Driving up the I-5 to Parkfield, the drought conditions along the way were so evident. When we arrived on Wednesday, there were already a few campers set up along with many festival volunteers running around preparing for the festival on Thursday. There was also some activity down in the rodeo arena area as the annual Parkfield rodeo was also preparing the start two weeks after the Parkfield festival. Every morning we enjoyed a nice walk down to the V6 Ranch, north of Parkfield. I noticed that the fields were already harvested, where in past years they would have been just starting to harvest the crops there. Another sign of a dry year.
Rain set this year’s Parkfield apart from the usual great weather and Thursday’s stage show was moved into the Parkfield Café. Fans cozied up and fit in as many as they could ,while others sat out on the porch listening through the open windows. With the ranch memorabilia decorating the café and the great stone fireplace going, the ambiance for this substitute stage area couldn’t have been better.
It was great to see smiling faces out with their umbrellas, wearing caps and hoods and mugs of hot tea and coffee as the rain came down. Vendors were closed, but glad the rain wasn’t a deluge. By Friday at noon, the weather had cleared and the show moved to their outdoor stage. The fans were loyal to both the café and outdoor stages, and jams happened even with the cooler temperatures. The Parkfield fans are a happy bunch, and by example, there was even a fan with a brightly colored parrot on his shoulder in the audience. Throw in the majestic oak trees shading the audience area and you can see why folks love this festival.
The bands offered a mixture of styles, progressive to traditional, and were quite good. My favs were San Diego’s Next Generation, and especially Bluegrass Etc. Bluegrass Etc. are so talented! They had just played their annual Rancho Vistadores gig (a large cattle drive) before performing at Parkfield. It’s no wonder we have them every year at Summergrass. And it seemed like this year’s crowd was larger, and I hope so as the Bluegrass Music Society of Central California work all year to make this event a success. There were more fans, more cars, and another campground opened up. Parkfield festival is growing – that was evident. But it still had that small, rural, park-like festival experience.
Sunday we took off for the Bay Area to visit family and went up Highway 101. The drive was sure pretty. The summit view just before San Miguel was stunning! Barbara Varian, you were right. This drive is worth it for this alone. At the top, we saw the Pacific Ocean to the west and Sierra Mountains to the east, with valleys and everything in between. And happily, Highway 101 was much greener than Interstate 5.
While we missed having LeRoy & Jan McNees at Parkfield Sunday morning, it was good to see the festival growing and doing well. Refreshing weather, seeing many friends, good music, fun jams, and the quaint location of Parkfield made for a relaxing and unwinding weekend. Good on BMSCC and the Varian family for making it happen. As they said on Hee Haw…. Parkfield, CA – Population 18 – SALUUTTEE!
p.s. Up in the Bay Area, we caught Dark Hollow entertaining at Sam’s BBQ in San Jose. It’s great to see places like Sam’s BBQ supporting bluegrass. This kind of local outreach serves to expose many to the music that might not otherwise hear it. That’s a real good thing. And Dark Hollow did a great set that night. Kudos to John Kornhauser, Jennifer Kitchen, Larry Cohea, and Tim Mintun! Their experience and expertise were evident. I understand that other local bands perform there as well. I encourage you to go to hear local bands to support them, and frequent those businesses that host bluegrass in your area. It’s a win-win for you, the business, the band, and for bluegrass. See you at a show soon!
