Spooked by the number 13 and the shadow of last year's washout, I accepted last June 29th's gem of a summer¹s day with a heaping helping of skepticism.  My neck sore from looking skywards, around 5 pm I finally began to exhale and enjoy the spectacle as it slowly emerged.  The Grove Festival has traditionally had a life force of its own, like a developing amoeba that you can't really control or contain once it's let loose.

     Before the show even began, a psychedelic moment touched down in front of the already-formed crowd.   A brass band, led by local bard Charlie Kile, circled through the crowd, from the gate to the lake.  They greeted incoming guests with a funky New Orleans "second line" swagger, and an infectious levity that permeated the twilight air.

     The Joint Chiefs started the evening and I watched from the stage as the undulation of people with blankets, lawnchairs and picnic baskets approached the grass in front of me.  Klondike Sound Company made it sound so smooth that I barely had to think about playing and could just relax behind the music.

     When the Tibetan monks took the stage with their cherubic faces, brilliant colors, and other worldly sounds, everyone knew we were in for an unusual ride.  These fellows began a tour of North America in March of 2002, sharing the spiritual and cultural life of Tibet with their audiences.  Their tour generates funds to run their monastery in southern India where 250 of them now live, including 150 orphans under the age of 16.  We traveled into the mystic as their chanting permeated the gentle evening. Later, their enormous trumpets bleated out at us, and a snow leopard leapt its way
through an ancient tale of Tibet.

     Next up was Sonal Vora and the Kala Shakti Dancers who illuminated a 2200 year-old tradition of Odissi or Indian temple dancing.  Introducing her two young protégées dressed and ornamented in fantastic costume, Sonal realized her mission of passing along the beauty of Indian music, history and classical dance to a new generation.

     The Quebecois band Matapat brought us to the tipping point with their infectious joie de vivre - ­ Benoit Bourque's feet started percussing as Simon Lepage's bass grooves devoured the crowd. Gorgeous melodies played on fiddle and sung by Gaston Bernard brought everyone down to the stage to fuse with the muse.

     The thriving organism that is the Grove Festival has been fed and nurtured by its participants for 13 years.  The many volunteers who build the stage, man the gate and help with both the set-up and the take down, are huge... but the key ingredient of this events longevity is the people in the crowd who set the energy on fire and make the experience of  "being there" unique and exhilarating each year.   Thank-you, dear audience, you are the show!



      The banners are up in Salisbury and Lakeville...Project Troubador will be at the Town Grove soon. Let's invite friends and plan our menu for a lakeside dinner. The Grove is transformed into a center stage the likes of Red Rocks.

      It's a beautiful night,  we've set up our chairs and set the table. It's great to spend this time with good friends...and to see so many town folk ready to enjoy an evening of camaraderie. Eliot, Louise and their crew are still busy attending to last minute details. We are already enjoying the varied gourmet delights that we have prepared.
  
    Welcome to an evening of music, dance, and humor. The Joint Chiefs open the festivities. Our feet start tapping, and the youngsters and elders enjoy the rhythmic beat.
  
     The festival offers a cultural mélange of music and dance unlike any other evening in our town. Matapat from Quebec brings back vivid memories of my "younger" days, recalling the Saturday night radio program we'd listen to, playing traditional Canadian music...and my grandfather dancing the jig.
  
     Wish I could dance with him now.
     Thanks Project Troubador. See you next year...

Denise Rice lives in Lakeville, CT.  She is the mother of four, the grandmother of six, and collects the taxes for the town of Salisbury.