The Kate Wolf Festival: The End of One Era, The Beginning of Another,
Or one long uninterrupted flow
June 30, 2022
For a long time now, I’ve carried an image around in my head of Rosalie Sorrels shading herself under that big backstage tree by the artists’ reception area. Now that the final show is over, I’ll have to add a mental picture of those trees themselves to my gallery of memorable Kate Wolf festival moments.
In fact, there are many, many more things I will miss about the Kate Wolf festival than simply those two images. The music; the camaraderie; Old Friends; the warm days; soaking in the creek; the shade; the afternoon breezes; the vendor booths; Spyros’ gyros; the outsized illuminated peace sign backstage; the wonderful old oak trees living alongside the creek, ambassadors from prior centuries, quietly defying time.
Oh, and did I mention the camaraderie? And soooo much more!
The Monday after, while we were still on site, I asked a camp-mate what it was that, for him, made the Kate Wolf festival so special. His answer—The old Hippie ideal of caring for the land and each other, the kindness everyone practices, the mutual respect, the love—didn’t surprise me in the least!
In fact, the items he listed were the same things that came to mind for me and, I’d venture to guess, for many others as well when searching for words to describe what is essentially indescribable—phenomena for which words can only fumblingly and lovingly approximate. Like Greg Brown’s singing about his grandma putting a little taste of Summer up in a jar, such things defy description, deny precision and celebrate uncertainty, which may just be the point.
It’s all about, as one attendee observed, the intention of the festival, the feeling of loving kindness, of caring, of respect for others, of cooperation instead of competition, that makes this gem of a festival unique among its peers.
I never got to see Kate Wolf perform in person. The closest I got was attending the Strawberry Music festival the year Kate was scheduled to perform before she was so cruelly called away. But, thanks to the Kate Wolf festival, and after hearing all her great songs sung by various artists over the years at Black Oak Ranch, I feel like, in some small way, I know Kate.
Just as with the great Buddy Holly, we’ll never know what other wonderful songs Kate might have written had she been granted more time, but just look at all the magic that has come from the songs she did leave us with!
Far from simple entertainment, as Mary Gauthier noted from the Arlo Hagler stage last weekend, music has the power to change minds!
Kate’s music is indisputable evidence of this fact. For many years now, as if by magic, her songs have fueled emotional responses that have opened doors, leading to greater awareness and a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of the web of life and where, and how we all fit into it.
Like gossamer seeds floating far and wide, the Kate Wolf festival has been a means of spreading that joyful magic down through the years and inspiring like minds to unite in joyful communion.
That’s how it happens, just like Italian cooking—a bit here, a dash there—and before you know it, you’re become one more step in the quiet revolution of softening hearts and changing minds.
Though this was, sadly, the last Kate Wolf festival, the Kate spirit will go on. While the final lingering notes of Give Yourself To Love have now fallen silent, they will reverberate in our minds forever. The magic they spun will linger in our hearts as long as we draw breath, and the gratitude we feel for the gift Kate gave us will never fade.
That is such a sweet recollection of magical memories, Tim. We had so many fine times there (I attended all 25 festivals). So many times I'd be walking around the festival site in the golden afternoon Sun, deeply drinking in not just the inestimable beauty of such a place, but also the precious, transient nature of it all. I knew it all would end someday, and along with a twinge of sadness I felt such gratitude that we got to do it as long as we did.
How fortunate we were to all co-create 25 of these little temporary bubbles of musical and communal bliss. Many thanks to Cloud Moss, along with Utah Philips and Wavy Gravy (and so many others!) for creating and nurturing that vision. And thanks Tim, for such a beautifully written piece, for capturing all those fireflies in a bottle, and letting them out to flicker forever, like stars in the night sky...
Psyched for the two new festivals on the property. Next up is The Days Between! www.daysbetweenfest.com.