Zydeco Fiddler
Last weekend, I returned from Seattle, where I’d been working at the Northwest Folklife Festival. For the last eight years, I’ve worked as the festival’s Signage Coordinator (see posts from previous festivals here). The weather this year was pretty crappy — unseasonably cold and rainy, even for Seattle. But, I still managed to have a great time. Many of my coworkers have been at the festival for many years as well, so I was happy to get to hang out with many of them again. As always, most of my work takes place before and after the festival, and while the event is happening I have plenty of time to listen to music and take pictures. I’ve posted my best shots here; click on the photo above to see the whole gallery.
Incredible Salmon Sandwich
The Thursday after the Folklife Festival, I had a free day to roam around Seattle. As is my wont, I celebrated my first day of freedom from walking around the festival grounds all day by… walking around the city all day. I started out the day by meeting Jerin for morning coffee/tea at Elliot Bay Books. After that, I spent awhile shopping in and around Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. I had an amazing lunch at the Three Girls Bakery — a big slab of baked salmon with havarti, spicy Dijon mustard, and lettuce on fresh rosemary garlic bread. It was the best sandwich I’ve had in recent memory. I ducked into a little record shop at Pike Place before moving on. In the jazz ‘New Arrival’ bin, I found an LP by the Australian Jazz Quintet — a group that featured Erroll Buddle on bassoon and tenor sax, and whose LPs I’d heretofore only been able to find on eBay.
Alexander Calder’s “Eagle”
Next I headed to the relatively new Olympic Sculpture Park, an extension of the Seattle Art Museum that sits right on the waterfront. The park has quite a few permanent pieces by sculptors such as Louise Bourgeois, Ellsworth Kelly, and Alexander Calder. There are also a number of temporary pieces on display, most prominently (right now, at least) a number of giant orange safety cones by Dennis Oppenheim. The park is also home to the PACCAR Pavilion, an expansive gallery space that currently houses a large and interesting installation by Geoff McFetridge called “In The Mind”.
Inside the Public Library
After spending awhile in the Sculpture Park, I continued strolling around town. I stopped in at the magnificent Rem Koolhaas–designed Seattle Public Library to pick up a little something for Veronica. I’d been there before, so I didn’t stay too long. Next, I wandered past City Hall and up into the International District for some sushi. Along the way, I spotted the fanciest fire station I’ve ever seen, and a very decrepit former hotel. Soon, I’ll have some pictures to post from the last portions of my trip — involving boats, trains, and an eccentric millionaire.
Inochi Taiko Drummer
I had very little to do on Memorial Day, the last day of the festival, other than repair some easels and distribute a couple of sponsor banners to stages for specific shows. So, I was able to spend most of my time walking around, taking pictures, and listening to music. There’s always at least one Taiko group at Folklife, and the high-energy shows are always fun to watch. The group I saw this year was Inochi Taiko, which performed early Monday afternoon. Other highlights of the day included a professional jump-rope troupe (I had no idea such things existed), a performance by my friend Jerin, and perhaps the last thing I expected to see/hear at the festival: a sing-along performance of Mozart’s Requiem Mass.
Punk Fiddler
Monday evening, it was time to start breaking down all of the festival gear. I went around to the various stages and areas, scrambling to take down signs as soon as the programming in each place wrapped up. I worked until about midnight, and managed to get most things pulled down that night. I was happy that this year — unlike every other year I’ve worked the festival — none of my banners were taken out by overly tall box trucks. After the production crew and I had finished for the night and locked up, we set out for some celebratory beverages. As soon as we turned around to start walking, a Pepsi truck sped up the road in front of us and — BAM! — hit a banner, ripping out two corner grommets.
Jerin Falkner
With the help of my able assistant Whitney, all the signage was taken down, sorted, and put away by Wednesday morning. I then threw my efforts into helping production finish all of their stuff. I think we were done in record time, and quickly commenced the annual unofficial production wrap party/bar crawl. As always, the festival was a lot of work, but also very fun. After doing the same job for five years, it’s fairly low stress for me now.
I’ve posted another dozen or so photos from Monday — click any of the thumbnails above to see them.
