Tomorrow is the second (and, if the organizers have their way, the larger) of the two Wallingford music festivals, The Goddess Festival. It runs from 11 am to 10:00 pm on Saturday in Meridian Park and includes a line-up of music, comedy, vendors and other funness.
Now, if you’re like us, when you think “music festival”, you think mud-spattered pits of drunken twenty-somethings, passing poorly rolled joints and water bottles filled with Gatorade and Everclear.
What, that’s not how you spent your youth? Yeah, umm…neither did we.
Anyway, that’s totally NOT what the Goddess Festival will be like. For one, there is a designated “Kid Zone” set up next to the playground. Suzanna Wheeler tells us she’s dug deep into her archive of arts supplies (plus rounded up miscellaneous turtles, toys and costumes from around the neighborhood) to create tie-dye stations, Sand Pits o’ Prizes, bean bag tosses and other assortments of kid-friendly fun. She’s a kind soul and a sweetheart who knows her way around the kiddos, we trust her with this one.
And, if that weren’t enough, from 11 am – 2 pm, Cap’n Arrr will be entertaining the children in only the way a fake pirate can.
On the music side, it sounds like a packed day: apparently they have not one, not two but three, count them three simultaneous stages of music. Hopefully, that won’t disperse the attendees or muddy the sound too much. Tara Shuttleworth, the organizer, hasn’t released a line-up yet of who’s playing when, but has said that that will be available day of. Ditto on the list of vendors.
We do know that there will be a beer garden set up in Wallingford Senior Center in the basement of the Good Shepherd Center (for those of you who need a liquid softener for your day), and all money raised there (as well as from vendors, silent auctions and pass-the-hat donations) will be split between a variety of Wallingford charities.
Not that there won’t be a poorly rolled joint there…
Which article has the correct ending time? The first article says 10:00pm and the second says 7:30pm.
Steve
Ending time is 10 pm. Just fixed it above. Thanks for catching this.
Sounds like a spectacular happening in the ‘hood…something for everyone. Glad to hear (in the original article earlier in the week) that hairy kids (dogs) will be welcome, too. See you there!
Oh boy, is this great!
Here’s the lineup: http://www.goddessfestival.info/?q=node/12
I’m sorry but the 3 simultaneous stages in a small park just didn’t work at all. The competing sounds were intolerable for me and I had to leave right away, Hopefully the organizers can change this for next year!
It’s a bummer that the beer “garden” is indoors on such a nice day.
I’m right across the street on 50th, and the music and noise is WAY too loud. Meridian Park has been a quiet neighborhood park for the 6 years I’ve lived here, and this is the second weekend in a row of some type of loud music festival. I guess now that the Farmers Market is there, the word is out about this place.
Is this much noise even legal with homes so nearby?
@bmacke if they get a permit, yes. (Unfortunately, sometimes!)
I was surprised at the volume too, as I approached the park from 45th street. Poor neighbors! Two weekends in a row & all that. But I’m guessing it’ll quiet back down now.
I must’ve expected something different; all 3 stages featured all-male hard rock bands when I arrived at 6pm. Not much Goddess energy, etc. 😉
Trust me, Chris…. it takes Goddesses to organize, and handle all that rock. As a lover of music who has attended hundreds of shows and festivals, I can’t complain about the noise of music. Also, we are very happy to support our community of musicians. The thing is, quite typically, throughout the world, a grand majority of musicians are male. There were female musicians who played with Bucket of Honey, and The Pilot Lights, Haiku-Chi, and Gary Reynolds and the Brides of Obscurity. Also the Bahar Belly Dance Troupe. And let us not forget the organizers (majority are women). Also the Full Moon Gathering at the end of the event was organized by the women at Gaia’s Temple.
Thank you very very much to all who attended, and for your feedback! The vibe in the park was very positive throughout the day. Tara worked very hard on this for a year with the help of myself and 4-6 other organizers, I am very pleased that the event went off as well as it did for our first time. Bravo, Tara! Thank you for letting me work along side you! And again thank you all for your feedback, and for having us! 🙂