10/16/02
LEAF celebrates the spirit of music, art, fun
By Jay Hardwig
The Lake Eden Arts Festival will be held on the grounds of Camp Rockmont on Lake Eden Road in Black Mountain. Check out the complete lineup, together with maps and other info, at www.theleaf.com, or call 828.686.8742 for information. Sales of weekend passes end at noon Wednesday, Oct. 16; limited day passes will be available at the gate while supplies last. Day passes run from $25-$35 for adults; youth 10-17 get a five-buck discount; kids under 10 are free.
Black
Mountain may not be the Big Easy, but for two weekends a year, it’s
easy enough to think so. If tens of thousands make the pilgrimage
to New Orleans’ Jazzfest each spring, not-quite-as-many thousands
are making the Lake Eden Arts Festival a regular stop on their personal
tours. They come for the same reasons: great music, great food, and
a spirit of open-air celebration. And if Jazzfest has a distinctly
New Orleans feel born of shrimp creole, dixieland parades, and a laissez
les bon temp roulez ethic, LEAF can counter with a distinctly WNC
triumvirate of folk art, cosmic karma, and a climbing wall. The main attraction, though, is the music, and the folks at LEAF have once again assembled a knockout cast from all corners of the globe. Featured performers include the con clave punch of 12-piece Latin kings Alex Torres y Orquestra Los Reyes Latinos, the waltz and reels of Cajun flamekeepers the Hackberry Ramblers, the feathery voodoo magic of New Orleans’ Wild Magnolias, bluegrass praisesongs from the acclaimed IIIrd Tyme Out, and the “authentic traditional African hiphop” of Senegal’s Gokh-Bi System.
But wait, there’s more: gospel from the Golden Trumpets, bluegrass from the Steep Canyon Rangers, “Austrailian acoustic pop” from Fruit, blues form Amy Rae, and a double-dose of squeezebox from John Whelan (Celtic) and Rosie Ledet (Zydeco). And that, my friends, ain’t the half of it: LEAF features non-stop music on four stages, purt-near guaranteed to keep your toes tappin’.
If you’re toes get tired, you can always wander off to the kids tent, the poetry stage, a Healing Arts workshop, or climb in a canoe for a splash around the lake. It’s your day in the sun, after all. (Or night under the stars, if you have a camping pass.)