Stepping onto the Shakori Hills property leading up to this weekend’s semiannual grassroots festival, the work taking over the area doesn’t seem much different than the good-hearted labor the rest of Chatham County’s farmland brings to mind.
Sure, the volunteers aren’t plowing a field or milking a cow. And setting up stages, building a sound system and constructing a wooden caboose aren’t what most would consider agricultural work.
But there’s something downright familial about the community of lovable vagabonds that take to the property to ready it for the thousands that come each spring and fall. And it’s just this feeling that festival co-organizer Sara Waters thinks sets her festival apart.
“The other festivals are great,” she said, referring to the Triangle’s music festivals. “They celebrate the art and the music. I think that we do a really good job of containing all of that together: art and music and the environment and community living and working together.
“There’s a feeling here that I think is different than other ones. You just kind of feel home as soon as you’re here. A lot of people say that.”
It’s this idyllic atmosphere that the festival hangs its hemp on. Founding organizer Jordan Puryear wanted to plant a seed of community and environmental consciousness when he cane down from Shakori’s big brother event, New York’s Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival.
And whereas like-minded festivals, such as Tennessee’s now enormously commercial Bonnaroo, have let ideas of environment and community take a backseat to increasing ticket sales, Shakori is dedicated to its higher purpose. Waters picked the festival’s Sustainability Fair, run by Pierre Lauffer, as proof of this.
“He came to us and he says, ‘I want to have a place where we have a lot of green builders and people who are doing good things for the earth. I want to have a place for them of the festival.’ So we said, ‘OK, do it.’ We put him in charge, and he does it.
“I think that kind of thing will keep it in the forefront. It’s important, so as the festival grows, then Pierre will have more people at the sustainability booth, and he’ll have more room for more people. It’s really something for us to think about,” Waters said.
And while lofty ideals are all well and good, the real draw for festival patrons is obviously the music. With lineups that lean more toward world music styles in the spring and a more Americana and indie rock-based mix in the fall, Shakori stocks a varied assortment at each, attempting to draw in a diverse audience.
“There’s probably not as many African-Americans or Hispanic folks as we would like,” Waters said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job of having a good amount of different people.”
“I have this painting that this woman did of Shakori Hills. It’s just a bunch of people, and every single one is a different color. She had never even been to the festival, but she was going to come. I look at that painting, and it’s just perfect with all the different colors and all the different people.”
With a roster that includes notable Americana artist Jim Lauderdale, a homecoming by former Chapel Hill country-fried rock act Roman Candle, a smattering of respected artists from various world genres and a slew of local talent, this weekend’s fall festival looks poised to haul in the attendees.
And performers that have experienced the festival in the past look forward to repeating the experience.
“Our impression of the festival is a really great organized thing that’s grown out of good people that like music that are interested in having good music all in one fun location where a ton of people show up,” Roman Candle singer Skip Matheny said.
“There’s a lot of different age groups. There’s a lot hippies. There’s a great mix of folks there, which makes for a really good time.”
For Waters the music is only a means to joyous end: a gathering of people on a picturesque farm, all celebrating the joy of having fun in the outdoors. It’s the aspect of the festival that she says everyone is working for.
“It blows my mind to see the work that volunteers will do,” she said. “And they do it for a free festival pass. But they do it for so much more than that, too.
“They do it because they believe in the place.”
Notable Acts:
Today:
Roman Candle
Holy Ghost Tent Revival
Donna The Buffalo
Midtown Dickens
Friday:
Jim Lauderdale
Butterflies
The Beast
Saturday:
Chatham County Line
Lost In The Trees
Mad Tea Party
The Never
Sunday:
The Gourds
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
