What do cops on stilts, fuzzy chicken suits, and light-up hula hoops have to do with bluegrass? More than you would think actually. Imagine a festival, one with serious bluegrass roots, that has evolved into a multi-genre festivators paradise, thanks to organizers Pet Projekt and Railroad Earth.
Walk through the gate at Hangtown Halloween Ball and it seems like a typical music festival, until you receive a hello from someone dressed head-to-toe as an ethereal jelly fish. And if you weren’t already experiencing a “Toto…we’re not in Kansas anymore” moment, the 4-foot diameter Oreo cookie on a unicycle zipping past will do the trick. This festival nurtures unlimited creative expression, and often feels like a surreal family reunion, a family reunion with full-sized Eeyores and Robbie the Robots roaming around.
Three days (and a bonus Thursday evening) of music included Railroad Earth, Poor Man’s Whiskey, Dead Winter Carpenters, Leftover Salmon, moe, The Shook Twins, Brothers Comatose, and Father’s Day Festival favorites Front Country. And let’s see a show of hands for those of you who knew that Noam Pikelny played for a time in Leftover Salmon.
Aha. Just as I thought.
And yes. It rained. But it didn’t dampen the festive spirit one tiny wood sprite. The downpour that pummeled the KVMR 89.5FM radio tent was deafening, but somehow the broadcasters persevered. On the Gallows Stage, with angled rain drenching the stage and bouncing off the monitors, Paige Anderson and the Fearless Kin turned in a well-received set.
And yes. There is jamming at this festival. You have to work for it when it rains because many jams have moved indoors. But the jam groups are welcoming, and believe me, there ain’t no bluegrass police anywheres near this festival.
Beloved Emcee, Pied Piper, and Rascally Ringmaster Joe Craven won the Coveted Pumpkin Oscar, which I just made up, for most and best costume transformations. Seeing Joe around the venue was like looking through a kaleidoscope: shades of Kokopelli, John Phillip Sousa, David Bowie. A fearless classification-buster, Joe is a world-class trickster musician who personally knows nearly every performer. His stage banter is funny and fascinating, and he shares insider jokes and stories that leave you a better person for it.
It may have been the six-foot salmon twirling the hula hoop overhead, or the woman dressed as a bubblegum machine, but by Saturday night I was completely gratified by the music and the scene and the color and the tie dye vibe. Visions of top-hatted sugar skulls and floating jellies, dancing pandas and Dr. Who, stayed with me well beyond my dreams.
Family atmosphere by day, exotic psychedelic bazaar by night. Partake of bluegrass, jamband, rock, blues, Americana, funk, indie-folk-pop, fusion, and all the crossovers you can shake a wizard’s staff at. Dance workshops, face painting, yoga, kid’s activities, and a bazillion pumpkins carved by festival goers during the Pumpkin Murder 101 workshop. There were costume themes for each day of the festival like, “Straight Off the Mothership”, “Electric Luau”, and “Zombie Prom Disco”. A little sumpin’ sumpin’ for everybody.
The Hangtown Halloween folks transform the El Dorado Fairgrounds into a cross between the Hundred Acre Wood and a Willy Wonka carnival gone rogue. The organizers and loyal Railroad Earth fans (Hobos) welcome you like family. And by the time you’re ready to leave, you’ve been hugged and fed and tie dyed and smudged with glitter kisses to your heart’s content.
(Cameron Little enjoys juggling bluegrass, college, and festivating these days. He wonders when the sugar skull face paint residue will be gone but prefers to keep the glitter kisses for a while longer.)
