Waynefest 2006

Until Thursday evening, I had no idea Waynefest even existed . . . actually I bearly knew of the town of Wayne to be honest. Mr J first sent me a link to the website and said he might like to go maybe . . . it is strange for Mr. J to show an interest in any sort of music event (the only concert he has bought tickets for himself since I have known him is GWAR . . . enough siad) so I thought I had better look into it. . .

Waynefest, in the bonefide ghost town of Wayne, Alberta (population 42) is billed as Canada’s most intimate little music festival, with only 500 tickets sold (400 camping weekend passes and only 100 Saturday day passes). The line up was made up of some of my favorite players in the Canadian folk music scene, including Po Girl, Nathan and a recent addition to my musical repetoir - Elliott Brood.

The website cautioned that since there are only 100 Saturday tickets available (only at the gate) to arrive early . . . Mr J and I had a back up plan to go hicking if we could not secure tickets, but left Calgary bright and early for the nearly 2 hour drive. We arrived just after 9:00 after taking the long (but not the very long) route, to discover that we had been a bit mislead. The two very sleepy lookin gyoung men sitting at the entry gate, had not sold a single day pass, and didn't even really know how to go about doing so...the field was completely empty, and the stage was still in the process of being set up . . . luckily there was a single food vendor serving up large portions of breakfast and coffee (with free refills) for a mere $5, the sun was shining and before too long there was music to be heard, starting with a bagpipe wake up call through out the campsite.

The mainstage started at 12:00 and there was continuous music until 5:30 at which point the 400 weekend ticket holders were served their complimentary deepfird steak dinner . . . while the 100 day pass people (Mr J and I included) were left to either watch or procure or own diner. So we headed across the street to the Last Chance Saloon (yes, Wayne may only have 42 residents, but it has a 200+ capacity saloon) where we noched on Buffalo Burgers and BBQ your own steak with Mr J's friends A, J & K. Then it was back to the festival for hours more of music and entertainment.

Throughout the course of the day, the show wound up running about an hour and a half late. And naturally the act I anticipated seeing the most was scheduled for the second last itme slot, so we didn't get back on the road to Calgary until almost 12:30 . . . needless to say we slept in this morning.

It was a great day, although the 3 1/2 hours travel time made the long day of sitting in the hot desert sun even longer. Mr J says if we are to partake in this fun, yet poorly organized fest agian, that we will have to go for the whole weekend - camping included. This almost guarentees that the fifth annual Waynefest will be my first, and last, as this girl DOES NOT CAMP! It would have to be one hell of a lineup to get me to sleep in a tent and forego showers. . .