There is always more to a music festival than the music, a sort of peripheral show, whether intended or not, that adds to the entertainment value and this festival was no exception.
The Church of Flaming Funk is s local group of fire juggling visual artists that were a constant presence throughout the weekend. They would rope off an area by the stage then come out twirling, juggling and eating fire in rhythm with the music. The Dudes had never seen anything like this and the show captivated them from the beginning. Every time they lit their fires the Dudes would be drawn like moths and stand wide eyed and slack jawed until their show was over. I had to keep reminding the Dudes that this was not something that we would be trying at home.
During one break in the music, a parade of circus performers marched across the field with their own band to the stage. It was such an unexpected site that it got our attention immediately. The group, The New Old Time Chautauqua, are a Seattle based group of volunteers that get together every summer and travel to small towns in under served areas putting on parades, shows, lectures and workshops. They happened to be on their way to Homer and stopped in to give us an impromptu peak at their show. Their colorful costumes, high energy and eclectic mix of performers once again had the Dudes enthralled. After their show, I encouraged the Dudes to try some of the hula hoop tricks they saw but, discouraged them from trying anything the sword swallower did. This may seem obvious but, the Lil’ Dude is extremely impressionable.
Never to be left out, left behind or miss the party, the Lil’ Dude fully engaged the weekend. He could be seen all weekend running with a band of festival urchins, made at least 300 trips down the jumpy slide and decided to perform too. He tagged along with a couple of 12 year old girls who were making their way through the crowd hula hooping and collecting money in a tip jar. So, he decided to join in.
Now, the Lil’ Dude can’t hula hoop. He looks more like a bobble hipped dashboard Elvis on a bumpy road when he tries. But, that didn’t stop him. He got a wooden dowel from the arts and crafts area to twirl and a paint cap for a tip jar and joined the girls. He moved through the crowd twirling, twisting and jumping (dropping the dowel every 20 seconds or so) totally bitten by the performance bug. By the time his group disbanded, his “tip jar” was full.
He also managed to earn some money by helping the lady making hula hoops. By the end of his weekend of wheelin’, dealin’ and pan handlin’ he came away with a hula hoop, a bandana, a wallet made of duct tape(very clever), a balloon yo-yo, and about ten dollars. Not a bad haul for a 6 year old. He also bought his own ice cream and face painting with some of his earnings.
It was quite entertaining to watch him work the show, that is, until he couldn’t be found. We had a check-in with the parents system in place but, he hadn’t checked-in for a while and unfortunately he had left his phone at the RV. The Hippygeek, the Big Dude and I along with security personnel searched the entire venue. Nothing. I don’t have to explain to all of the parents out there about the terror of losing your child even for a brief period of time. Finally, after 45 minutes and a growing panic, he suddenly burst on to the field out of nowhere. Turns out, he and his buddies had discovered a fusball table in a room behind the lecture hall and had been playing there. Crises averted, we went back to enjoying the weekend.
The Big Dude fortunately, had a more sedate weekend taking in lectures on the pebble mine and artist Ray Troll (the artist who did all of the art for the festival) and frequenting the arts and crafts area.
There was also the usual cast of characters that make people watching so much fun at events like this. And, to top the whole weekend off, we participated in a human mosaic.
With 400+ people involved, we all laid down in the rodeo arena while a photographer in a plane took an arial photo of the group. The message, the essence of the weekend: Alaska, keep it wild.
above: can you find us?
If you’re not having fun – I don’t care what you’re doing – don’t do it. Move on. Find something else, life’s too short.
Jerry Doyle
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