It might be the worst Winnipeg Folk Festival day in most fans' memory.
Direct your complaints to Mother Nature. The second day of the 35th annual Folk Festival opened with grey skies and a bone-chilling drizzle, and closed with... black skies, vicious wind gusts and smatters of rain. Oh, and don't forget the sloshing downpour right in the middle.
Great music and perfect puddles make for a fantastic Winnipeg Folk Festival experience for Calla Reynolds, 2.
Stores sold out of tarps, ponchos, and even in some cases hot chocolate. Close to 2 p.m., the Free Press asked the General Store staff if they still had anything that would help with the chill. "I wish I had a garbage bag to give you, but we ran out of those awhile ago," the volunteer staffer replied.
At the Mountain Equipment Co-op tent, chilled attendees made a run on everything from ponchos (the home store sent out multiple shipments, and exhausted its supply after 500) to gloves and socks. "We've got top of the line stuff, and people are grabbing everything," Mountain's Jenn Zoran-Ford said. "So it's been great for us."
The rain wasn't the only thing putting a damper on the day. In the morning, organizers announced that popular reggae legend Lee "Scratch" Perry had cancelled his planned Saturday night party show -- apparently, he missed the plane from his home in Switzerland. Hours later, a volunteer was struck by a schlepper cart in the backstage volunteer area. (The injuries were considered minor.)
And yet, thousands of Festival fans stuck it out to catch the music on the daytime stages. Vancouver slam-folksters The Fugitives, who earned massive buzz at last year's Fringe Festival, received a standing ovation for their transcendent 12:30 set at the Shady Grove. "I'm amazed you all are here," appreciative Fugitive Barbara Adler told the crowd of about 200. "Is it because the rain has made you sink into the marsh, so when you try to leave you can't get out?"
Among those huddling under a tarp in front of the Green Ash stage, Rafael and Cyndi Otfinowski said they weren't about to let a bad day ruin good sounds. "This year the weather is worse, but the music is excellent. So it's worth it," said Cyndi, noting that she especially enjoyed performances by Brazilian fusion group Forro In The Dark and alt-klezmer duo Hawk and a Handsaw. "Today we're less mobile, so we're just staying at this stage and enjoying the music here."
Still, thousands of normally intrepid fans took shelter from the storm under anything that had a roof... like the beer garden. There, they nursed brews and shared their weather woes. "My tent snapped in half this morning from the wind," camper Iona Singer said. "I got up to go to the washroom, and when I got back, it was toast."
To adapt to the conditions, the Folk Festival saw a dubious first: it moved its night performances from the grand Main Stage to the Green Ash stage, and nixed the so-called 'tweener short sets in order to accommodate the smaller stage's setup. "The stage was too wet, and had to be moved for the safety of the performers," Folk Fest communications director Karen Press said.
Mainstage host Al Simmons put on a heroic effort keeping the energy going for the 2000 survivors that proudly stuck it out for sets by Nanci Griffith, bluegrass maestro David Grisman, and hot Tex-Mex outfit Calexico.
And Folk Fest organizers said there's still reason to look on the bright side. Unsurprisingly, walk-up ticket sales took a hit. Last year's sunny Saturday had almost 2700 patrons buying same-day passes; this year, only 1368 decided to make the trip to Birds Hill Park.
The good news, said Folk Fest executive director Trudy Schroeder, is that combined with the 9986 weekend passes sold, providing that today's weather is favourable as the forecast suggests, the Fest will still close with a cumulative record attendance.
More than that? There was a chance for diehard festival fans to prove their dedication. "People are still having fun," Schroeder said.
"The adaptability in these tougher years is where people shine. The elements we can't control are a big part of what makes the Folk Fest so special... that we can do this out here, that's amazing."
Daytime picks
With seven daytime stages running
today, music fans attending
the Winnipeg Folk Festival will
have some tough decisions deciding
what to see - but what a great
dilemma to have.
To help you narrow those choices
down, we've compiled a list of
some of the Winnipeg Free Press
staff picks of the day's highlights.
Have fun.
11 a.m.-12 p.m., Shady Grove. A
Hawk and a Hacksaw (concert).
12:15-1:15 p.m., Bur Oak. Jim
White (concert).
12:30-2 p.m., Snowberry Field,
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
Kathleen Edwards (host), Nanci
Griffith, Charlie Louvin, Justin
Townes Earle.
12:45-2:15 p.m., Big Bluestem,
Tribute to Willie P. Bennett. Jaxon
Haldane (host), Russell DeCarle,
Tom Fodey, Aaron Goss, Keri
Latimer, Shelley Marshall, Damon
Mitchell, Andrew Neville, Ashley
Roch, Chris Saywell, Pat Temple,
Joel Tichkosky, Washboard Hank,
Chris Whiteley, Don Zeuff.
2:30-3:45 p.m., Shady Grove, If
you Haven't Got Any Hay, Then Get
on Down the Road. Spider John
Koerner (host), Adolphus Bell,
Little Miss Higgins, John Boutte.
2:30-4 p.m., Green Ash, Oy What
A Freilach! Geoff Berner (host), A
Hawk and a Hacksaw, Balkan Beat
Box
4:30-5 p.m., Chickadee Bigtop.
Washboard Hank (concert).
- Compiled by Melissa Martin,
Morley Walker, Rob Williams and
Jill Wilson.
Folk festival facts
Where: Birds Hill
Park, 34 kilometres
north of Winnipeg on
Highway 59.
When: Today.
Tickets: Adults $67,
seniors and youths
$56, children $6.
Available at Ticketmaster
or the gate.
Park fees: $7 per
vehicle or $28 annually.
Stages: Seven
daytime stages, two
evening stages.
Times: All mainstage
shows start at 6 p.m.
and end between
midnight and 1 a.m.
Daytime programming
begins at 11 a.m.
Gates: Festival gates
open at 10 a.m.
Mainstage tarp
procedures: Seating
begins 20 minutes
after gates open, later
if the ground is too
wet. For areas closest
to the stage, a limited
number of tarp tickets
are distributed at the
main gate at 8 a.m.
The tickets determine
the order of the first
people to be allowed
to put their tarps
down. The maximum
tarp size is 8 X 10 feet.
Chair rule: Chairs
should be two-feet
high or less. People
in chairs higher than
two-feet sit in a designated
area left of the
stage.
No car?: Winnipeg
Transit operates a
shuttle to the festival
beginning at10 a.m.
The bus departs
hourly from York and
Memorial. Fare is
$4.50. For more information
call 986-5700.
Website: www.winnipegfolkfestival.
ca
On the Mainstage
Tonight's mainstage
lineup (first act 6
p.m). Tweeners in
italics.
Kathleen Edwards
Pascale Picard
Joan Armatrading
J.P. Hoe
Ray Davies
Finale
Tonight's Big Blue at
Night lineup (7-9:30
p.m.)
Jesse Sykes and the
Sweet Hereafter
The Acorn
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