Sierra Nevada World Music Festival @ Boonville

[Drunk Monk]

CANCELLATION NOTICE With very a heavy heart, SNWMF BNVL LLC must announce the cancellation of Sierra Nevada World Music Festival 2024, June 21-23, at the Mendocino County
Fairgrounds, Boonville, CA. Last year, the SNWMF team beautifully and successfully revitalized the festival after a 5 year hiatus. We planned and have been diligently working towards presenting another magical weekend this year. This has become increasingly
difficult due to extreme financial challenges. We have tirelessly explored and exhausted all options. We cannot proceed knowing
we are unable to deliver the usual high quality event you deserve.
Please give us a little time to sort this. We cannot apologize enough for this turn of events and the late notice. We have worked very hard to avoid a cancellation but must face the harsh economic realities. SNWMF cannot express enough our gratitude and love to everyone who
has supported SNWMF over the past 30 years.
With regret, love and respect,
Gretchen Franz Smith for
SNWMF BNVL LLC

I’m heartbroken. This was one of my favorite festivals and I cannot see how they could possibly recover from this.

[Greg]

After seeing your cryptic note yesterday, I went to their site and it seemed to still be business as usual.

Yikes.

[Drunk Monk]

I've seen my share of cancelled festivals but never one cancelled 5 days before showtime. 

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival canceled
Organizers cite low ticket sales and “financial challenges” for pulling the plug.|[/url]

[url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/dan-taylor/]DAN TAYLOR
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
June 17, 2024, 11:25AM
 
Updated 1 hour ago
The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, scheduled to run Friday through Sunday at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, has been canceled due to low ticket sales and “extreme financial challenges,” according to the event’s web site.
Festival organizers stated online that they will do everything possible to issue refunds, and will keep ticket buyers informed through newsletters and social media posts.
Festival founder Warren Smith died on Jan. 11, 2021. His widow, Gretchen Franz Smith, strove to continue the event.
Established in 1994, the festival ran annually until 2019. The event returned last year after a five-year hiatus. This year’s gathering had been scheduled to present 35 acts over three days.

So far this year - Skulls & Roses, Lucidity, SNWMF, and I hear High Sierra (which I've never attended) is on its last legs. Canaries in the coal mine?

[King Bob]

Let's blame Live Nation and Ticketmaster. They need more bad press.

[Drunk Monk]

In Gretchen's email to staff (this came out before the general announcement) she said 'SNWMF was never a business to us.' To me, that's where the problem lies. I would love to blame the ticket monopolies, but tickets weren't distributed from there. SNWMF did it independantly. 

We just got a call from her apologizing. She said they didn't get a bridge loan they were counting on.

[Drunk Monk]

DJ Tiffany is playing a tribute show on her KZSC Joy in the Morning show, which I enjoy except it's always interrupted by YMAA telemeets. 

I'm wearing my earliest SNWMF shirt today. Earliest I could find (2003). I think I have an earlier one or two but I couldn't find them.

[Drunk Monk]

Asked my friend DJ Kai Dragon to play Survivor for all us SNWMF refugees on his Have a Nice Day! on KZSC. Not sure if he's live in the studio today or not though.

[Drunk Monk]

Have a Nice Day!
9:00 AM  – 12:00 PM 
With DJ Kai Dragon

11:09 AM
Bob Marley & The Wailers Survival Bob Marley
from Bob Marley Legacy: Righteousness

[Drunk Monk]

Copeland Forbes Bemoans Cancellation Of Reggae Shows Globally
BY KEDIESHA PERRYTHU, JUNE 20 2024, 04:01 PM EST
[/url]   [url=https://share.flipboard.com/bookmarklet/popout?v=2&url=https://www.dancehallmag.com/2024/06/20/news/copeland-forbes-bemoans-cancellation-of-reggae-shows-globally.html]

Reggae singer Protoje performs to thouands at the 2023 Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in Boonville. (Lee Abel/SNWMF)

