A bluegrass festival is so much more than the music

Greetings from the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in Oak Hill, NY… just south of Albany, in the foothills of the Catskill mountains.
This is Del McCoury (on the JumboTron). Yes, the photo is ‘backwards’. I was standing backstage behind the JumboTron, so all images were reversed. Del turns 75 this year, and the Grey Fox crowd LOVED celebrating his milestone!

This festival is one of the largest I’ve ever attended. Here’s a portion of the campground, looking down from halfway up the hill to the main stage. There are vendors and sponsor tents in the front row, with a sea of campsites in the background. This is about 20% of the festival area, which includes 5 different stages (which run concurrently), plus thousands of campsites, and miles of parking spaces.

Then, there’s the music! This is The Dry Branch Fire Squad, the host band for this festival. I took this photo backstage, from one of the wings of this huge, portable stage.

Here’s what the main stage looks like from the back. It’s the big, dark ‘box’ in the back. It’s huge! It arrives via tractor trailer, and unfolds into this huge stage, with lighting racks and side wings. Pretty amazing. Since I was one of the emcees, I got backstage access (and that’s why all the photos are taken from behind the stage!). The ID checkpoint is in the foreground of this photo. The interesting pillared building on the left is the ‘merch tent’ – a temporary building that serves as the festival store: T-shirts, cds, and all things band-related.

Meanwhile, over at the dance tent, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are bringing the house down! Again, I’m backstage, looking out at the crowd. In subsequent photos, you’ll see this tent as the one with all the points on top. This tent is rockin’ all day and night with great dance music – and even daily dance lessons!

Here’s Elephant Revival, also packing ’em in the dance tent. Their set was great, and Bonnie Paine – the woman in the pink dress – played the washboard in special ‘washboard gloves’, while playing percussion with her feet (on a stomp board). Listen to String Fever to hear some of their music!

Meanwhile, over at the Creekside stage, Bluegrass Karaoke is taking center stage. Meet Lucy, an amateur performer who also facilitates morning yoga at the Grey Fox Festival. Like I said, there’s a lot more here than just the music!

I’m on my way back up to the main stage, past the vendors and port-a-potties.

Up in the sky — hard to see, but it’s a huge flying pig! Oh yeah, the clouds are nice, too. The pig is that little dot on the right, just above the horizon. Why didn’t I think to bring a flying pig with me?

There’s a lot of walking at this festival, but so many nice people to meet along the way! This family is getting ready for a full night of music under the stars… but first, the long haul from the parking field to the big stage. Everybody helps…..

Meet the glitter fairy! She sprinkles almost everyone with ‘fairy dust’. If she gets you, you’ll glitter all night. She’s one of many roving artists and characters at this festival.

… more climbing…. again. Camping is down the hill. Food is up the hill. Simple as that. Count on at least a few trips up and down each day.

Meet Shelly, our assistant stage manager. When she’s not volunteering at this festival, she’s a veterinarian in Baltimore, MD. There are so many interesting people here!  Shelly does everything that’s needed:  she picks up musicians at the gate and delivers them (and their instruments) to the stage area.  She also transports performers from one stage to another (did I mention there are five stages here?).  She delivers food.  She reads minds.  She delivers whatever’s needed.  She usually has a radio in one hand, and cell phone in the other.  Her job is a VERY busy one.

Now that it’s dark, it’s easier to see how big this stage is. The performers are on the right – that glowing blob – and the entire audience gets a close-up view on the JumboTron. There’s one on each side of the stage.

… and there’s Del McCoury again, with his whole band – on the Jumbo screen.

It was our lucky night! There were fireworks in nearby Oak Hill! This display lasted over half an hour — too bad the performers couldn’t see it. It all took place behind the stage, but it was fabulous!

… and all too soon, it’s over. Because I emcee until the very end of the festival, there’s no traffic jam by the time I’m ready to leave. It’s hard to imagine thousands of people- and so many structures- coming and going within a week. By the time you read this post, all the big top tents, the main stage, and all the other temporary structures will be gone. So will the people… until next year. I hope I’ll see you there!