Great Blue Heron Festival Continues Expanded Season
By Judy Shuler
Sometimes ideas born of necessity are too good to cast aside. This would have been the 30th anniversary of the Great Blue Heron Music Festival in Sherman, NY, but for the two-year pandemic interruption. Last summer, weekly concerts replaced the iconic three-day July 4th festival.
The traditional Great Blue Heron Musical Festival returns July 1-3, 2022 with many familiar performers, but so too will the smaller scale concerts launched last year. The extended summer season, called “Beyond the Blue,” features four additional festivals July through Labor Day Weekend.
“The genre-focused Beyond the Blue mini-festivals present diverse and family-friendly experiences all summer long that enable us to welcome more people who share our passions for music, the outdoors, and sustainability,” says Julie Rockcastle, festival co-founder and owner of The Heron Farm & Event Center. Beyond the Blue I, slated for July 16, kicks off with sweet harmonies, funky bluegrass and soulful rhythms with artists Dirty Blanket, Folkfaces and Bella’s Bartok.
The series continues July 30 with Beyond the Blue II, a full day of progressive Reggae beats, island vibes and thunderous Native American sounds. Event headliner, Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad, often referred as “The Grateful Dead of Reggae,” will grace the main stage, along with Keith Secola, Root Shock and Mosaic Foundation.
On August 20, Beyond the Blue III features electrifying funk and electro-rock with event headliner, Jimkata. The trio, based in Ithaca and Los Angeles, stretches boundaries with bold arrangements fueled by swirling synthesizers and anthemic hooks.
Season finale, Beyond the Blue IV, will take place on Labor Day weekend with more than 20 artists, including Pokey Lafarge, a musician influenced by old-time country, blues, folk, and Western swing. Another headliner, singer/songwriter Ryan Montbleau, has spent much of his life crisscrossing the globe on a perpetual search for meaning, purpose, and understanding, defining not only his music, but his very sense of self.
In 2020, with virtually all large gatherings canceled, Heron Farm & Event Center focused on expanding their camping facilities as a way for people to safely distance while enjoying the outdoors in comfort. Their efforts were applauded in December 2020, when they were voted best overall HipCamp in New York State, and best overall HipCamp tent site in the United States. Camping opens May 13 this season, with 90 sites in nine different sections of the 400-acre property, ranging from primitive tent sites to more comfortable Airbnbs.
While challenging, the two previous seasons have broadened their sense of mission, Rockcastle acknowledges. “It’s been a wonderful, although a bit painful, opportunity to shift and realign our vision for the future of this place.”
While best known for their music festival, and now camping, The Heron Farm & Event Center is much more. “We have art installations on the property, including special lighting of the trails at night. Steve French from Volt Vision is part of those endeavors. Education programs are centered around wellness and farming. We have farm tours to see the shiitake mushroom operation, hold foraging workshops and the Great Rhythm Revival is an incredible weekend of chanting, drumming, yoga, meditation, self-expression, and dance.”
Julie’s husband Steve operates the farm, producing certified organic vegetables, shiitake mushrooms (largest site in Western New York), organic chicken, GMO-free pork, and 100% grass-fed beef.
Their products are available year-around in their self-service Green Heron Growers Farm Store, open 8am-8pm daily; at the Fredonia Farmers Market all year; Chautauqua Institution’s Bestor Plaza during their 10-week season; plus, Williamsville May through October.
“Best for us is people shopping at the Farm Store here at The Heron though, because we love to have people discover the beauty of this place!”
So much activity takes more than two people. “We had 14 employees last season, mostly part time seasonal people, and we expect the same this year.”
Many volunteers are central to what they do. “This year we will need nearly 300 volunteers for the Great Blue Heron weekend and also many for the other four weekends.”
For more information, a full schedule of performers, tickets, camping reservations or to sign up as a vendor or volunteer, go to theheron.org, Facebook or Instagram.
Caption: The traditional Great Blue Heron Musical Festival returns July 1-3, 2022 with many familiar performers, but so too will the smaller scale concerts launched last year. The extended summer season, called “Beyond the Blue,” features four additional festivals July through Labor Day Weekend.
Caption 2: Beyond the Blue I, slated for July 16, kicks off with sweet harmonies, funky bluegrass and soulful rhythms with artists Dirty Blanket, Folkfaces and Bella’s Bartok. The series continues July 30 with Beyond the Blue II, a full day of progressive Reggae beats, island vibes and thunderous Native American sounds. On August 20, Beyond the Blue III features electrifying funk and electro-rock with event headliner, Jimkata. Season finale, Beyond the Blue IV, will take place on Labor Day weekend with more than 20 artists, including Pokey Lafarge, a musician influenced by old-time country, blues, folk, and Western swing.
Caption 3: In 2020, with virtually all large gatherings canceled, Heron Farm & Event Center focused on expanding their camping facilities as a way for people to safely distance while enjoying the outdoors in comfort. Their efforts were applauded in December 2020, when they were voted best overall HipCamp in New York State, and best overall HipCamp tent site in the United States. Camping opens May 13 this season, with 90 sites in nine different sections of the 400-acre property, ranging from primitive tent sites to more comfortable Airbnbs.