With tents as far as the eye can see - three to four thousand - and a veritable taxonomy of types, styles and sizes, Melvil Dewey would have had (ahem) a field day. We’re here in Schwenksville at the 50th Annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. Starting tomorrow, headliners will include Arlo Guthrie, Tom Paxton, Jorma Kaukonen and The Levon Helm Band. If the Bohemian Grove’s annual stag enclave is where the rich and powerful (Republicans) go to misbehave, this is a retreat for the rest of us. There is an energy flow here on a direct lineage to Woodstock. And what Max Yaeger was to Woodstock, the Godshall family is to the PFF. (When not having a small circle of 25,000 friends over for the weekend, the land is farmed for animal feed.)
SLR has two exhibit areas, one in the concert area, where we've set up our Conscious Carnival, as well as a stage for sustainability workshops; the other is in the camping area, where we have our Green Marketplace, the best yet! plus a stage for After Dark performances, amplified then unplugged, until 3:00 AM. Priscilla, a SLR banner draped across her passenger side like a Miss America sash, provides the backdrop for this stage. Since the rear of Priscilla are my sleeping quarters, I am not sure how much shuteye I’ll get. On the other hand, I love good music and suspect I wouldn’t be wanting to sleep anyways.
Noteworthy and so worthy of noting, is the inclusion for the first time of the Philadelphia Jug Band on the Main Stage. I met several of its members last night as they strolled by. Forty-nine years ago, PJB first began coming to this production of the Philadelphia Folksong Society. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, they persevered, coming back year after year after year, content to play the campground stage.
In a way, they will be the real stars this weekend, once again proving… every dog has its day.
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