Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following essay about last year’s Floydfest was written for and submitted to this year’s festival program.

I catch myself smiling a lot at Floydfest, like I do at home in the garden.  Every whimsical encounter and seemingly random exchange with others feels like a line-up of destiny and adds to the whole of the enchantment that makes the festival weekend seem charmed.   And like dreams, the weather and other unpredictable events work their way into the Floydfest storybook narrative, a two hour black out, a full moon over Dreaming Creek stage, a drenching downpour.

This year, Donna the Buffalo played the torrential rains away with some shamanistic good licks and lyrics about the river of love and mystic waters.  As the clouds gave way to growing lakes of sky, I peeled off my oversized black hooded raincoat, given to me by my husband to wear after the wind turned our umbrella inside out.  Like a butterfly shedding its cocoon, I raised my arms in greeting to the sun and cheered with the rest of the crowd, joining those who had huddled under tents and now returned to be unified by a rousing sing along jam.  “Just a drop in the Floydfest weather bucket,” I turned to say to my sister Trish, a first time Floydfester.

The shower brought clouds with silver linings and breezes that felt inhabited by magic.  We must have been affected by the Blue Fairy’s dust because after that set, Trish and I flitted about like butterflies going from flower to flower.   So much nectar to be had everywhere we landed, a palm reading at a gypsy caravan wagon, a  homemade ice cream cone, a camel, a purple parasol, a microbrew in a bio-degradable vegetable-based cup, a 12-year old playing the fiddle by the side of the main walkway, and a hula hoop that made us giggle.

My sister has a high-stress banking job in Boston, Massachusetts. After a day spent at Floydfest, she saw the light of revival.  “I’ve been to the revival and I’m revived!” she shouted while listening to Railroad Earth at Hill Holler Stage. The band’s lullaby tunes gave me goosebumps.  Their rocking jams made me scrunch up my face while dancing.

As the afternoon settled into early evening and we were finally tired from dancing, we lay on the grass to watch the billowing clouds and people pass.  Later, at the Dreaming Creek stage, we gasped when we saw a large arched rainbow behind the stage. Like an exclamation point at the end of a fairytale day, it seemed to say, “This year’s festival is pure gold.”

Post notes: Floydfest 9/Breaking Ground, four days of non-stop music and entertainment off the Blue Ridge Parkway, is scheduled for this long weekend from July 22 – July 25.    To read last year’s preview story go HERE. For more information visit the Floydfest site go HERE.