After Five Years Away, Going Back to Green River Fest

It’s been at least five years since I last bought a ticket to the Green River Festival, happening this Saturday on the lawns of Greenfield Community College. I remember this as an important event in the Valley, sort of a marker of summer. But I’ve spent so much time down in Holyoke I haven’t made the trip to the festival. But this year is different.

I plunked down $45 for a ticket and am ready to enjoy the recreation of peace, love and fun that this mini-woodstock represents. The only thing I’m afraid of is that the forecast calls for rain. This brings me a distant faded memory of a photo I saw a few years ago of member of our camping party, standing underneath umbrellas at a Vermont campsite. Oh, I hope that it doesn’t rain.

The festivals of years past were full of chance meetings with people I haven’t seen in a while, fun chatting with vendors like my friends Sean and Darren Pierce, and lots and lots of good music. I dialed up the headliner, Michael Frante on the web, and his music is indeed infectious and fun. Let’s just hope it will be as much fun if it’s pouring down rain.