I think these reports shine a bright light on Old Songs. We each find something different that by itself makes the admission price worth while. I especially like all the kids and young people all over the place. The Mystic Shanty Festival could learn from this. The little ones learn to love the music and come back to the festival as young adults. I'd say a third to maybe half of the all night crowd at Creature Comforts on Saturday was under 35. On Friday night at Chez Jake's tent the youngsters outnumbered the oldsters part of the time. Of course, it was the oldsters behaving badly.

Also, I worry about losing the Altamont Fairground venue. Irish 2000 has moved up to the Saratoga Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa, but they don't have overnight campers. In fact, they will have to bus people in from remote parking. The magic at Old Songs comes from all the campers who make their own music when they are not listening to the performers.

Old Songs has launched a "Save Our Necks" fund-raising campaign. They haven't communicated very well what they need the money for. Maybe it is a Keep the Festival Alive campaign, which would certainly draw my money. Irish 2000 is overrun with heavy drinkers as the night wears on, so it's not much of a family event. Old Songs is not like that, so I can't imagine how a sane community would want to lose the Old Songs Festival.



Paul