TRKfest promises wet 'n' wild time

At first glance, it’s easy to mistake TRKfest with an average festival.

There’s the lineup — numerous bands with plenty of critical acclaim and sizable fan bases.

Then there’s the size — 12 acts in one day, plus several local vendors and a substantial crowd.

But then you see the activities — sprinkler runs, a musical-chairs cake walk and a pants-off dance-off — and you realize that TRKfest is no ordinary festival.

TRKfest and Trekky Records cofounder Martin Anderson emphasized the informality and fun the festival embodies.

“TRKfest is just this one super weird day, and you don’t really know what you’re going to get into when you go down there,” he said.

In the three years since its inception, the festival has gained a reputation for spontaneity and lightheartedness.

“I’ll run into someone on the street who’ll say, ‘I can’t wait to come back to TRKfest — last year I found myself eating cabbage with some hippie in a field,’” Anderson said.

For Megafaun’s Joe Westerlund, TRKfest is an opportunity to reunite with friends.

“The more that we’re touring, it’s like the less we get to see each other,” Westerlund said. “I guess we have chances to play a show with one of the bands every now and then.

“But for that many people to all be there in the same space — and we all get to see each other play within the same 12-hour period — it’s just really special. It’s kind of a testament to the tightness of the Triangle scene, you know?”

It’s a close-knit feeling that stands in sharp contrast to other festivals, especially those on a national level.

Even compared to other local events, TRKfest has a distinct identity in the midst of other area festivals.

“I guess in some way I think it’s sort of concise,” Anderson said.

“Festivals like Troika and Shakori [Hills], which I really enjoy — it’s a weekend-long thing.”

Duncan Webster of Durham’s Hammer No More the Fingers shared a similar perspective, drawing on other local festivals to illustrate the niche TRKfest occupies.

“At Shakori, you camp out, and it’s like three days long and you get totally burned out. You have an awesome time, but you get totally burned out by the end of it. And Troika happens right in downtown Durham,” he said.

“TRKfest, it’s pretty small — not a crazy amount of people, but everybody’s having a great time. It seems like everybody enjoys each other. It feels like everyone’s coming together.”

For Webster, the reason for joining this year’s bill was simple.

“It’s a rad, rad time,” he said. “We just had a really great time the past two times that we’ve played, and it’s cool having all our friends in one place and hanging out and listening to other great bands.”

Westerlund recalled an episode that epitomizes the familial feeling TRKfest has come to embody.

“Ivan Howard from The Rosebuds brought his grandmother, and right before he started playing, they were sound checking,” he said.

“He just looked right at his grandmother and he goes, ‘Grandma can you hear it OK? Does it sound good?’ That was something I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

Sprinklers, anecdotes and spontaneity aside, Anderson said he hopes this year’s audience will realize what a vibrant scene exists in the Triangle.

“I hope people come away with some pride that all of this exists in this area,” he said.

Westerlund offered a different perspective.

“I hope they experience the same thing we do, too,” he said. “There’s that feeling of everyone’s just getting a chance to hang out together and hear some great music and play some wacky water sports.

“The sprinkler, that’s another highlight — the sprinkler was a highlight for me. It had been a really long time since I’d ran through a sprinkler.”

Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.