Reggae Fest was another assignment where my editor asked if I’d pick it up; I jumped at the chance to earn some additional greenbacks. I kept my scene report for the Austin American-Statesman as family-friendly as I could, but truth be told, you would have thought that smoking pot had been legalized – or at least decriminalized – if you were walking around at that festival, taking in all the sights and the smells.
I cut out a paragraph from the article wherein I compared the scene to a hippie version of Hamsterdam in The Wire. The comparison ultimately felt too strong. I also cut a part wherein I described what a great job of police work the Austin Police Department did that day. I really wanted to give them props, but I’d written that paragraph in the first person and it just felt a little lazy (and I really don’t like first person newspaper journalism).
Oddly, I was sober as a judge as the Reggae Fest. I was working after all. I’m glad that I didn’t get too much of a contact high because I was really happy with the way I was able to put the article together. I really enjoyed writing the last line about the mother-to-be caressing the Earth on her pregnant belly. Writing that whole section made me really happy (except for the part where I used “likewise” twice in the same paragraph).
The original version appeared in the Austin American-Statesman here.
The Austin Reggae Festival benefiting the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas received a little divine intervention from the heavens on Saturday and Sunday as the week-ending thunderstorm clouds dissipated, leaving only clouds of smoke billowing from ornate glass “tobacco” pipes and carefully constructed “blunt” cigars as reggae music chimed through the air.
With the city skyline and Lady Bird Lake posing as a picturesque backdrop, thousands of souls basked in the sun and soaked up the irie, good vibrations music. Despite the $15 entrance fee, the festival appeared recession proof, drawing the same numbers as it did in the previous year according to Kerri Qunell of Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (Qunell says around 20,000).
“People still bring canned food as donations — this is the 16th year — and people are used to doing that. But people are also being really generous with the cash donations,” Qunell said. “The festival just gets more and more popular.”
For one weekend a year, Auditorium Shores resembles Jamaica’s Sunsplash Festival, complete with a family-friendly inflatable romper room, a climbing wall and numerous vendors selling sundry wares. Fest-goers chomped on Henry VIII-sized turkey legs and sipped on beer and other fruity beverages severed in plastic, non-traditional yard glasses.
On Sunday afternoon, Houston’s Los Skarnales combined Latin rhythms and Spanish language with reggae roots, ska and dub music inducing a surreal scene when about 20 people danced with oversized hula hoops that appeared to be lying on the ground for anyone to use. Los Skarnales’ frontman Felipe Galvan rocked steady for nearly an hour, using his overflowing charisma to get the majority of the crowd dancing.
Jennifer and Mitch Adair, and their unborn child who floats in Jennifer's belly, just beneath the painting of the Earth by Joshua Davies.
Dancing in front of stage left was soon-to-be mother Jennifer Adair and husband Mitch Adair. Jennifer stood out in the crowd of thousands, her 7-months pregnant belly artfully painted by artist/Fest vendor Joshua Davies with a picture of the Earth and a message for her child: “2009 Welcome to Earth.”
“I’ve done face paint, body paint, back panels and murals, but that was my first pregnant belly,” Davies said as he painted the chubby cheek of a college student. Davies enjoyed his experience at the Reggae Fest last year — and this year — so much that he’ll be moving from Dallas to Austin soon to study art at Austin Community College. “I probably painted 20-25 people yesterday and about the same number today.”
The majority of the vendors appeared to be enjoying brisk business. Davies received a $40 tip for his work on the Adair’s pregnant belly. Likewise people were walking around with 4-foot-tall waterpipes they’d purchased from one vendor that was promoting a half-price sale. Likewise, the funnel cake stand closest to the stage had a line 50 people deep for most of Sunday afternoon.
Daniel Bermea of First Medical Response said that the fest had been free of major incidents outside of heat exhaustion and dehydration. “We treated about 100 people yesterday and about 50 today,” Bermea said. “People just need to remember to drink water … and eat.”
As the planet spun and the sun appeared to sink below the horizon, Austin’s notorious Mexican bats poured out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge in steady waves, undulating to the music while people screamed and hollered them on in encouragement. Many people began to head home with the setting sun while the diehard reggae-heads stayed for Jamaica’s now-legendary Wailing Souls.
“We moved from Florida to San Antonio about a year ago and now we come up (to Austin) every year,” Mitch Adair said. “They had Earth Day festivals in Florida, but nothing exactly like this. This is one of a kind! We wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Next year we’ll bring the baby,” Jennifer said, smiling as she caressed the Earth painted on her pregnant belly.
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By Kerri Qunell
April 20, 2009 2:13 PM | Link to this
Awesome recap! Thanks again for covering it.
Kerri Qunell VP, Communications Capital Area Food Bank