was said and done, Folk Fest was a success.

It was a long weekend of getting up early after late nights, lugging wares, dodging bad weather, and praying for customers to give us money , so we could participate in the capitalism of Folk Fest purchasing cigarettes, over-priced vendor food, and over-priced pub pints.

In looking back at my photos from the weekend, the majority of them are of myself and my helper monkey friends lazing and dozing on the grass in and around our tent. We were a tired bunch of hippies this weekend, but we persevered, and ended up having a fantabulous time. Naps in the grass are a wonderful thing.


Sales were slow, but we did make a profit. I wish we would have done better, but we were up against inclement moody weather, the rising cost of ticket prices and the fact that everybody in town seemed to have spent their money on August long weekend.

It was nice to see customers from previous festivals come back for more, and to see my wares in the arms of happy new customers around the park, showing off their new bag or skirt. It really gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside when someone is ecstatic about something that you created.

The best part of the festival, were the roaming friends who were always popping in for a visit, be it just a few minutes, or a few hours. We had friends bringing us meals and snacks, and drinks and good conversation. We were a popular tent for visiting and laughing, and it made me feel even more warm and fuzzy to have those wonderful people around me as I sat in the tent for 3 days. I hope they took me seriously when I told them how grateful I was for their help, and told them how much I loved them. The weekend just wouldn't have been the same without their presence.

I love our local Folk Festival, and have attended every single year, since I moved to The City. But I was disturbed by the fact that we didn't get free tickets to the shows, didn't have a place to park, and that we weren't even invited to the after parties this year. All day Sunday, I was talking about how much I wished that I could see Blue Rodeo, and complained about the less than stellar treatment of the vendors.

Moments before Blue Rodeo was to hit the stage, our friend Jules, who had a weekend pass, looked at me, asked me if I wanted to go in to the main stage, and wriggled her hand out of the green bracelet that held all the power to get me through the waist high orange gates. I lubed up my hand with lotion, and slipped it on.

"I'm going in!" I yelled, as I dodged hugs and high fives from friends who were stuck watching from over the fence and atop the cenotaph. I ran into the gates, holding up my wristband for all to see.

It took mere seconds to find a group of friends with leftover drink tickets. I grabbed myself a beer, and we headed up to the stage. We sang and danced and cried and I took some horrible pictures that didn't turn out at all. Thankfully, I was with B-Rock the Rock-tographer, and I am sure that he got some great shots. It was a fantastic finale to an exhausting but fun weekend.

Today, it's back to reality. Work commitments of all kinds are beckoning me. My Oldsmobile needs to get taken to the big salvage yard in the sky. TypicalQuirk and Hobbsley are leaving this coming weekend, and there is intense housecleaning and party planning to be completed. I haven't showered or combed my hair since Thursday night.

Summer is, rather unfortunately, coming to a close and every moment is planned out for me. Luckily, it'll only be fun and games for a few more weeks, and with the festivals out of the way for this year, I have one less responsibility to worry about, and can just concentrate on having a darn good time.