Yesterday I went to the final day of this year's Thomas Point Bluegrass Festival. I arrived just after 10am, catching the second half of the opening act for the day. I left at a few minutes before 11pm. Thirteen hours of almost continuous music. The only time I left the stage area was during the one twenty minute break in music.
The park is a good place to have this size festival. There are sufficient facilities, the setting is beautiful, and the space separates loud and quiet effectively. The seating area is small enough that seeing is easy and hearing is a no brainer (aside from the occasional idiot who thinks the seating area is a nice place for a chat, with another 79 acres of park to talk in).
I was amazed by the number of campers. My guess is the vast majority of attendees camp at the park. There was one small field for day parking and many fields and groves for camping.
The organizers were very good at minimizing time between acts, many were separated by only two or three minutes. The only slow part of the day was the awards ceremony, which was very heavy with in jokes. I guess that's what happens when the same people get together every year for 29 years!
After 13 hours of sitting in the same chair listening to continuous music I wasn't up to staying for the after hours campfire jams.
I'm not going to go into the individual acts. There were some I liked a lot, some I didn't care for all that much. That distinction usually had to do with style and my personal preference rather than skill.
This festival runs for 4 days. One day had me pretty much bluegrassed out, but I'm still tempted to eat the whole enchilada, because I think the best parts might be the ones that take place off the program. (And I wouldn't sit in the same chair continuously for four days!)
The park is a good place to have this size festival. There are sufficient facilities, the setting is beautiful, and the space separates loud and quiet effectively. The seating area is small enough that seeing is easy and hearing is a no brainer (aside from the occasional idiot who thinks the seating area is a nice place for a chat, with another 79 acres of park to talk in).
I was amazed by the number of campers. My guess is the vast majority of attendees camp at the park. There was one small field for day parking and many fields and groves for camping.
The organizers were very good at minimizing time between acts, many were separated by only two or three minutes. The only slow part of the day was the awards ceremony, which was very heavy with in jokes. I guess that's what happens when the same people get together every year for 29 years!
After 13 hours of sitting in the same chair listening to continuous music I wasn't up to staying for the after hours campfire jams.
I'm not going to go into the individual acts. There were some I liked a lot, some I didn't care for all that much. That distinction usually had to do with style and my personal preference rather than skill.
This festival runs for 4 days. One day had me pretty much bluegrassed out, but I'm still tempted to eat the whole enchilada, because I think the best parts might be the ones that take place off the program. (And I wouldn't sit in the same chair continuously for four days!)