Memorial Day weekend was just the finest, most fun weekend ever. I was so excited for it to happen and it lived up to all my expectations. We had a houseful of people in our Cumberland house, two of our boys, some of their friends and a few of our friends. We were up there to go to Delfest, a 'newgrass' festival with Old Crow Medicine Show and Yonder Mountain String Band as headliners, and of course, the Del McCrory Band. But there were so many bands and such diversity that it appealed to many tastes.
Upon entering the festival, these colorful ribbons greeted us. You could cut a length of ribbon, write something on it and your message would be taken by the wind into the fest.
There are two stages, the Potomac stage, a smaller, more intimate setting.
And the main stage in the 'Meadow', which is a giant lawn area surrounded by food vendors and craft vendors. You set up in the middle with everything you need, chairs, blankets, hoops, shade tents, etc. The weather was so cool and beautiful. In years past, it's always been blasted hot, with no shade and then it rains in the afternoon.
...or this...4 years ago, a super cell storm hung over Delfest for over an hour and a half, dumping inches of rain, huge hail, high winds, lightening, and a load of fright. I blogged about it here. We were stuck there in the throes of the storm for the entire time. I've seen some super scary storms in my life, growing up in the prairie lands, but this was by far the scariest. Only two people got struck by lightening and no one died so at least it wasn't deadly.
This was the aftermath. Of course the show was cancelled for Saturday, but somehow they got the stage fixed and resumed on a smaller scale on Sunday.
But for this festival, the skies were clear, the temps cool, no humidity, a recipe for a perfect day.
Delfest takes place at the Allegany Fairgrounds outside of Cumberland, a beautiful setting along the Potomac River with these cliffs right on the other side of the river.
The music is the main draw and they had quite a lineup this year, including The Carolina Chocolate Drops, my favorite group of this festival. Amazing performers and musicians, they entertained to the max.
We met a few of our friends, Beth and Andy.
I got to party all weekend with two of my boys, Garrett and Forrest.
Seal and her family came up too.
Mirium, our friend from DC and Laura, all the way from London.
Mirium, our friend from DC and Laura, all the way from London.
Here are a few of us being silly. No alcohol involved!
Garrett and Georgia
Georgia had gotten bit by probably a spider and had swelled up a bit and her leg was uncomfortable. She went to the med tent but they didn't have any cortisone cream. I remembered that I had made a poultice out of plantain back in my hippie days so I went and gathered some in the untrampled grass, tore it up to release it's healing juice and as Georgia was rubbing it on her bite, I looked through my bag for something to make it stay on her leg. I tore up one of my knitting patterns, broke off a strand of yarn, put the plantain underneath the paper, wrapped the yarn around and she was good to go! I wasn't a hippie for nothing!
Delfest is now known for for music and hoopin'. So many of us were hooping, we had to move to the back so we had more room.
My friend, Piver, is an expert hooper, teaching classes, making instructional videos and always helps me out with some new tricks. Her site
But I drop the hoop a lot.
So much fun and some good boot action too!
Garrett got into it
and was showing off some cool moves.
His girlfriend, Georgia, even got into the action, never hooped before and picked it right up.
And plenty of kids were hooping.
Some artists were plein air painting, surrounded by crowds dancing away.
A woman had put up a slack line and entertained folks for awhile then let other people, mostly kids, try their balance on the thin rope.
These fantastic puppets walked around the fest.
The giraffe even went into the photo booth, horizontally.
The food was actually very good, especially for fair food. This place had quinoa with various toppings and the best mac and cheese I've had. There was a Mediterranean vendor, Chinese food and of course they had pizza, but even that was good.
Teepee/hoop holder
Many ways of getting around...
Calistoga wagon, a great way to get around.
I didn't get many pics of people but there are many colorful folks that attend this concert. It's really a hippie fest and it's so refreshing to see so many alternative people out there.
This man was complimenting this young woman on her awesome tattoo.
A few of us left as the sun set on the third night of the fest. We'd hooped, eaten, drank and listened to music to our heart's content.
Bye Delfest! Until next year, ciao!
