| Festival Season |
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| Posted by Stacey Gagne |
11:13 AM Friday, 01 June 2007 |
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For some, the arrival of summer means vacations to the beach. For students it’s a break from school. Many look ahead to June, July and August in dread of endless sweaty hours of mowing the lawn in the hot sun . For me, the arrival of summer means festival season. My initiation into the music festival scene was unexpected.
In the late 90’s, early 00’s my brother was in a band that got some radio airplay, national touring, and even played main stage at Creation. The first time that happened, my family came down from Vermont and we were all excited to attend our first Christian Music Festival together. Growing up in New England, concerts were rarities for us let alone the thought of a week of concerts! We were anxious to go and be up front for my brother as he beat the heck out of his congas in front of thousands of people. Through my little brother, I had met a bunch of people who were affiliated with the music scene and the festival. I had started doing some volunteering at the local radio station and was becoming friends with the staff. They had hooked my family up with tickets to the festival and a place to camp with the band, so I owed them one. This is why I received the phone call that would change the course of my summers. “Hey Stace, would you be willing to do us a big favor?” “Well, sure” I replied with gusto. “Could you be a supervisor at gates for Creation? One of our staff can’t make it” Huh? I’ve never been to Creation before. I’ve never worked at a festival before. I have no idea where I’m going. Those were my thoughts, but the words out of my mouth were “Sure, when do you need me?” My mother and I drove the 2 hours to the grounds arriving after dark after getting lost in an area that was in the middle of nowhere to begin with. We were greeted by a sunburned and dirty friend at the entrance gates and led to our campsite by someone on a 4 wheeler. “Where are they taking us?” I thought. Thus began endless hours at the Main Gates where I’ve worked ever since. I’ve never attended a festival without being on staff and I couldn’t imagine it. The highlights of the event for me are arriving to an empty field and watching it come to life with bars of steel forming the stage and freshly mown grass becoming a sea of tents. The friendships formed through the dirt and sweat and sometimes tears of being behind the scenes at an event of that magnitude are rare and special. Even, dare I say it, the tear down and picking up of trash at the end of the week is rewarding. There’s something about seeing an event through to the end and knowing it was only made possible by people working together as a team for one goal and to the glory of God. Volunteers get to help to create a venue for artists to share their music and their faith, an atmosphere where people can connect, and where families and friends reunite year after year. It's amazing to hear about all the lives that are touched over those few days out in the sun. And, oh yeah, there are concerts. Seeing my brother on stage was incredible and brought tears to my eyes. I’ve gotten to see a number of my favorite artists on stage… but it’s almost become an aside to the rest of what goes on in preparation for the main event. The work has BECOME the main event. I now work at 3 festivals over the summer and work full time with the friends that requested my help that fateful day I became a Supervisor at Creation. Who knows how long my summers will be equated with festivals, but I’m thankful for however many summers I get to spend with the words STAFF written in bold across the back of my sweaty t-shirts. Comments (0) |
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