The Great Blue Heron Festival 2014 - Happy Heron in Sherman, NY

The Great Blue Heron Festival

 I slept in till after 7:00...last night's excitement must have worn me out.  It's a partly cloudy morning, some sun, some clouds, a cool 55º, another enjoyable day on the lake.  Surprisingly, not much action and it's almost 8:00...who's to complain.  Tomorrow the rains arrive so we had better enjoy the day.

Yesterday, like the 4th was an amazing day, the kind we would love to repeat.  We started with a kayak paddle around 9:15.  We did our usual, a large circular paddle over to Long Point, then to the Marina, and back to Wells Bay and home.  It takes about an hour.  It's interesting how many kayaks and paddle boards have become popular.  I can remember when we were about the first people to have a kayak on the lake, and people looked at us as if we were odd.  Why kayak on a lake?  Now it's like kayak overload, especially yesterday morning.  At one  time, we saw a group of five kayaks paddle by...will have to come up with a name for a group of kayaks...a 'paddle' of kayaks went by?

We enjoyed the dock and water the rest of the afternoon, my only chore, a trip to the very busy Transfer Station.  It was relaxing on the dock, or in the yard, so we did lots of reading and I watched some of the World Cup, as Argentina beat Belgium.

At 4:00, we left for the The Great Blue Heron Festival, a yearly musical happening, featuring various genres but mostly Bluegrass.  We have never been so we wanted to see what it was like because we had heard so much about it.  And it was a beautiful day to participate, sunny but in the 70's.  The venue's only about 25 minutes from our house, set on 400 acres in the lovely green hills of Chautauqua County.  We arrived at a vintage 1960's type of happening, women in tie dyes, gauze like India print dresses, taking our money from a beat up shack, forty dollars a piece for the day, ten for parking, not bad if you consider you get to hear 15 or 20 bands or more if you spend the day.  And best of all, though there was lots of drinking and pot smoking, at least 90% of the people camped, thus avoiding any drunk driving accidents.

Out of Place at The Heron

Spending five hours at the festival was a amazing experience in many ways.  For one, I finally felt my age, dressed in Bean's hiking pants, a REI long sleeve tee, so different from the looks favored by most, anything that might have been popular back in the 1960's, as you can see from the photographs below.

Patriot

Cool Couple

The Normals

Generation Z

Sixties Throwbacks

Everyone seemed to dress in the Woodstock fashion, a trip of nostalgia, reminding me of Hawaii, and the rock concerts in the Diamond Head Bowl, filled with hippies of all ages.  All ages were present, from toddlers to retirees like us, many looking like 'Dead Heads,' or followers of Phish.  There were three or four music venues, the Main Stage, the Dance Stage, and the Tiger Maple, a cool venue set in the dense woods, surrounded by tents, many hidden by large dye tied sheets, both functional and artistic.

In the Shade

Prepared With Coolers, Blankets and Food

Getting To Know You

Hoopsters

The Variety of the Crowd

We stood near the front of the band Driftwood, which was playing when we arrived.  It was warm, even hot, though behind us on the hill, thousands were sitting in the shade.  We really like the band, Bluegrass but interesting, great voices, interesting music, with a bass, violin, banjo and guitar.  I would buy their CD in a minute.

Lead Singer of Driftwood

Creperie

Kids Tent

Mom

Drummer and Friends

Favorite Signage

After Driftwood finished, we walked around, getting a feel for the place, the kids area, with toys, sandboxes, and games for the little ones.  Behind the major stage, were all the booths, selling all kinds of foods and drinks, a typical carnival feel,  Next to them were the small boutiques, like a craft show, selling their wares though none seemed very busy.  Behind the booths, were tents and small RV's where the vender's spent the night.  Then outside this, were vast hills and woods, people with tent after tent, as the crowd by one of the 800 volunteers that work the festival estimated at 8000.

Evie with Sandy and Craig Westin,  Owners of Panama Rocks

We had laughed when we read that there was going to be a special area for golden agers, The Silver Heron Lounge, but we found it to have some of the best seats in the house, in the shade, and it was empty.  So we spent a good part of the night sitting there, enjoying the music.  Lots of people our age walked by, and we all had a good laugh, knowing that we all fit in.  Most moved on, few stayed like us.

Tent City

Hanging Out, Hanging High

Forest Art

After Driftwood, Big Leg Emma, a popular local band, played so we decided to walk the camping area.  We walked down a heavily tree path called the Dragon's Den.  It was surprisingly cool and jam packed with tents, lots of young, sitting around campfires, drinking, eating, smoking pot.  We ended up at a small lodge, which sold food  but also had a venue for a band.  It was the Tiger Maple Venue and we sat in the front row and listened to a great seven piece group from West Virginia play Bluegrass, as people danced in front, mostly clogging, one guy even brought a small board to clog on in case the ground was too soft.  What a great place to play, to enjoy music, to dance, the roof over us all trees, the cool dampness of the shade.  It made me want to buy and tent and camp out next year!

Stewed Mulligans from West Virginia

We walked back to The Silver Lodge, saying 'Happy Heron' to everyone we passed, the mantra for the weekend.  The vibes at the entire festival were so amazing, such friendliness, from all ages, everyone saying hello or happy heron, not a hint of anger or unkind word, just everyone getting along, loving the music, the spectacle of it, the feeling of people happy with the moment.

As we neared The Silver Lodge, we passed a group and one of the women said to me, "You sure have a beautiful wife,"  This comment came out of nowhere though I readily agreed.  She then talked with Evie, and added, 'O, don't worry.  I like men."  A memorable moment, unexpected, but generous.  This gives you some idea of the ambiance at the Heron.  We then watched a band from North Carolina, and Evie struck up a conversation with two women from the Finger Lakes, who have been to the Heron numerous times. They were a little younger than us, camped for the weekend and they mentioned the best band was playing at midnight.  We then went down to the front of the main stage, and rocked with lots of others to the sounds of the band, knocking a beach ball around as we listened.

Big Leg Emma, Local Favorites

Holy Ghost  Tent Revival from North Carolina

We ended the night listening to a Jamestown band, Smack Dab, which we have liked and  heard a number of times.  We forced our way almost up to the stage, part of the mash pit, but felt out of it with hundreds of teens and twenty year olds, the guys in tee shirts, beers in hand, the girls scantily clad, with head bands, beads, the works.

Purple Chic

Whooped

We stayed for two songs, then walked though the early evening crowds, listening to the music of another band, before walking back to our car, outside the main park. Even outside the park, the pasture was filled with RV's, those who did not want to stay in a tent.  People sat in front of their RV's, around fires, as kids played on the grass, with a grand view of the entire park.

The Cowboy and His Tractor

It was a memorable day, as close to Woodstock as I have ever gotten.  We will go back...if it's not wet or hot, either of which could ruin the day.