Folking it Up at the Festival

Last weekend I attended the 2008 Bangor Folk Festival.  This was actually something I was looking forward to attending.  And believe it or not, last years Festival was quite a bit of fun.  That is why it was something of a disappointment this year.

The main reason for all of the disappointment was the heat.  The oppressing heat.  The chaotically destructive heat.  The hellish shooting flames of heat.  It was exactly that bad.  We went on a Saturday at noon, and it just so happens this particular Saturday fell right in the middle of the last big heatwave of the summer.  Walking across the bridge from my house wasn't so bad because there was a breeze coming down the Penobscot.  Once we were mingling with several hundred other people in performance tents, in vendor stalls, and just out in the open we felt the heat.  Bad.  Usually we would stop to check everything out, or take our time just leisurely strolling around.  Now we were so uncomfortable and covered in sweat that we quickly moved from attraction to attraction never really paying much attention.  It just made the whole thing unpleasant to be soaked in sweat.

While the actual festival itself seemed just okay, it did lack some of the pizazz from the previous year.  I enjoyed last year because I was surprised to see performing Tibetan monks and a crazy Japanese street performer.  It's the Asians, man, they really do it for me.  But on top of that there were better vendor stalls, I feel, last year.  Even though I walked away with nothing either time.  Still, there was a greater variety last year.

The one positive that can always be drawn is the food.  Oh, the food!  There was everything from Vietnamese, to Greek, to vegetarian wraps.  Drifting over the entire layout of the event was a pleasant, warm scent of something delicious.  It was just all of the food stalls pumping their wondrous smells into our nostrils from every corner.  While I tried more delicacies last year I was still able to content myself this year.  For a meal we opted for chicken vegetable wraps with a garlic sauce.  These suckers were exquisite!  While there could have been some more meat and less vegetables it was still quite tasty.  I also sampled a bit of rabbit at the cooking stage.  Oh yes, Bugs Bunny was food that day.  It was a lean meat, somewhat bland and also tasting a little like chicken.  And I made the woman try some too.  She usually doesn't eat furry little cute creatures.

Anyway, it was a slight disappointment overall.  Perhaps next year will be better, maybe they'll line up some acts that suit my taste.  Then again, maybe not.  I'm not the type of person targeted by the festival.  I just hope that they bring back that Asian international flair they had previously.