Tuesday, July 31, 2007
FloydFest unites eclectic group of people
People of all types danced and socialized all weekend.
Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times
Meredith Shoemaker, 17, (right), Evan Kawula (wearing hat) and Sarah Bourke (left) from Chapel Hill, N.C., cheer on Donna the Buffalo to return to stage for an encore song Saturday afternoon at FloydFest.
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FLOYD -- This was a mysterious world of unconditional acceptance, where middle-age men are not embarrassed to Hula Hoop all day and gospel bands play for the same crowd that earlier danced to Cajun or hard rock.
Some at this past weekend's FloydFest were wannabe free spirits, who shed their inhibitions and ambitions for a weekend of socializing and swaying to the music.
Then there are those who make a lifestyle out of music festivals. They rebel against mortgages, SUVs and the stress of corporate America and opt instead to travel from festival to festival selling everything from hammocks to books on Hinduism.
Whoever you are, there is room for you at FloydFest. Hippies, cowboys, preps and families with small children were all brought together by music and the desire to be a part of something special. Listening to the people can be as fun as listening to the bands.
Ross Maclean, 49, was born and raised near Austin, Texas.
Maclean worked as an electrician for years before he began selling hand-carved walking sticks in 1980 at events such as FloydFest. He'd carved a face in his own walking stick years ago and somebody offered to buy it from him at a renaissance festival in Texas.
Maclean tugged on his long, braided beard as he explained how he met his wife, Katie, at a music festival.
She a leather carver, the two bonded over their love of carving. Now Maclean and his wife live in "a little hobbit house" in Willis with a natural wood staircase and grapevines and honeysuckles growing up the walls.
Maclean's arthritis prevents him from carving as often as he used to, but he still loves to share his artwork. "Being an artist, not only do you get to use your creative self, but it brings joy to see the happiness of others who see your artwork," he said.
Trish Robinson, 31, sat on a bench watching a traditional Hindi band. Her face was painted with pink and purple flowers and she wore a flowered headdress.
Born in Perry County, Ky., Robinson has lived in Floyd for eight years. Her church, Zion Lutheran Church, had a service at the festival Sunday morning. She then ate a pita pizza for lunch and spent the afternoon listening to different bands.
She crochets and knits in her spare time.
Gail Falk, 44, volunteered to check in artists at the festival for the second year in a row.
Relaxing on a blanket, she explained that she followed the Grateful Dead every summer for 10 years. Now she works for the North Carolina government, helping people with disabilities find work.
She said she gets several weeks off per year, which allows her to travel to music festivals.
The atmosphere of FloydFest is reminiscent of her time following the Grateful Dead, she said, yet music festivals such as FloydFest are different because they provide the opportunity to see dozens of bands play over four days.
George Wells, 68, volunteers as a bus driver and spends much of his day hauling people back and forth between the parking lot and the festival. He and the 12 other bus drivers stayed in a Floyd hotel so they could get enough rest.
He's from North Wilkesboro, N.C. It's his fourth year volunteering at the festival, and his enthusiasm is obvious.
He banters with bus riders, and tells jokes when the bus gets quiet. During his hours off, he checks out the bands.
"The musicians I've heard, I've thought was excellent," he said.
Barbara Wright, 47, works at Virginia Tech. She lives on the outskirts of Blacksburg with her 16-year-old daughter and two cats. She danced at the festival with a group called the Hoorah Cloggers.
At the festival, she also taught a clogging workshop for children. Her daughter, Brianna, sat behind her eating an ice cream cone.
"She's been going to these big festivals with me since she was about 10," Wright said.
