Friday September 4, 2020

Today is the beginning of Labor day weekend, and is the first time in more than 30 years that I am not attending the Rhythm and Roots festival at Ninigret Park in Charlestown, RI.  (formerly Cajun and Bluegrass festival).  In 1987 I went to the Cajun Festival at Stepping Stone ranch for a day, with a guyfrom work.  That relationship did not pan out, but once I saw Queen Ida and Beausoleil,  among others, I  was immediately swept off my feet in a love affair with Cajun and Zydeco music, and the whole festival vibe.   The following year I returned with some friends, again for just a day.  They liked it but were not as into it as I was.  Finally, in 1989 I decided to sign up as a volunteer, because it was free and I could camp out there all weekend.  The Sunday before I was going to the ranch for a volunteer meeting, and told Sara about my plan, and she wanted to join me.  So we both volunteered together.  I worked in the children’s area and she did staff kitchen duty. From then on I was hooked.  We went the next few years together as volunteers,  having the most fun possible in a weekend, with very little sleep and hardly any expenses, except for maybe a case of beer.   The Children’s area duty was fun but exhausting, (because some people would just drop their kids there while they went off to party) so in the following years, I moved on to the Information booth and Ticket Sales, while she stuck with Kitchen duty.   When I would return home on the Monday, I’d sleep and relive the magic of the festival in my head, riding the rhythms of the Cajun and zydeco music, the way you feel like when you return from a day at the beach and feel like you’re still riding the waves.  Back then, I would only see the other festival people once a year and it was so sad knowing  you’d have to wait a whole year to do it again.

In the early 1990’s another festival was born at the ranch, the Big Easy Bash, which featured Tex-Mex , blues, and other southern music along with Cajun and Zydeco.  With artists like Marcia Ball and the Subdudes, it had more of a New Orleans feel than the Cajun/ Bluegrass festival, which had more of a country vibe.     The first time I went to this one, I volunteered solo and this was the first time I did a whole weekend fest by myself, but not really by myself since I was part of the crew.   At the Cajun festival in 1991, I met my (now brother in law) Pete, and on 1992 I went with  (now husband) Joe to the Big Easy Bash, I as a volunteer and he and Pete as paying customers. By Labor Day they had both joined the crew with me, selling merchandise.  We did that and /or ticket sales  for the next few years up until the time the festival moved to Ninigret Park, in 1998.  That year we worked on the shower crew but decided to quit volunteering after that in order to have more time to enjoy the festival and hang out with our non-staff camping friends.   Every year we would get there at the crack of dawn on Friday morning, lining up to get inside.  Seemed like everyone would always stress over getting “their spot” but we all usually ended up in roughly the same area, and that’s how I got to know everyone over the years.  Every year after the music on the festival stages ended, I would jam with the people I was camping with, along with friends from  RI, Mass, Connecticut , NY, Canada and elsewhere.   Some of them I only  saw at this festival, while others I would come across at other jams and festivals during the year, which became more prevalent.  It got to the point where there would be a festival almost every weekend in the summer, sometimes 2-3 to choose from.  All good times, and all stemming from the Cajun & Bluegrass festival in RI on Labor Day weekend.  Around 2012 we started volunteering again, partly because I wanted to avoid the stress of getting there early Friday morning, since volunteers could show up a day early.

Now, in 2020, this is the first time I am missing out on this festival (along with all the other ones that have been cancelled or postponed due to the Coronovirus pandemic. )  I plan to meet up with some of my jamming friends for part of the weekend, and tuning into the live-stream broadcasts of past Rhythm and Roots festivals for the rest of the weekend as much as possible.  And hoping that everyone stays healthy and safe so we can resume our regularly scheduled Festive Living next year, in 2021!