by Edie Flanagin
GARDNER — My husband and I have been to each of the nine Hippie Days music fests in Gardner and this year has to be one of the best. As always, the music, food, vendors and “vibes” were great. We always bring our lawn chairs, stake out a shady spot under the awnings and sit back to enjoy the show.
A major part of Hippie Days is the enjoyment of watching people groove to the music, meet up with old friends and just chill out during the two days of the music festival. Each year the number and variety of vendors expands and shopping between the musical sets is always fun.
This year we brought our RV and camped in the parking lot next to the rodeo arena. Like most of the hippies in attendance, the RV’s parked around the grounds were “vintage”.
The younger, hardier campers set up a wide variety of dome tents, tarps and tent trailers behind the community center. Even though the RV helped muffle the sounds of the “tent city” crowd, their festivities carried on way after we were tucked into our memory foam mattresses.
Camping in a tent or RV is a wonderful way to experience the entire music festival scene. Since we didn’t have to drive back to Walsenburg each evening we were able to enjoy music much later than in past years.
When we arrived about 2 pm on Friday, most of the vendors were already set up and ready to do business. The stage and sound crew were ready. The first musicians were on stage by 3 pm and the festival was underway.
The number of people attending this year was amazing. Friday night a good crowd of perhaps 400 enjoyed the cool rain and excellent music. Saturday afternoon and evening an estimated 1,000 people packed the black top. Parked cars stretched nearly to Gardner Butte along Hwy 69.
The music didn’t start Saturday until about 2 pm so I walked around the community center and through town that morning. A free yoga class at 10 was offered, the Gardner Farmers Market, just down the road had great veggies, chevre, and fantastic breads and pies. An enterprising family had a yard sale just west of the community center and seemed to do some brisk business. At 1 pm a meeting was held in the center dealing with how to form a Co-Op.
All these wonderful events I would have missed if I hadn’t camped the night before. From now on our RV is going to Hippie Days!
Thanks, Gardner and Hippie Days organizers, for having such a wonderful event in Huerfano County.
