I had the good fortune to spend the entire weekend at the Sisters Folk Festival in early September. Aside from the excellent music, much of it new to me, I was inspired by the involvement of the community in many of aspects of the festival.

From local businesses providing many of the eight stages (Angeline’s Bakery, Sisters Coffee, Melvin’s Fir Street Market and more) to the participation of  local volunteers (high school students, members of the business and arts community and music lovers), it seemed the whole town pitched in together to make this fantastic festival happen.

I could always find parking, an open bathroom, a snack and a seat (at least in the larger venues) at the sold-out event. Testament to the incredible flow of the weekend came from the musicians themselves. Many were openly grateful to the community for their participation and the little touches of appreciation Sisters showed to them.

Many of the musicians had taken part in the Americana Song Academy which had been held at Caldera a few days prior to the festival, and I posit that the quality of the music over the weekend was directly influenced by the rejuvenating and inspiring nature of the Song Academy; many of the performers had a glow on their faces when speaking about their time at Caldera.

Thank you Sisters, for a great model of a community-based festival!