Music festivals full speed ahead, despite obstacles
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McCurdy Pavilion and Littlefield Green stand ready for Centrum's Jazz Port Townsend and Acoustic Blues Festival events this week and next. Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz [/caption]
News by Diane Urbani de la Paz
Oh, it could have been one cruel summer. Like shadows across the sun, economic uncertainties and political turmoil have been our dogged companions this season.
But wait. The presenters of Jefferson County’s music festivals are not to be deterred. They have stepped up and bounced back.
From Centrum’s Jazz Port Townsend to the Jubilee Love Festival, we have outdoor concerts, free concerts, dancing and camping all over the county.
Last winter, things looked dreary for Centrum’s summer programs. With the Fort Worden Public Development Authority defunct and Fort Worden Hospitality, provider of food and lodging at the park, out of business, Centrum was left without means of feeding and housing its thousands of workshop teachers and participants.
So Centrum got busy hiring people and buying gear.
“We had to put together an entire kitchen staff,” said executive director Rob Birman.
“We purchased all of the [food service] equipment,” along with hiring a company to do the laundry and linen service. By scaling this logistical mountain, Centrum was able to make its creative gatherings happen much as they have in prior years.
Washington State Parks has been a steadfast partner throughout, said Birman. In the wake of the state’s budget woes, Fort Worden’s grounds are as well-maintained as Birman has seen in his 12 years working here.
“It’s surprising how resilient [State Parks] has been,” he said.
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Jontavious Willis is back in Port Townsend as Centrum's Acoustic Blues artistic director. The blues workshop and festival run from July 29 through Aug. 3. Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz [/caption]
The result of all this: Jazz Port Townsend will bring multiple performances to Fort venues this Thursday through Saturday, July 24-26; the Acoustic Blues workshop follows with another slate of public concerts July 30-Aug. 2. The noontime Free Fridays at the Fort series has two more performances on the Commons lawn: this Friday, July 25, Jazz Port Townsend participant combos will play, and on Aug. 1, Acoustic Blues Festival performers will step up. More information abounds at centrum.org.
In Quilcene, another story of improvisation is unfolding. Departure Festival, which was to be three days of music, vendors and camping at Twana Springs beside Lake Leland, was canceled earlier this year. The Aug. 1- 3 extravaganza was created to “bring us together, make us more resilient, while being fun and uplifting,” said organizer Keely Crow-Ka. Her band The Shift has played at some “life-changing” festivals, she wrote on Facebook. Her dream was to deliver that kind of experience.
The decision to cancel the fest was due to “a combination of losing grants, higher cost of production and slower than usual ticket sales,” Crow-Ka said.
But this was not to be the end. Not long after posting on Facebook about her grief, Crow-Ka announced a new event: the Departure Family Campout.
“Admission will be by donation. There will be live music, yoga, drumming, arts and crafts and a volunteer kitchen,” replete with camping and an on-stage open mic, all at the same Departure site, same Departure dates.
“People can find information on our Departure Festival page [on Facebook],” Crow-Ka noted.
“It’s basically going to be a collaborative community event that we’re all chipping in on. The most important rules,” Crow-Ka said, “are no dogs and kids have to be supervised.”
Twana Springs will host yet another festival Aug. 15-16. Moon-Fest, a 21-and-older event, will assemble nine musical acts, including James Howard and his blues-rock band; Mars Garden from Port Angeles; the Amigos “celebration of Santana;” the Locomotive Breath tribute to Jethro Tull and the Shula Azhar bellydancers. Details are at moon-fest.com.
Finally, a week shy of Labor Day weekend at Port Townsend’s Shy Acre farm off Discovery Road, the Jubilee Love Fest is set to return. Local chef and musician Grace Love is the driving force, bringing together live music from at least six acts, an abundant food and drink buffet, local vendors and a kids’ zone on Aug. 23. More details are found at jubileelovefest.com.
So far, the summer is shaping up, said Centrum’s Birman. The Fiddle Tunes gathering, he added, was one of the biggest he’d ever witnessed.
Both Fiddle Tunes in July and Voice Works in June drew healthy attendance, he said; the number of people coming out to share music has seen “no decrease at all.”
