Blue_Skies_Hippy_Fest

Feature Article July 31

Feature Article July 31, 2002

LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb Home

Blue Skies - a hippy festival that became an institutionby Jeff GreenThe Ontario Council of Folk Festivals puts out a booklet each spring with promotional paragraphs for the dozens of festivals in the province each summer. They take place in major urban centres like Ottawa, regional centres like Guelph and Sudbury, and in various cottaging areas. Of the many festivals listed, only one has a sold-out banner pasted over the top of it, and thats the Blue Skies Festival of Clarendon.Fortunately for locals, it is only the camping passes that are entirely sold out. There are some tickets available each day of the festival on a first- come, first-served basis at the front gate of the festival.

Oskar Graf opened up his land for the festival in 1974, and welcomed the world to Clarendon. He is still there today, now mowing the fields with a tractor. The festival is run by a dedicated group of volunteers that meet throughout the year to plan all aspects of the festival, which has the air of an elaborate community picnic. It was described by Luther Wright (of Luther Wright and the Wrongs) a couple of years ago as what I imagine it would have been like to experience a medieval fair.

While the festival site has developed, it has maintained its rustic flair, with a staunch group of stalwarts fighting against the inevitable tendency to bigger things. One of the main precepts of the festival is that it remain a non-commercial event.

There are many workshops at the festival on a variety of themes, but the essence of Blue Skies has always been the music, and there has always been a push to bring in something fresh and unexpected each year. This puts a lot of pressure on the artistic director of the festival.

This year, the evening concerts at the festival will include performances by bluegrass harmonica player Mike Stevens, a Cuban style guajiro band called Son Ache, a band called Tasa led by Tabla player Ravi Nampali, and the return of Chicago bluesman Alan Gerber, as well as the likes of Ian Tamblyn, Rebecca Campbell and many others.

Before all the musical events that have arisen lately in our community were even on the horizon, Oskar Graf was there with his little backwoods festival. He has been there as all the musical events have developed throughout the region, and he is still here today, preparing his land for the 29th festival, and beginning to contemplate the 30th anniversary year in 2003.