This past weekend, Sandy, Youk, and I traveled down to the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
This was the 60th anniversary of the festival, yet the first live in-person festival since 2019 due to the pandemic. The festival was held virtually in 2020 and 2021. It’s the longest running folk festival in the United States. Just to put things into perspective, the Philadelphia Folk Festival kicked off seven years prior to Woodstock.
Our original reason to head down was to see my favorite band, Michael Franti and Spearhead perform. With us staying in Pennsylvania for the summer, it was really the only opportunity that we’d have to see them this year. As I looked at the line-up for the festival, there were some other bands that I knew of and liked, so it seemed like spending the entire weekend there and camping on-site made sense.
A few days before the festival, Spearhead drummer, Manas Itene and I were texting back and forth and he asked me if I’d like to do another podcast with him because he was releasing a new single a few days after the festival. He and I did our first podcast together shortly after the release of his, “Be Yourself” single back in the spring. Since that first podcast, we’ve stayed in touch and have become friends. He is a fellow RVer, although not full-time obviously, but understands the lifestyle, so we immediately connected. He also wanted to see our RV and I love helping him promote his solo projects. He is incredibly talented and music just runs through his veins. Now I had some business to take care of at the festival as well, so I was even more excited about the weekend.
Going into the festival, we knew that we’d get to see some very talented performers throughout the weekend, but outside of that, didn’t really know what to expect.
Let me tell you though, the experience that we got far exceeded our highest expectations.
From the moment we arrived, you could feel the positive energy in the air. Volunteers greeted us and sent us to our next check-in station with a jubilant, “Happy Fest!”
The gentleman who took us to our camping spot made sure that we were happy with our spot before moving onto the next customer.
Our neighbors for the weekend greeted us with smiles and offered any help we needed setting up. Quickly understanding the concept, I helped our one set of neighbors get their pop-up tent in place. When they heard that we were first-time festival goers, they’d quickly offer advice as to the best practices to get the most out of the festival.
Hearing the stories about how long some of these people had been attending the festival was absolutely amazing. One had been coming every year since 1969, others were at their 15th, 20th or 30th festival. One guy, now in his 30’s grew up at the festival, first attending with his parents as an infant and continuing to make the trek now as an adult. They came from all over, near and far. The gentleman that has been coming since 1969, Allen, flew in from Ogden, Utah and rented an RV for the weekend with a buddy. He originally grew up in the Philly area, but said that he’d never miss a fest, regardless of the distance that he might have to travel. When I told him that this was our festival, he said, “Man I gotta give you a hug, this is gonna change your life! There’s nothing here but peace, love, and music.”
At this point, we were only there for about an hour, but I knew that we in a special place. This wasn’t just a music festival; it was a community.
Community and human connection are some of the things that I write about most often in this blog. If there is one good thing that came from the pandemic, it’s the understanding that people need people. We are truly connected in ways that we may never comprehend. When that connection was ripped from us, it devastated the world. I knew that this festival was going to be filled with people who were “my kind of weird.”
As I’ve mentioned many times throughout this blog, Sandy and I were heavily involved in our community before we started traveling full-time, yet never really felt a part if it. It wasn’t until we became a part of the RV community that we really felt like we belonged. Now that I’ve expanded my circle in podcasting and have started to get to know other podcasters, that too is a community where I know that I belong. There is something incredibly special about being part of a group of like-minded people who want to connect without any hidden agendas. A true community that is comprised of a group of people who lift each other up as opposed to tearing each other down. A community that cares about each other’s well-being and success as opposed to making “connections” and expanding their own “networks” in order to further their own success without reciprocating.
I could feel the true “community” everywhere I walked throughout the Philadelphia Folk Festival. I knew that I was in a special place. Allen was right, there was nothing there but peace, love, and music.
Youk quickly introduced himself to Drew and Tim, some of the members of the band The Naked Sun, who were camping a few sites away from us. Tim was a Red Sox fan, so Youk was happy that I didn’t have to explain how he got his name to him. It became a “potty walk” ritual for Youk to stop over and say, “hi” to them on his way to and from his weekend potty spot. He even got his picture taken with Tim.
Our closest neighbors at the festival were Bruce and Lisa. Approaching retirement, they’re considering full-time RVing in the future. They had many questions for us, which we were happy to answer. Bruce has his mind made up, he’s already “all-in” on the concept. Lisa is still a little apprehensive. Their story sounded quite familiar to ours. Bruce got a big smile on his face when Sandy told him that she was the same way that Lisa was at first, but now that we’re doing it, she has no regrets.
Apart from the people that we met and this new community that we knew we were now a part of, there was the music itself. Music unites us and the Philadelphia Folk Festival proves that. There was literally music everywhere. On the stages and throughout the campground, music could be heard literally 24 hours a day. From the singing camp circles, to the solo acoustic performers on one of the side stages to the electric blood pumping performance of Arrested Development leading up to Michael Franti running through the crowd spreading his message of optimism and positivity, on the main Martin Stage, music was everywhere. The festival truly was nothing but peace, love, and music.
Our mainstream media wants to divide us, but this weekend proved that music is still more powerful than mainstream media. Music can and always will unite us.
There was so much talent and collaboration, but most of all human connection. So many stories, too many to tell here, but it was nothing but peace, love, and music.
Obviously, I was excited to see the headliners each night, American Acoustic, The War and Treaty, and Michael Franti and Spearhead. All of who I heard and obviously Spearhead being the reason we came to the festival in the first place. However, the music and artists that I was able to newly discover throughout the weekend was overwhelming. So much talent everywhere. So much love. So much peace. So much music. So much community.
I encourage you to check out some of the artists that we were able to become new fans of this past weekend, this is just a small sample (in no particular order following Michael Franti and Spearhead) of what we were able to see, but I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Manas Itene (He didn’t perform solo at the festival, but his solo stuff is definitely worth checking out)
American Acoustic (Punch Brothers, Watchhouse, and Sarah Jarosz)
The Naked Sun (Youk’s new favorite)
Again, the above list is just a small sample of some of the amazing talent that was at the festival.
Allen was right, the Philadelphia Folk Festival is life changing. It restores our hope in humanity. It allows us to connect with people we would have never connected with before and we may never see again, but they made an indelible mark on our lives nonetheless. We saw people from so many different races, religions, sexual orientations, and culture backgrounds coming together as one to smile, dance, and enjoy a weekend of peace, love, and music.
Is music really that powerful? Can music really make us look past our differences and allow us to see that our souls are all the same? Can it really allow us to comprehend that we have more in common than what the mainstream media tells us?
In one word, “Yes.”
Music can, and always will unite us. This past weekend of peace, love, and music was proof of that.
Glad you could make it- Philly Folk Fest is truly magical. This was my 42 year and I’m 41, and I can’t imagine missing a year. The people there are so full of love, and the music is the best. Hope you can make it back, and very happy that you got to experience it!
Great write up and thanks for checking it out. Long may you run!