Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (And Whimsy)

Posted on July 16, 2025 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with no comments yet

My all access pass -a “lenyard”!

 

“By the time we got to Woodstock,

We were half a million strong,

And everywhere was a song,

 And a celebration.”

Woodstock – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

DISCLAIMER: I did NOT attend Woodstock in 1969.

The summertime music Festival season is in full swing. If a person had unlimited time, unlimited resources, and unlimited stamina, he or she could attend music festivals every day of the summer and well into the fall in Nova Scotia. It’s a glorious time of the year when you can be outdoors listening to live music, enjoying a beverage and basking in sunshine.

I remember my very first folk festival. Let me rephrase that. I remember attending the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 1979, but distinct memories are a bit foggy. I was travelling across Canada with a friend, and she had friends who lived on a farm not far from Bird’s Hill Provincial Park, the site of the festival. The farm was more like a commune replete with “long haired freaky people”. Some, not all, were fully clothed. There was a pharmacy of drugs available, not any of them legal as far as I could tell.

Bird’s Hill Park was a terrific venue for this event. There were several small stages nestled into copses of trees and a main stage for the evening’s big shows. There were some 83 different acts, most of them folk singers with the likes of Valdy and Shari Ulrich as headliners. Valdy is still on the folk festival circuit. Tie die shirts, headbands and cut off shorts was the common attire.

As far as I can remember, I had a great time!

Later in life, I attended Stanfest in the seaside town of Canso, Nova Scotia. This has become a world class festival with an eclectic mix of music and musicians. Weather in this part of the world can be quite unpredictable. It can be sunny and warm and an hour later, fog can roll in creating an eerie setting.

We took our children to Stanfest a few times. You haven’t been to Stanfest if you haven’t tented in the acoustic campground. One memorable night, the partying outside ran into the wee hours of the morning. As the sun was rising, things were still going strong. I wondered who in the hell had the stamina to play all night long. I opened the flap of the tent and saw my two eldest children in the thick of things.

A few weeks ago, I drove to Miramachi New Brunswick to attend the New Maritime Music Festival. It was a long drive (4 hours) for this septuagenarian, but my son’s band was performing. It was a beautiful day. I had a place to stay after the concert (in Cocagne, an hour away from the concert venue) and an “all access pass”.

My pass gave me unfettered access to the stage, the green room, food and beverages if I had chosen, and perhaps most importantly, an actual bathroom in the bar next door to the stage. Yes, there were probably 50 port-a- potties lined up like soldiers but these can get a bit seedy.

My friends in Cocagne had promised me a late dinner so I declined poutine and greasy fish and chips at one of the food vendors. As the evening wore on, I was getting quite hungry, so I went to my car and got a bag of homemade granola and a mandarin orange to tide me over. I had brought my own lawn chair and as I sat there eating my snack and drinking triple-filtered water from the bar, I thought about how far away I was from my first festival. Instead of lying in a daze on a blanket in Bird’s Hill Park, here I was, an old man in a lawn chair eating granola and sipping water. The only thing that would have made it more embarrassing would have been if I had taken the blanket and hoodie from the car to cover me up. Mercifully, it was a warm evening.

Pete’s band was awesome, and it turned out to be a night to remember.

Some things never change. The smell of marijuana still permeates the air at these gatherings. The only difference is that it’s now legal.

I didn’t go to Woodstock in 1969, but I’ve been to Woodstock, New Brunswick.

Have a great weekend.