First Time Music Festival

       I'm 56 years old and have never been to  large music festival, with the exception of the New Orleans Jazz Festival, which doesn't count for my purposes here, since my companion and I stayed in a five star hotel and drank champagne for breakfast. I'm talking about a camping-out, four-day festival with thousands of other folks all doing the same, listening to bands, dancing, and partying. This afternoon I'm headed out to Magnolia Fest, located at the Suwanee Music Park, in Live Oak, FL, and after I finish writing this blog entry, it's time to do some last minute packing and go.

 

     
       I'm not sure what to expect, so I've based it all on what I've heard about Woodstock. I'm picturing round-the-clock folk music and a certain amount of playful pandemonium, including skinny dipping in the Suwanee River, and pot-smoking around the campfire. I've packed my peace sign tea shirt and my grubbiest bell bottom jeans, hoping to blend in as best I can. Many of my friends are attending the festival, and they've promised to show me the ropes.
       My beau, Bruce has purchased the tickets, thankfully, which were a whopping $325 for two people. But when you consider the artists appearing there this year, that's a bargain. Musicians include Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Donna The Buffalo, Paul Barberre and Fred Tackett of Little Feat, and nearly fifty more bands. Whew, that's quite a round up of music.
       There are cabins to rent on the premises, which some of my friends are taking advantage of, but Bruce and I are primitive camping with a few other people, and since this group attends the festival every year, they know what they're doing. The key is, from what I can surmise, is to get there early, set up your camp right away, and don't bring a lot of cooking equipment, because we are there to hear music, not to be grill chefs, nor dishwashers. And I'm all for that. A few finger foods liked cheese, crackers, nuts, cookies, and deviled eggs are tucked away in our coolers, along with seltzer and orange juice. There are vendors at the festival that can feed us if we get really lazy.
       Another perk of this festival is that most of our friends are also musicians, and those who don't play an instrument love to sing. So in between music sets we'll be jamming. Bruce and I have already gathered guitars, mandolins, ukuleles, banjos, and harmonicas, lined up and ready to go into the van when he gets home from work.
       I'll try to post some photos from our first day at Mag Fest tomorrow, if I can get some free WiFi while we're there. In the meantime, peace and love to all!