News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Reporting on the success of Sisters Folk Festival is a familiar tune. There are barely enough superlatives to describe the sold-out three-day event just concluded. SFF Presents Board Chair Leanne Summers summarized it this way: "We've got something special in this community. The 2024 Sisters Folk Festival exemplifies that extraordinary, hard-to-define gift. In a time when it is easy to dwell on differences, Sisters Folk Festival artists, audiences, and volunteers reminded me over and over again that, no matter our origins or vocations, music and community are powerful agents.
Fantastic Cat got the Sisters Folk Festival crowd revved up in multiple sets across town last weekend.
"To echo Renee Coughlin of The Pairs, music is a compelling gift. You never know how the music you offer and share will touch someone, but you keep putting it out there. I can't help but feel that the ripples of this weekend are far-reaching and, frankly, awesome."
Her sentiments were repeated all weekend as folks from as far as Galway, Ireland, and Nova Scotia, Canada, and at least 20 states put away their cares and feasted on a cornucopia of music by no fewer than 33 bands - 73 artists in all.
It was nonstop music and nonstop gratitude. It was a two-way love fest as artist after artist marveled at both the setting and affection from the audience. Genuine was a word most often heard from the stage and the floor.
The setting was under the umbrella of crystal blue skies, a glow with Indian summer warmth on Friday and Saturday that gave way to fleece on Sunday.
"My only complaint," said Tilly Fletcher of Plano, Texas, "was trying to figure out how to not miss anything. It's like trying to stuff 10 pounds into a five-pound sack."
Her husband, Matt, was impressed with the way Festival volunteers got it all done.
"I'd look at those lines and think we were never going to get a seat, but somehow it all worked out," he said.
The Sisters Folk Festival made a joyful noise at seven venues around Sisters last weekend.
Cal Biggers from Durango, Colorado, heaped praises on the locals.
"It's gotta be hard on a small town to swallow all this. You folks should take a bow," he said.
His wife, Jillian, added, "You showed so much grace. If we got lost somebody would always turn us around, and we had a couple who gave us their place in line for dinner so we wouldn't miss an act."
Apart from the hundreds of Festival volunteers, townspeople stepped up and acted as goodwill ambassadors extending the good vibes and creating a welcoming aura.
In a refrain The Nugget heard often, Lonnie Ward and Karla Dawson of Boise said that they don't even look at who's in the lineup.
"We just know it's going to be good," Ward asserted.
They were attending their fourth Festival and take for granted that there will be more good music than time to absorb it.
"I agree," said Deb Snyder of Portland. "We just come knowing that we will get a ton of good music. It matters not who's in the program."
Like most attendees they were borderline astounded at the range of musical artistry. Such as Vasen from Sweden. The duo would depart Sisters heading back to Europe for gigs in Ireland and Germany.
The diversity of musicianship was palpable. Grammy winners, a balafon instrument, Djeli (Mali) sounds, a female salsa sextet from Colombia were but a few of the many examples.
"The story telling could double you over with belly laughs or break your heart," said Scott Tolliver from Seattle as he described the many different moods he encountered at this, his third Festival.
The music put folks out on the hardwood floor at The Belfry.
As in every Festival there are clear crowd favorites, generally those bands that can elicit crowd reaction from spontaneous dancing to friendly banter.
"You know, I can tell who's killing it," said Mica Carlson from Bend who, like a hundred or more around town, had no tickets and contented themselves to stand on the sidewalk outside a venue and just listen.
Shopkeepers, eateries, and watering holes were full all weekend. Downtown was jammed with other visitors as well taking advantage of the ideal weather. Nearby biking and hiking trails were comfortably full.
The campgrounds and best campsites in the forest were basecamp for hundreds of festivalgoers. The mood was festive, and the good vibes lasted long into the night.
Attendees came by car, camper, bicycle, motorcycle, and most of the locals came on foot. Two long-distance hikers completing a late PCT effort planned their border-to-border expedition to veer into Sisters long enough for a Saturday filled "soul stopping" music as one put it.
Sunday brought the show to a close but there was no rush to leave. It was a bittersweet retreat with gentle conversation about that "something special" Summers talked about.
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