I haven’t had time to catch a breath. It’s just been performance after performance, rock, modern folk, traditional, running into friend after friend, followed by battles with taxi companies to come pick us up only to walk an hour home each night when our legs have almost given in.
It’s been fantastic 😝
One thing I like to observe is how each person enjoys the festival differently.
There are the casual observers who don’t know much about the performers or the culture but want to enjoy the atmosphere. They sit on the sidelines and watch from afar. I personally feel they are missing out because there is so much worth diving into.
Then there are those who are hungrily collecting bands and artists checked off the “seen” list.
There are those who just want to fill the day with music and get into anything and everything and are in the front for every performance without any reservation.
There are those who are there to meet and make friends and drink and party and for them music is just a reason to gather.
There are those who are there for the traditional arts and dancing since that is a big part of the festival as well.
There are people who just love full immersion and do all they can, camping and bathing in the river.
Most of us stay for three days, but there are some who come just for a single band or two, many with their reluctant family members.
About half are locals who treat this like a yearly summer festival, and many from Tokyo and Osaka and Okinawa who treat it like a holy retreat, like burning man or some other infamous festival, or like a ritualistic pilgrimage.
Some come for the loud guitars and some for the beats of drums, some to forget their troubles and some to find oneness.
This festival started from the ground up, by a local band and their friends who wanted to connect different worlds. The first few years it was only a few hundred members, but as they connected with bands from other cities it grew to thousands and now, I’m not sure how many people attend but it must be somewhere between 3000-5000.
It’s a reminder that you have power, especially when you have a vision and seek others who can match their own vision to yours.
Don’t ever doubt yourself and your ability to bring fun and beauty and meaning into the world.
I don’t want to attract the casual tourist to this event, it’s not a secret but it stays under the radar of the masses and it is bettet for it. But if you are really interested, get to know bands like Minyo Crusaders and Oki Dub Ainu Band and if you learn about them a bit you’ll definetly come across this festival.