Sharon from the northern suburbs of Philly here. Bear in mind that when you're in those long lines, you can't walk out to the corner 7-11 for refreshment. The fest is in a residential/rural part of outer suburbia. They call it the "Philadelphia" Folk Festival, but it's almost 40 miles from City Hall.

I've attended the fest several times, but never for the whole fest and definitely never camping. As Ron said, it's not my cup of tea. But I'm a friend of Marymac90 and she would never steer you wrong. Listen to her! I have heard tales about the camping, and I understand that the jamming does go on all night every night.

I can personally vouch for the part about the throat-choking dust and the boot-swallowing mud and the hilly terrain (within the festival space as well as without) and the stages and the "sweep" and the rush back onto the grounds for the evening concert. The year that I decided to spring for the "reserved seating" for an evening, I was very uncomfortable because they crammed as many folding chairs as possible into the space. There was literally NO room between one chair and the next, so everyone's butts were wedged together with no arm room, and not much leg room in front. It was a ridiculous waste of money; I would have done better to sprawl on a blanket up the hill and watch the performers projected onto the giant screens.

As Dharmabum says, it is not an intimate festival experience. In my opinion it has grown too large for the space, and has too many stages too close together. During the day, it's difficult to enjoy the music at one stage without hearing the sounds being blasted from nearby stages. Add to that the fact that the line-up increasingly includes music that differs so much from traditional folk that it can hardly be defined as "folk" at all, and it all ends up being a cacophony to my ear, and quite unpleasant.

So it has become my habit to check the schedule and, if one afternoon and/or evening sounds too tempting to pass up, I'll venture out. But more often than not, I've skipped it altogether. Guess you probably won't see me there, but if it's your cup of tea, have a blast!!! :^)

Sharon

P.S. -- Hi, Marymac and Dharmabum!