Life off the grid 23 -
Friday, July 6
One of Heather's
musical collaborators was playing the Young Performers stage. Yes,
the one she was jamming with last night, Nyk Bielak. So, of course,
we went to see him.
If you want to see Heather and Nyk's video, go here
I didn't take a lot of
photos at the festival site during the day. It was very hot and a
35mm camera with bag and telephoto lens is heavy to haul around.
Late afternoon I went
back to the campsite to set up the campfire. All it needs is a
match...
The Mayan Temple,
complete with pianist – what more could you want?
There is a lot of
creativity evident in the way people decorate their tents and sites.
The place is glorious with colour and movement!
The Winnipeg Folk
Festival campground is like a wildlife preserve for radical hippie
freaks. It is very, very cool. Police are evident outside the
perimeter of the campground and outside the festival grounds, but
seldom venture inside and only if responding to an emergency
situation. Of which there are very few. Consequently, folks feel
pretty comfortable to behave as they choose. Some (mostly men) go
nude in the campground. A lot of people are high. There is drumming
everywhere, random jams, spontaneous interpretive dance, all kinds of
free expression. We are beyond the borders here. The mantra is “take
care of each other”. One of the volunteer crews is the “safety”
crew. Not “security”, but “safety”. Their job is to patrol
and make sure everyone is safe. The most common problem they
encounter is the bad trip. They try to talk the person into a calm
place and, failing that, they take them to the first aid tent or the
chill zone where professionals can deal with it.
There is something
called The Red Tent Project, which is to allow women a space of
safety if they are in crisis. The corollary is The Fort, where men
can go if they are having problems.
Volunteers go around
handing out condoms and lube.
Theft is rare or
non-existent. I did not witness any bullying or fighting. Date rape,
on the other hand, is somewhat more common from what I have heard.
Not that girls are ruffied, but many are high enough that they are
susceptible to persuasion. Hence, one of the primary functions of the
red tent project.
There are few formal
rules, with the “take care of each other” rule covering off most
activities. There are, however, several rules posted outside the
entrance to Pope's Hill.
Pope's Hill probably
needs some explanation for those who are not from Winnipeg. Many
years ago, the Pope visited Winnipeg. He held a mass at Bird's Hill
Park. They chose a site with a hill where spectators could sit. A
platform was erected for the Pope to stand. That is now where the
fire dancers perform. A lovely example of re-purposing.
Pope's Hill in the
daylight isn't much to look at.
My beautiful daughter,
Heather.
Shortly before the
evening concert I managed to persuade my camera to record video. I
offer for your viewing enjoyment, a few moments of the parade
(warning: if you watch carefully you may catch glimpses of nudity)
After main stage we
came back and had a campfire. The fire lit like a charm, as
predicted.
Jenny in the firelight.
I was wearing my cloak
and a flower wreath on my head. Heather's friend, Jenny, commented
that I looked like the Forest Queen. I thought that was sort of
amusing. Later, Heather and her friends went roaming but I stayed by
the fire because my feet were getting blistered (bad footwear
choices) and I didn't like to leave such a spectacular fire
unattended.
I had several visitors.
It was getting chilly and wanderers stopped by to warm up by the
fire. I had very nice chats with them. One young woman in very cool
clothes and with hair in dreads complimented the fire, marvelling at
the heat and brightness. I explained that I spend the summer off the
grid so I need to know how to build a good fire. She seemed in awe
and asked lots of questions about that. I found it interesting that
she, who appeared to be the embodiment of funky cool hippiness,
should find life in a cabin in the woods so fascinating.
Later, two young men
stopped by, again to get warm by the fire. We chatted for a bit.
They asked me how long I had been coming to Folk Fest. I told them
my first festival was in 1982. They became much more interested,
asking lots of questions about how the festival had changed, what was
it like back then, and so on. When they got up to go, one of them
(Brad, I think his name was) suddenly got down on one knee and kissed
the back of my hand in a sort of courtly gesture. Jenny's remark
about being the forest queen came back to me and I wondered if I was
supposed to knight him or something. He was kind of cute, in a Jesus
sort of way. After that they said they were from the pillow zone and
invited me around any time to hang out and burn some incense. And
they left.
When the fire had died
down sufficiently to be left to its own devices, I went to bed. In
spite of all the drumming and singing and whooping I fell asleep
quite quickly. I think it was around 2 AM.
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