Life was easy at the outdoor music festival: leave the tent, stroll down by the lake, stopping to watch the birds at play, and half an hour later arrive at the stage, then plonk down in the deck chair next to the trees and under the big blue and white striped umbrella, and wait to see which bands would play. There was something glorious about doing nothing but sitting and listening to music, with occasional breaks for eating and drinking.
The hippies were alive and well - that was obvious at the Hillside Festival. They they were older, thicker and slower, but the counter-culture dressing was still there. I saw gandmas with headbands and bright pink hair. Grandpas wore skinny jeans, beads and sandals. The drugs were there too – copious amount of beer and just as much marijuana. I overheard a couple boasting that they were the third generation to come to the event.
The Hillside Festival is on the last weekend of July and last year was its 40th anniversary. Held at Guelph Lake Conservation Area, it is easy to reach for daytrips from Toronto by car or transit. Better still, was camping there for the weekend as there are lots of hiking trails, and canoeing on the lakes. The mid-sized event is small enough that once you picked your sitting spot for the weekend, you could leave your things there. It was big enough to attract some serious musicians.
Jacqueline L. Scott at campsite.
Emmanuel Jal was one of headliners. He was magnetic on stage, with a tight band and a melodious backing singer. His mixture of rock, reggae, red dreadlocks and a gym physique was a hit with the crowd. Another hit was the folk singer with her guitar. I thought she sounded familiar. It was Leyla McCalla who I first heard performing with the curiously named group the Carolina Chocolate Drops. They had educated me that hillbilly folk music was part of the African American music tradition too. Then it was sets by Ibeyi, Kandy Guira, Cheikh Ibra Fam and Buenrostro.
There are four stages at the Hillside Festival. As each performance was about an hour long, if I didn't like the band it was easy to wait or walk over to another stage. Each stage had about 12 hours of music performances each day. I planned my day around seeing as many of the Black and other ethnic musicians as possible.
The Sunday Gospel Session was the most joyous concert for me. There a mixture of musicians, from different genres, made some joyful sounds to the gods. It was morning church in the big tent with a congregation who could not get enough of the music.
When it was time for a break from the crowds and the music, I went for a swim in the lake or hiked along the trails. And each evening we gathered at the campsite for dinner, chatter and a campfire. I slept safe and sound in my tent. It was a perfect weekend of music and camping with my friends at the Hillside Festival.
© Jacqueline L. Scott. You can support the blog here.
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