TepFest

So I returned the other night from Merlefest, tired but content and happy to have seen my friends after such a long time.

Arriving home, I immediately got to work on preparing for TepFest--making T-shirts and packing cars and the like. Yesterday morning I spent hours ironing t-shirts and putting the finishing touches on our festival arrangements.

The day started off ominously, as dark clouds rolled across the skies and raindrops intermittently fell. The temperature was unseasonably cold as well, and I fretted, worrying about all of our carefully laid plans. Thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated, and the skies cleared and the temperature rose. We happily set about to start grilling and drinking beer, waiting for people to arrive.

Jen, the host of the festival (along with us) had set the place up beautifully. Colorful signs and Tiki torches were scattered around the property, bearing such useful information as the whereabouts of the bathroom and the location of the parking. Two firepits and a "burn barrel" dotted the field and brightly shimmering metal stars hung above the stage that we constructed last week.



People slowly trickled in to the festival, and continued to do so all night. The music began later than expected, as the "crowds" were basically non-existent at the planned start time of 8 p.m. And so, from 9 pm until around 1 a.m., music graced the fields of West Asheville. Many technical difficulties (blown amp, dead guitar pickup batteries) forced Sirius.B to perform acoustically around the campfire, which while not part of the plan, was a nice, intimate way to play.

Burgers and fresh Alaskan salmon (brought to us by our Alaskan fisherman friend) were cooked all night long, and the beer ran with reckless abandon. The music, after the official lineup, lasted until very late. The final tunes began to fade out around 5 a.m.

Unfortunately, the turnout never quite "turned out" as we had figured. Competition was great, as a number of other festivals (Merlefest, Idfest, and others) had been planned for the same weekend. So, though TepFest was by nearly all measures a great success, it was not an economic success. Imhotep, who we planned to benefit with this TepFest benefit show, ended up walking away with two gallons of beer and little else.

We were all happy with the show though, and considering this is our first attempt at festival planning, we consider it a great success.