Be There Festival

Be There Festival
Warsaw, Ohio
August 2-4, 2013

Sometimes the vibe is just right!  That’s exactly how I feel about the Be There Festival.  From the moment I picked up my friend and we started our journey through picturesque Amish Country landscapes toward the small family farm where Be There was held, everything had a rose-tinted quality.  Rolling fields dotted with hand-bailed mounds of hay, stately barns adorned with weathervanes, Amish children riding bikes- we pointed out and squealed over scene after scene.

When we arrived we were warmly greeted and I could just feel it- the vibe.  As my friend and I were setting up camp, he motioned to our neighbor and said ‘I think I know that guy.’  Within 5 minutes of arriving we’d met the first of the people we superbly enjoyed our wild weekend with.

There’s this big hill on one side of the property and as we eyed it up we became determined to climb it.  Just a few minutes later we were conversing about philosophy at the peak of the steep incline looking out over the farm and the festival below.  Yeah, I get that by now I sound pretty nostalgic about all this but I’ll just say it- what an enchanted place the top of that hill was!

The night went on and we enjoyed the lineup of bands and just wandering around the property.  By now more friends had arrived and although this was one of the smaller fests I went to this year, it was just so welcoming.  The intimate atmosphere encouraged everyone to engage.  Even though it was steadily raining, we all remained at the stage or one of the community fires enjoying the good company.

All my siblings arrived the next day to enjoy our favorite band, The Stagecoach Robbery, play an afternoon set.  I walked back to camp and asked all my new friends to come up and check out this awesome band.  They obliged and found themselves jamming out to Stagecoach's funky grooves minutes later. 

We gathered a large group and climbed the big hill again that night.  We felt like we were higher than the tops of the fireworks they set off below.  That hill has a contemplative quality and we sat and talked about everything.  Through the darkness we witnessed shooting star after shooting star draw across the sky. 

I was blown away by a late night set of the band Arpetrio, an electronic band out of Knoxville, Tennessee.  They were my new-band discovery of the weekend!  I spent hours around the fire with my sister and brother and probably about 75 other people just enjoying each other’s company.  Throughout the evening everyone I spoke with said the same thing I was thinking- that they experienced a special closeness with their fellow festival-goer at this gathering.  The best festivals are those in which lasting friendships are developed and nurtured.  That’s what makes the vibe just right!