One of my favorite festivals in younger years was the Cajun and Bluegrass Festival in Escoheag, RI (now the Rhythm and Roots Festival in Charlestown RI) in the U.S. Basically, several thousand people sat around in a very dusty hot field for four days listening to Bluegrass, Cajun and Zydeco music, two-stepping, and eating spicy food. Any drinking water was carried in buckets from the faucet about 1/4 mile away, across the field, through the crowd, to the volunteer camping area, by yours truly and a few others. There it was poured into a canvas bag set up on a tripod and anyone who needed a drink came along and filled their cups and pitchers and coffee pots. I must have traipsed across that field fifty times a day.

Bathroom facilities were portable potties, and it was a big deal the year someone thought to put soap in nylon stockings next to them. As for the shower, it was a waterfall about three miles away, accessible only through a hiking path in the woods. Only people who knew the secret path could get there, but they were dirty and hot again by the time they got back so I never saw the point of going in the first place.

Now that I'm a germ-phobic mother of small children, no way could I hack that kind of weekend. Back then, it was a dusty, dirty adventure; and somehow the heat and dirt fit right in with the music and the spicy Louisiana cooking.

Festival high point: Michael Doucet (of Beausoleil) taking over the hospitality tent on Sunday each year to cook gumbo - which he then served out to the performers and volunteers. I always thought he was so generous, but maybe he was just worried about our dirty hands preparing his dinner!

Kim