While other students were busy buying textbooks and moving into Ghetto houses on Labour Day weekend last year, in preparation for the school year ahead, I woke up in a tent on the side of a grassy hill to the sound of an Indian flute.
I was one of 250 volunteers at the second annual Shelter Valley Folk Festival, a small festival set in the hills outside of Grafton, Ontario.
As I made my way to the food tent to grab some breakfast, the chalkboard out front said it all: “Could you think of a better place to wake up?”
Judging by the sheer number of festivals taking place around the country this season, it seems that summer music festivals have lodged themselves into the hearts of Canadians.
Like many others, I’ve been to more than a few music festivals. I’ve spent weekends trying to stay dry by holding the collar of a plastic rain coat over my head for hours; I’ve sat cross-legged in the grass in front of bandshells; and I’ve gone to bed in a sleeping bag, with the sounds of laughter and guitars floating overhead.
Somehow music just sounds better when it’s played outside. There is a community vibe that grows from the common love of music and sharing meals beside each other. There’s something about it that seems spontaneous, inspired even, as if suddenly the band on the temporary wooden stage is as much a part of the scenery as the trees. A summer festival is a chance for our fast-paced, high-tech generation, to go off line, and ignite our own Woodstock.
Unlike the Woodstock reunions, however, festivals are no longer solely the fare of aging hippies and their wannabes. There are many different festivals going on for lovers of jazz, techno, world, hip-hop, indie and virtually every other genre or sub-genre of music.
This year, Toronto will be hosting the world’s first international tango festival, while the Thunder Bay Bluesfest will be hosting Canadian rock legend David Clayton-Thomas and the Yardbirds.
Festival attendees can be as varied as the genres of music, from city dwellers looking to get close to the earth to hipsters looking to get close to Feist.
Because of the number of artists performing at festivals, you can go to see one band, only to find five more that you may never have heard of otherwise. Festivals are often the first place that newer and lesser known acts play, slid into an afternoon slot to fill time and to help them meet a wider audience.
Kingston’s own Wolfe Island Music Festival, now entering its ninth year in existence was originally set up as a venue for local artists and to raise funds for community projects.
Though over the years, the names on the bill have become farther reaching, the Wolfe Island festival sticks to its roots with the Hootenanny Revue, which includes Kingston-area natives Luther Wright, Cam Giroux and Jenny and Dan Whitely, kicking off the weekend.
Often festivals will showcase more than just music. It is a chance to enjoy ethnic foods and local artists, as well as encounter villages based on a specific theme, such as wellness or sustainable living. The perennial favourite Hillside Community Festival in Guelph features funky spoken word performers, artisan craft vendors and a community exhibit tent that allows festival-goers the opportunity to learn about various grassroots organizations.
It was my love of music and my desire to meet some fellow festival goers that made me sign up to become more than a spectator at last year’s Shelter Valley fest. I was an assistant in the children’s area of the festival, and spent the Saturday afternoon helping kids tie-dye pieces of white cloth and cut-and-paste construction paper into puppets.
Being a volunteer gave me an insider’s perspective on a music festival—so much so that I don’t know whether I could ever go back to being a spectator.
Whether I was helping load tables into a trailer or chatting with a musician in the food tent, there was an unmistakable common sense of purpose.
Another bonus to volunteering is that Shelter Valley, like many other festivals takes care of their volunteers. For a total of 12 hours of work, volunteers received a free weekend , a camping spot, a t-shirt, and free meals all weekend.
With the original festival generation aging, its time for a new generation to step up and keep those festivals going. Somebody’s got to do it—it might as well be us.
Find a festival that suits you, choose a work area that you like or are good at, and jump in with an open mind.
With music festivals taking place all over Canada, volunteering at one may be the perfect opportunity to make 2006 your very own “summer of love.”
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