The festival afterglow is starting to fade, and here in the GrassRoots office, we're starting to get very excited for some of our late-summer plans, as well as some of the fun stuff we've got going this winter.
TRUMANSBURG FAIR MUSIC NIGHT - August 21
Keeping up with our favorite new tradition, this year will mark the second annual incarnation of the Ithaca music extravaganza at the Trumansburg Fair. It'll involve a slew of your favorite local musicians - Jeb Puryear, Tara Nevins, Sim Redmond, Hank Roberts, Crow Greenspun, Richie Stearns, Johnny Dowd, Kevin Kinsella, Mary Lorson, J-San, Trevor MacDonald, Rising Sun and E-Rich, and too many more to be named. It's going to be AWESOME, and the best part? It's free! You have to pay admission to the fair itself (which is a very affordable $4 and includes parking), but otherwise, it's a gift to the community from GrassRoots and these exceptional musicians. We'll see you there!
STATE THEATRE SERIES - Beginning Sept. 11
Kicking off this year's GrassRoots at the State Theatre will be an evening with Steve Earle and Allison Moorer. Those names speak for themselves, I think, and we're beside ourselves with excitement.
Also in the series will be Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on November 1, and The Flatlanders on April 1 of next year. This series was ludicrously fun for us last year, and we can't wait for them to start this year. Well, we actually can wait, because once it's State time, that means that summer is over. But at least these shows will be a great balm for the end of my favorite season.
And now, for some happy memories...
My personal favorite memory of the festival is as follows:
It's about 7:00 am on Sunday morning. I'm still awake, having zydeco danced until dawn. A group of musicians and festival staffers and friends find ourselves some pizza and perch ourselves on a pair of golf carts, gossiping and teasing each other about our various states of late-festival disarray. Suddenly, I hear what sounds like a gang war happening on the infield. It was very loud yelling, coming from two groups that were obviously opposing each other in some way. I kicked the masses off of my golf cart, and headed over to check out the scene and make sure things were okay. What did I discover? A large-scale kickball game! KICKBALL! If I hadn't been wearing flip-flops, I would've SO joined in. I love kickball. And what a wholesome, non-destructive way to burn off excessive alcohol before bedtime (actually, I had a feeling that about 50% of the players were still up, and the other 50% were the early-to-bed, early-to-rise types who had just woken up). Next year, I'm definitely campaigning for more kickball at GrassRoots. It's just awesome.
... and for those of you who need a slightly more visual experience to kick-start your memory, check out some of these videos:
GRASSROOTS COMPOSTING EFFORTS:
A NICE VIDEO FROM OLIVIER CONRARDY, A BELGIAN FILMMAKER:
Online Videos by Veoh.com
... and there are many more. And now it's your turn! What is your favorite memory of GrassRoots 2008? Leave a comment and let us know!
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4 comments:
This is very informative blog. I like to know about variousfestivals.
My favorite memory of the fest this year actually had nothing at all to do with the fest itself, but rather the ride on the shuttle bus from the camping/parking area to the fairgrounds. I happened to sit next to a family who were telling the story of how the mother went into labor for the youngest daughter while riding the shuttle to the festival 7 years ago. The telling of this story on the shuttle trip to the festival every year, has become a family tradition for them. What a wonderful heartwarming moment it was. I guess I'm going to have to write a song about the experience. You can bet that I'll be hanging around at the shuttle stop next year to see if I can be lucky enough to see them again.
i hope next year is as good as this one was. i heard a crazy rumor that they may not be a grassroots agan next year.... that cant be true right?
I hereby quash that rumor! Plans are already underway for GrassRoots 2009. Woo hoo!
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