As a matter of fact, Taco Negro is the perfect festival rig

After coming back from two weeks in Utah we already had our next adventure set up: The Parkfield Bluegrass festival.

Now, you might not think that our overlanding rig would be the best thing to take to a bluegrass festival.

You would be wrong.

Overlanders make excellent festivarians (to borrow the word from Planet Bluegrass). We’re completely independent and self-sufficient. We bring our own food, water, and supplies. And Michael and I were full-time overlanders for long enough to have our routine down, to know almost exactly what we needed to bring.

During the setup of our tent we ended up being a bit of a spectacle. Rooftop tents are not new, but apparently most California bluegrassers have never seen one before. Cascadia Vehicle Tents got a ton of free publicity from us due to all the people who stopped to take pictures. We even gave a few tours.

It’s been a while since we set up the annex, though. It’s not always necessary and since it adds to our setup/breakdown time we tend to skip it. Previously we used the annex when inclement weather was on the way, or we thought we might be in one spot for more than a couple of days. It’s a nice, private, sheltered space. Since we were at Parkfield for 4 days, we set up the annex and kept our packs and instruments in there. I had a tendency to change clothes in there, too. We have full access to the truck from the inside of the annex so that makes the space seem even bigger.

I really need to send a big shout-out to our friend Joel, because Joel arrived at Parkfield the day before we did and he staked out this area for us.

That’s Joel’s blue truck on the left. The picnic tables were originally blocking off the rest of the site, and it took three of us to move them. But we put down tarps and put up EZ-Ups for shade or an escape from the rain (and it DID rain!) and made the perfect place for a jam.

One thing did feel a bit weird to me, though: leaving everything out all night. The food, our stove, all of it. I’m just used to overlanding rules. We learned them the hard way on the very first night of our 14-month trip… You can read all about it if you want. (And you should, it involves a bear!) Here at Parkfield, I didn’t even see evidence of rodents. Nothing even nibbled at the stuff we left out. This mentality sure made the evening cleanup a lot easier…

Back to the festival: I was happy to set up our Revel Gear lights. They’re a lot brighter than the battery-operated kind, they look awesome, and they also got us a lot of stares, points, and photos over the course of the festival.

Did I mention that you can buy these awesome lights at REI now? Way to go, Revel Gear! I’m so stoked for you.

As you can see, I have these lights in both white and the Christmas-color variety. I use the white around the awning and those lights are bright enough that I can read without using an extra headlamp. I wound the multi-color around the outside of the tent to make it easy to find in the dark. Not that I found myself leaving our compound much, though. We’d set up such a cool spot that the jams happened at our camp!

Parkfield really knows how to throw a festival. I was happily surprised to find bathrooms with flush toilets and a big sink with running water (complete with soap, which some festival angel even replaced halfway through the weekend) not too far from our camp.

The main reason for all the amenities is that the town is also home to the Parkfield Ranch Rodeo. (Motto: “It’s just like the NPR, only closer, smaller, cheaper, and more fun!”) You might not be able to see it in the photos, but we’re parked right next to the rodeo ring. I love small rodeos – my favorite is still the Montana State Fair – and the town of Parkfield is only a couple hours away, so maybe next year I’ll come check it out.

We spent so much time picking at our little compound that my fingers were sore for days. And we did go see many of the bands, too. Like a lot of smaller festivals, Parkfield hosts several regional bands, as well as some up-and-coming groups that you’ll want to keep an eye on.

One of those groups to keep an eye on is Canada’s Slocan Ramblers. This bluegrass quartet played with so much energy that the crowd demanded two encores after their Saturday night set. I picked up their latest album Queen City Jubilee (a 2019 Juno Award Nominee for Traditional Roots Album of the Year) and have been listening to it nonstop ever since. I might even send it on to my parents – they live in a bluegrass-starved area of Michigan and I love to hook them up with new music.

Sunday morning we began the breakdown process. Even though it’s been a while, things went smoothly and we made our way home without incident.

Next festival is over Father’s Day weekend, the Father’s Day Festival, in Grass Valley, California. This one’s farther away (about a 5 hour drive) and we’re volunteering, so my next blog post will be chock-full of information. Stay tuned, or subscribe so that you’ll never miss a post!