Loose Leaf Notes

It’s actually Floydfest #15 but is being called 16 to match the year, because this year’s theme is Dreamweavin’ and it’s a Floydfest leap year, wrinkle in time.

After going to every single Floydfest since the beginning, when I first arrive each year I don’t know how old I am or what year it is because they all blur together and, for me, being at Floydfest really is like dream time. You never know what kind of wild thing you will see.

Thursday was day one of four, and I had to make a list, like I do when I grocery shop, or when I go to an art museum, of what music and acts I wanted to see.  I got there in time to see my friend and dancer extraordinaire Katie Wells perform with Lobo Marino.

I call the shot above “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” because that’s my husband Joe (watching Katie) carrying a new yoga bag and wearing a new festival hat!

Catching up with some sweet Floyd friends was very grounding.

Now this is something out of dream time.  Face painter Susan Saunders paints mushrooms on her own face while looking into a jeweled mirror.

Dancers at the Speak Easy remind me what Floydfest is all about.

They made me smile at the fun they were having moving to the sounds of Rebekah Todd & the Oddyssey.

I spontaneously started singing “It’s a family affair” when I arrived at Tom Phelps Pottery vending booth. This was the first Floydfest that Tom (one of the chiefs of the Floyd tribe) has missed.  He passed away in the fall, but his family carries on.  I learned that his grandchildren (Eva with Tom’s son/her dad Seth) are making pottery now.

It was great to see Kerry Underwood in the VIP café tent.  Kerry is the founder of Five Mile Mountain Distillery and was selling his handcrafted, Floyd-grown, legal moonshine, the first in Floyd since prohibition.  Check them out on Facebook and visit the distillery when you’re in Floyd for some tasting.

Look who else I ran into at the VIP cafe tent. I guess good looks runs in their family.  It’s Floydfest co-founder Erika Johnson’s mom and grandmother getting in the festival spirit!

My friends, Toby and Karl, were messing around while waiting for Bombino to play. I told Toby I was going to blackmail him with this shot.

Check out a clip from Bombino’s music, a blend of traditional African music and rock, HERE.

Some friends are new, like this woman from Florida, getting in on some pre-Bombino fun for her first Floydfest experience.

And this it the spot where a guy who drank a little too much craft beer offered to take our picture and then dropped my camera. Ouch!  My neighbors, Suzi and Dennis, and I are standing in what I was calling Floyd Food Row, all farm-to-table festival food booths, Fat Bean, Cast Iron Catering and Dogtown Pizza, from Floyd!

Dinner was under a mostly blue sky with a crowd of happy friends, or was that a dream I was weaving?

Read about past Floydfest’s HERE.