Hello, Floydfest!
It’s year 14 and the theme is Fire on the Mountain. One of the first things I noticed on my walk through the main field was this giant wooden phoenix. It’s scheduled to be set on fire after headliner Grace Potter plays Saturday night and after festival-goers write what they want to let go of on it. The Phoenix is also the name of the fest founders (Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson’s) new music venue in Roanoke, the site of the pre-festival Battle of the Bands in which one band won the chance to open for Emilylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, who will be the festival’s closing act Sunday at 5:00. I stopped and watched some kids making giant bubbles.
I took this picture in the spirit of “What’s New at Floydfest.” The tent was closed for the night but first time Floydfest tent owner said he has every instrument from auto-harp to zither that people can get hands on time with. I asked him if he had any Uileann pipes and he said, no, but that he had the U letter covered.
Floydfest is Old Home Week for many of us Floydians who have been going and working there since day one. It’s always good to meet up with friends.
The crowds were good sized but not overpowering. I think the founders have hit the right balance in promoting the limited capacity best in festivals experience. I like to take ‘Where’s Waldo?’ crowd pictures and find Floyd friends in them. Hey, there’s my friend Holly front and center at the main stage.
This (The Sam Bush band) is who Holly was dancing to.
There were several new attractions in the Performance Arts area including high wire acrobatics, fire eaters and more.
The sunset was beautiful and a good reminder of the ultimate Fire on the Mountain.
There so many music choices at Floydfest that I usually listen to band videos and pick out a few beforehand that I want to make a point to hear. This band from Charlottsville, Chamomile and Whiskey, got Joe and I up dancing at the Workshop Porch. They play a hard driving Americana/Irish fusion. The guy whose hair is flying is from Dublin. Listen HERE.
Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers were the night’s highlight for me. Nicki looks like Cher and sings like a Sarah Mclachlan meets Janis Joplin.
See what I mean.
Read my pre-festival Floyd Press story HERE and read about day 2 of the festival HERE. There’s still four days of Floydfesting. More to come …
July 25th, 2015 12:27 am
Excellent shots! Looks like fun!
July 25th, 2015 6:35 am
It looks like fun, but crowded. Is it hard to get around?
July 25th, 2015 8:02 am
Looks good fun as always.
July 25th, 2015 8:57 am
Not hard to get around (if I can do it, you can?) because there are interesting stops along the way. VIP ticket holders get rides on golf carts in back of the main field and to and from the”glamcamp” grounds.
July 25th, 2015 9:37 am
[…] ran into my friend Bob (aka as Bob the Builder) who was taking a picture at the 20 foot Phoenix that (keeping with the theme Fire on the Mountain) is going to be lit up Sunday afternoon. He […]