Forget the hotel! Plan on camping on-site. The extra cost over a festival ticket is marginal. You'll need a tent to keep you dry (there WILL be a shower, or at least heavy morning dew, at sometime during the festival). There are bathrooms with flush plumbing available. If you've got an RV, you can even get electric and water hook-ups. What makes camping at this festival a little different than at some other festivals is that you can camp at the West end of the campground if you want a quiet space to fall asleep early at night, and it's quiet. Or you can set up at the Eastern end of the campground if you're going to jam all-night. So you can actually sleep in the campground, or have music surround your tent--it's your choice. No matter where you camp, you can jam all night in the Festival spaces outside the campground--the performance areas and other fairgrounds buildings are available.

You can pack your own food, or shop at one of the supermarkets on Route 20 between Albany and Guilderland just before you arrive, or buy your food on site. You will meet at least a couple of dozen Mudcatters, probably more. You will make music all night--the concerts begin on Friday Afternoon, and the official sing-arounds go until 2 a.m., though in practice, they go much later than that. If you've got the stamina, you can make music until dawn. For about $70/person for the all festival ticket, it's an entertainment bargain you can't pass up.

--Charlie Baum, who has been to every Old Songs festival since 1983, except the year his father died.