Winnipeg Folk Festival 2015

Sometimes Life and the gifts it gives are almost too good to set words to.

Folk fest with my darling girls.

My sweet Jane and I had the awesome adventure volunteering backstage on La Cuisine, pink crew. What a bunch! Friendly and upbeat and hardworking. We may have spent many hours grilling in the thirty+ degree heat, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Seriously cold beer after four hours of the hot grill helped to take the edge off.

As did a trip to the ice cold outdoor shower, as fully clothed as thirty degrees calls for. Soak it all. Hair, dress, body.

We also got to celebrate sweet Arianna's birthday at the festival!

Just twenty-one years ago, I laboured that first baby girl while Brian and I hung out at Folk Fest 1994.

I was That Mom who hung out with the girls and their people and laughed way too loud and talked way too much.

They were so gracious. (and fun to be with).

Jane and I got to eat all the yummy food backstage.

(and wash hour upon hour of plates- FF is a disposable free zone)

Dang, we ate well.

 

 

 

And now for the interview portion of this blog post:

So Joyce, what did you really like about FF 2015?

Joyce (Gushing): "OOOOhhhhh I just Loved All of the Everythings!"

Like- the artists, perhaps?

Joyce: "Well, honestly what I do at Folk Fest is wander around watching people and philosophizing, I do my shifts in La Cuisine, I stand under the hose shower until I am gasping for breath, I wander through Handmade Village and vow (For the zillionth time) to be in it NEXT YEAR, I hang out with my daughters and their people, and then- sometimes the music stops me cold! This year, I was swept away by Matt Anderson. He blew me away. I texted Brian straightaway to check him out on the tubulars, and Brian agreed, so -- that means it was real!"

And were there things in Handmade village this year that made you weak in the knees?

Joyce: "I was a huge fan of the bunwarmers, legwarmers, and wearable blankets made from recycled sweaters, but honestly in a billion degrees celsius, I could barely stand to touch them. Also there was a woman selling things made of felted wool- very original, creative, lovely. But again- wool! in the weather! There weren't any bags to speak of, which made me wonder-- hmmmmm. bags. Are bags a thing? I could make bags!"

So am I hearing you say that next year might be the year for Re-Joyce at the Handmade Village?

Joyce: "You are hearing my heart on fire. Or at least on warm. Or re-warm. I guess time will tell. Plus there's the screening process- you know, being deemed cool enough by the Folkie who's who to play with the in crowd. Handmade village is on my bucket list, so pretty soon I will have to at least try to follow through on that. Do you think I'm snappy enough?"

Please don't make this interview unneccarily awkward.

Joyce: "Sorry. I'm currently in therapy. Sorry. But seriously- am I good enough?"

Um, let's refocus, shall we? Did you run into Gloria and Holly this year at the FF?

Joyce: "Now you're just being cheeky. You know this. I run into Gloria and Holly every single year about 14 billion times, and I don't ever run into the other trillion people I know are also at festival. I'm actually glad you asked though because this year Gloria and I came up with a brilliant idea for icepack undies to sell at next year's fest. We're pretty sure they'll be a big seller. Also she's now my BFF because I see her every year at FF, and at least twice during the year at various thrift shops. She's the one who convinced me to buy an orange velveteen coat at the thrift last winter, so she's pretty much a lifer in my life forever now."

And how was the weather?

Joyce: "It was smoking, smoking hot with humidity of 157%. So hot. All I ever wore were my lightest in the world clothes. Most of my clothes stayed in the suitcase in the million degree hot tent. Even at night when it typically cools off, I stayed in my strappy sundresses. So hot. Did I mention hot? It was hot. So hot. It was so Not Winter and it was my favorite."

Did you feel fat at the FF this year?

Joyce: "Do you ever listen to anything I say? HOT. I said I was smoking HOT. Besides- therapy. Gosh, it would be so nice if you would just listen once in a while. Maybe you should consider therapy."

Well. Would you look at the time! So real quick like before we wrap up here forever and I never call you ever again because you clearly have issues, what was your actually most favoritest ever festivally thing?

Joyce: "Being there with my girls. They were so happy to be at FF, I was so happy to be happy with them. Every little boiled up in the sun baby I saw breastfeeding in the sweltering sun, I thanked my precious girls for growing up and turning out ok-ish in spite of me and their dad. ( I also thanked them for no longer breastfeeding. It looked hot.) Every little whining toddler child reminded me of the joy of having survived the past, and the ecstacy of my little angel daughters (they never whined or cried or pooped) being the sorts of grownups who also love FF. I loved working the kitchen with Jane, and I loved celebrating Arianna's birthday with her fab friends.

I also loved wearing shoes or not wearing shoes, not brushing my hair for four days, living and eating and sleeping outdoors. I loved wandering about, and I loved sitting still. I loved the hot coffee (thank you Green Bean!) and the cold beer, the cold water, and the cold mystery punch. I loved running into festival friends and Niverville friends. I loved being on pink crew. I loved that at the very end of four smoking hot days, a huge storm rolled in hard.

We got PELTED! I may have laughed really really loud and really long and I'd do it again even if you shushed me.

Nothing more perfect than driving home in an epic storm, and the sky looking like straight up magic.

So, my favorite, you ask? Yes. I say. It was- it was all my favourite.

My most Festivally Fun Favourite, Folk Fest 2015.

 

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