By, Darlene Mae O’Connor
30 Summers of Rocking and They Still Come Flocking!
Soar with the Sounds & Dance among the Trees to Welcome the Summer of 2023 Down on the Farm in Panama, NY.
I am so excited for my first chance to experience the Famous Festival on the Farm. I grew up in Chautauqua County, and in my youth the big attraction in Panama were famous rocks. My sons are both grown and serving the Gulf Coast of Florida well, thus I have returned to the City of Trees, determined to ‘empty nest” with class as I attempt to relive my 20’s. Oh those sun filled days of bikinis and boats and live music nightly for our dancing delight. Now at the tender age of 58, I feel the same anticipation of a child on the night before Christmas. I just can’t wait to rock the hills hard at this Famous Festival on the Great Blue Heron Farm.
Not wanting to wait until the last minute to get a handle on the layout, {because the curiosity was killing me}, I asked co-founder Julie Rockcastle, if she could spare a few minutes to give me the .05 cent tour of the venue before the tents, trailers, and tour buses began arriving. Even as the hustle and bustle of festival preparations steadily hummed on across the 400 acres, Julie graciously acquiesced and in a flash Lisa, the efficient and kind helper of the Heron, appeared with a golf cart we zipped away to journey through the ancient woods over well-traveled paths of many memories and lore. Alongside saplings and the forest flora, as though they had come out of the ground naturally to adorn the trees, appear canvases of great size, full of color and telling stories with each brushstroke. Created by fine artisans paying homage to the splendor of nature’s timeless beauty and the mystical joy found in this place.
Having heard Heron stories from a few festival veterans, I had a very basic concept of the Blue Heron’s history and how the festivals first came to be. However, the story is even richer than I gathered and resembles my imaginings of “Woodstock”. Of course, I can only imagine Woodstock, as I’m too young to have attended, but did I mention this is my second shot at my 20’s? Perfect timing for fun along the mushroom fields, rolling hills of green and acres of trees standing stanchion over numerous color-coded camp sites. As we rode on, the wide skies above us wept for joy in anticipation of the merry making that is to soon come to this Farm of Fantasy and Mystic Musical Magic. I’ve heard it said that every year for three days during the reign of “The Great Blue Heron”, the sun is under contract to shine, but should it rain, it just won’t matter!
What a rare feat for any festival, anywhere to run for 30 consecutive seasons and still be growing strong. I’d like to thank Julie, her parents and the Erikson family siblings for the years they have invested into the farm and continued efforts to deliver this beloved event. Julie is quick to credit her longtime friend and creative partner of many years, Dave Tidquist. She tells the story of how she encountered Dave and when it all began. She told me how he knew all these Bands and was a Master Curator of Music Magic in search of a vast space in a natural place to hold a Festival. She had plenty of nature and space to spare on the grounds of the Heron campgrounds. With consent of her parents to use the property a partnership was born. Her siblings joined in the action over time and Julie considered her meeting Dave to be a well-timed incident of chance as their partnership commenced. The first year was a success with 800 attendees so planning for the next year ensued. Julie speaks of Dave Tidquist with great admiration for his artistic spirit and serious talent for creating profoundly imaginative signs in addition to his prowess for finding amazing musicians. Dave still creates all the contemporaneous works of art used for promotion of the festival and all of the signage around the grounds, but health issues keep him from attending and Julie expresses how much he is missed.
Well, the time to set up the three individual and very large staging areas is neigh. There are Circus Tents to pitch, Food Trucks to power up and campsites to ready. There will be people in campers, tents and out under the stars for as far as can be seen. There are special spaces set up for children to play safely and contingencies for any and all emergency situations that may arise. Bathrooms and a shower shed are available to guests and the Welcome sign has been hung. So find your way through the hills and valleys to party in the woods and get down on the farm for the 30th GREAT BLUE HERON MUSIC FESTIVAL.