the Next Chapter: From a Rock Star to a Legend and then a Folk Festival

Monday, September 3, 2012

From a Rock Star to a Legend and then a Folk Festival

My last entry was all about Lance.

Since then another Armstrong has been in the news as he passed away, the one who was the first man on the moon. Don't confuse the two, or mix them up with Neil Young as some of the media did as the news broke. I see people tripping over themselves in the rush to get news out and having made the same sort of mistakes (on much smaller stories!) I do have compassion for them even as others point a finger.

So on that note I'll move on to Grafton and the Shelter Valley Folk Festival. This past weekend saw the 9th edition and from all accounts it was the smoothest to date. The weather co-operated and the talent they had lined up was awesome.

I volunteered at this event last year and enjoyed it. I volunteered again, as part of the advance site crew and enjoyed it even more. I was there setting up the big-top tent for hospitality. And I was there for most of the week leading up to the festival setting up tents, cleaning chairs, distributing tables and getting the main stage ready. And camping at the top of the hill during the week as we all got it together.

Meeting some of the other volunteers was awesome. The electrical crew, security, and other parts of "advance" are filled with dedicated folks! The people who work in hospitality and make sure we all eat well deserve extra credit... the food alone is worth the volunteer time! And the evening campfires are too. It was great to listen to some of the other volunteers (like Jordy) who muscle their way through the day and still have the energy to pluck a guitar and sing a song as the evening unfolds.

And then there's the festival itself... last year I missed a lot of it and so I only had a few photos and a small selection of videos to put on YT. This year I had all my time done and got to enjoy the event to the fullest. For me that included taking lots of photos and some videos, I'm still going through them all but I have a small early gallery to share. I'm off to Quebec City and then Montreal this week so I won't finish this all up until I get back in a week or so.

And for the record, I'm looking forward to this last major work trip... I love QC and look forward to spending some time there. I know I'll go to my favourite crepe spot!