Floyd Fest: The Homecoming
Floyd Fest, our town’s yearly world music festival, is a people watchers paradise. My favorite part of the weekend festival – just six miles from my driveway on The Blue Ridge Parkway – is the cross section of people who attend it. Once on the sprawling grounds of open fields and wooded pathways, roles and differences tend to fall away, as people of all walks of life and ages speak the same language of “fun.”
Floyd Fest delivers what you’d expect from a premier music festival – great music, good food, creative arts and crafts, and a variety of children’s activities, but it has some special touches that you might not find anywhere else, like the lily pond landscaped with flowers, portable hand washing stations, a rock climbing wall, and a cyber café hosted by Floyd’s own Blue Nova. The timber wrights who built the impressive timber-framed main stage, roast a pig at their campsite each year. Sweetwater Bakery bakes bread onsite in their hand built brick oven.
While I enjoy intermingling with the mix of interesting people who attend Floyd Fest each year, I especially look forward to being re-united with Floyd friends, young and old, who, because of distance or the hectic pace of life, I don’t see nearly enough. This year, I kicked up some dust in the beer garden, dancing to the music of William Walter with Suzanne. I hadn’t seen my old Grateful Dead dancing companion, who lives in Arlington now, since last year’s Floyd Fest.
Last year, when I read poetry on the soapbox stage under the Floyd Fest Poet tree, I remember looking out and seeing Volker’s smiling face in the audience. Grown-up now and living in California, he was in town for Floyd Fest and made a point to come by and hear my reading. Volker was back again this year, this time with his sister Johanna, a past Floyd High School Salutatorian who went to the prom with my son, Josh, and loves the Red Sox nearly as much as he does.
Asa’s baby girl has gotten big. She was taking in the festival sights from the carrier on her daddy’s back. I snapped a picture of Joel holding his nearly year old daughter while her mother, unaware, danced to Donna and the Buffalo. 
Lyn Willow and I pulled up some grass and had lunch together when our paths crossed and we both discovered we were hungry. “We couldn’t have pulled this off if we planned it,” I told her, laughing.
Sitting in the shade of the Healing Arts tent catching up with Jeff, founder of the Blue Ridge School of Massage, I saw my friend Mara’s daughter rush past. “Kyla, did you put on some sunscreen?” I shouted out. She was on her way to march in the Children’s Parade.
It’s been estimated that over 10,000 would attend Floyd Fest this year, and from the look of the crowds, it may have been more. And yet, Floyd Fest feels like a small world, where town officials, artists, farmers, and business owners converge as families to share the beauty and music of our area and to welcome newcomers and new music into it. 
A homegrown homecoming, a cross pollination of the best in music and people, by the hands of the many, mostly volunteers, who guide it; Floyd Fest feels like home, because it is.
Photos: 1. Volker, Joe, and Suzanne listening to Mara spout poetry from the soapbox. 2. Colleen and Johanna re-united. 3. Asa and Indigo. 4. Debbie enjoying Donna and the Buffalo while Joel holds Cassandra who is waving.
August 1st, 2006 11:11 am
Makes me want to plan another trip to VA.
Next year I’ll time it for the festival.
August 1st, 2006 11:42 am
Well Colleen, I have enjoyed the Floyd Fest tour these past three days. It is great to have a yearly event such as that where you can go and share good times with family and friends. I thought it especially nice that friends as far away as California would make the journey back for the annual event. With weather being on top of everyone’s list these past couple of weeks it would appear that you all had weather which complimented the festival. That is really good.
With you kicking up your heels to the music and mentioning the Grateful Dead and obviously enjoying yourself it caused me to conger up thoughts of another outdoor festival of some 37 years ago a little north of you folks. I missed that one also. But I suspect that was a bit before your time.
August 1st, 2006 11:56 am
Hi Alan, You should read this past Loose Leaf post http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/2005/11/i_almost_went_to_woodstock.html entitled “I almost went to Woodstock.” I was old enough (just barely) but I had a good excuse as to why I didn’t make it.
Volker and Johanna’s mom still lives in Floyd so I think they coordinate the festival with a general visit home.
I’m so thankful that the weather cooperated this year. It hasn’t been so in the past. It wasn’t nearly as hot as it is now and has been the past two days.
Thanks for reading!
August 1st, 2006 12:26 pm
Well I’ll be doggone! Glad you pointed me to that past post. I thought about you possibly having something on your blog about Woodstock when the original thought hit me but I, like the majority in your referenced post, immediately assumed you were too young. Shoot – you were the perfect age. After reading your post I am glad you didn’t – but am amazed that you didn’t! And given your health situation at the time, I think saying that in hind site that might have been good not to go is an understatement. It sure wasn’t the most ideal place to be as you said, but man did they have some of the classic artists of the day performing there that weekend.
Thanks and later…
August 1st, 2006 3:45 pm
Wow…didn’t realize that Floyd Fest drew such a large crowd. 4th of July here on the island drew 5,000 I was told.
MAJOR MUDD? WOW! I went back to read your Woodstock post also and saw your mention of this old Boston TV show. I remember it well….my kids watched it and I also remember Candlepins for Cash…..another name out of the past. I used to watch that show with my dad…heck, probably saw your mom on it.
August 1st, 2006 9:00 pm
Oh My, Colleen…what a great event this was….And the way you write about it, and the pictures…I feel I am/was there. Oh how I wish I could have been….
And, those who orginize it and pull it off—WOW! They deserve a Standing Ovation!
An Amazing Event Colleen, that through you, WE get to see and ‘feel’ the creative energy that made it exist, and this is what makes me feel I was sort of ‘there’…
August 1st, 2006 10:19 pm
I am guessing it was more than 10,000…
and that was what so impressed me my first trip was the special touches…the ponds, the nice timber stage, the flower gardens scattered about. For some reason I even like walking thru the “enchanted” forest of tents (is it dancing Dan’s?) and my favorite…the lights in the beer garden.
August 2nd, 2006 8:17 am
Why am I not surprised you like the Grateful Dead. My best gal pal LOVED them and saw them 70 times or something like that….
Thanks for sharing this amazing time and meeting your friends.
As far as the computer and the Universe….oh yeah. The Universe is always trying to get us to pay attention and they will use any means possible…
August 2nd, 2006 9:12 am
Colleen, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed every minute of my virtual visit to Floyd Fest! 🙂
August 2nd, 2006 9:17 am
So good to hear from you, Lu. And I’m not done with Floyd Fest just yet!
Nancy, I wasn’t big on the Dead in the 70s, but my husband got me into the phenomena in the 80’s. #4 on this post http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/2005/03/getting_to_know_you.html “10 things I’ve done that you probably haven’t” reads: I put a down payment on my own home using money I earned vending my jewerly at Grateful Dead concerts.
August 2nd, 2006 11:48 am
Wonderful accounting of the fest – and now I am certain that I will make it there someday! Looks like so much fun!
August 2nd, 2006 6:45 pm
Just getting caught up since we are still here in sweltering, heat warning, humidity laden New York. Too hot to be out and about today. Last night at midnight it was still 87 degrees.
Wow! With all those people at Floyd Fest, Nyssa’s friend Stavros and his group were probably “lost in the crowd”. Looks like a fun time was had by all.