Artist manager, author and music historian Copeland Forbes is lamenting a slew of cancellations of major Reggae festivals around the world.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Forbes raised concerns that the cancellations of the usually well-attended festivals are also ironically occurring in Jamaica. 
“Reggae concerts and festivals are cancelled all over the place even in the country of birth Jamaica. After a failed and flopped return of the one time great Sachie (Sashi) concert in Jamaica with the no-show of two major artists in the likes of Keyshia Cole and Busta Rhymes,” the post began.
He went on to list the stoppage of other popular concerts across the island, and the world—likening it to a domino effect. “Then, a little over two weeks another proposed festival, ‘Reggae Jam,’ a stapled event in Europe for many years, cancelled three days before the scheduled opening date, June 14, 2024, of its first staging in Trelawny, Jamaica.”
On June 12, Reggae Jam organizers announced that the event had been postponed to December 2024 due to “inclement weather conditions at the park,” according to Reggaeville.
“Less than a week after the cancellation of ‘Reggae Jam’ in Trelawny, Jamaica, another great Reggae festival ‘Sierra Nevada World Music festival,’ a festival concept created by my good friend the late Warren Smith announced cancellation due to low pre-sold ticket sales for a June 21 start of a 3 day event with one of the strongest lineups.”
Forbes continued, “One day after the cancellation of SNWMF in California another Reggae/Dancehall proposed concert in Miami Florida titled ‘Reggae Lovefest’ scheduled for June 22, 2024 with headliners Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Elephant Man, Capleton, Patra, Spice, among others announced cancellation also.”
According to checks made by DancehallMag, The Sierra Nevada World Music festival was canceled “due to extreme financial challenges,” the Medocino Voice reported, while the Reggae Lovefest, scheduled for June 22, has been postponed to February 15, 2024.
Forbes also revealed that he heard that the Overjam Festival in Slovenia and the Sundance Festival were also put off. 
Admittedly, he noted that Buju Banton’s “Long Walk To Freedom New York” concert looks to be the only one promising this year. At the end of May, Buju added a second date to the tour due to high demand. The second show will be held on Sunday, July 14, just one day after the originally scheduled July 13 performance.
Reggae and Dancehall lovers can also look forward to Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay, St. James, with the two-day festival spanning July 19-20.

Didn't know about the other festival cancellations. I do know about the cancellation of Lucidity next weekend.

[Drunk Monk]

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival cancellation leaves refund status unclear
By Aidin Vaziri, Staff WriterJune 25, 2024
[/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfchronicle.com%2Fentertainment%2Farticle%2Fsierra-nevada-festival-refunds-19540003.php%3Futm_campaign%3DCMS%2520Sharing%2520Tools%2520(Premium)%26utm_source%3Dt.co%26utm_medium%3Dreferral&text=Sierra%20Nevada%20World%20Music%20Festival%20cancellation%20leaves%20refund%20status%20unclear&via=sfchronicle]


The reggae act Steel Pulse was scheduled to perform at the 2024 Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, which was canceled at the last minute.
Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
The Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, scheduled to take place last weekend at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, was canceled at the last minute due to “extreme financial challenges.” But the status of refunds for ticket holders remains murky.
Organizers announced the cancellation of the three-day outdoor festival on June 16, just days before it was supposed to feature reggae and world music acts such as Busy Signal, Koffee, Steel Pulse, Third World and Barrington Levy.
Gretchen Franz Smith, the event promoter, announced on social media and the festival website that the event, set for Friday-Sunday, June 21-23. was canceled due to poor ticket sales and other economic challenges.
“Last year, the SNWMF team beautifully and successfully revitalized the festival after a five-year hiatus,” Franz Smith wrote. “We planned and have been diligently working towards presenting another magical weekend this year. … We have tirelessly explored and exhausted all options. We cannot proceed knowing we are unable to deliver the usual high quality event you deserve.”
Franz Smith co-founded the festival in 1994 in Roseville (Placer County) with her husband, promoter Warren Smith, who died in 2021. This year would have marked the 30th anniversary of the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, which has attracted thousands of music lovers to the woods for an immersive experience including camping, dance workshops and kids activities.
“We cannot apologize enough for this turn of events and the late notice,” Franz Smith continued in her statement. “We have worked very hard to avoid a cancellation but must face the harsh economic realities. SNWMF cannot express our gratitude and love to everyone who has supported SNWMF for the past 30 years.”
According to a social media post from the organizers, all ticket holders will receive a full refund, though the festival website did not specify when. 
“Please give us some time to sort this,” the message said, promising to update ticket buyers “soon” about the refund process. 
The organizers did not immediately respond to requests for clarification.
The cancellation is part of a broader trend. In April, the sixth annual Skull & Roses Grateful Dead tribute concert in Ventura County was canceled about 10 days before it was set to start due to a lack of funds, with organizers announcing that ticket holders should not expect a refund. The same month, the Sol Blume Festival in Sacramento, headlined by SZA, was scrapped two weeks before its start due to safety concerns following heavy rain and flooding earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the U.K.’s Association of Independent Festivals reported this week that the number of music festivals canceled, postponed, or closed for good this year has risen to 50, citing “pressures of unpredictable and rising costs.”

[Drunk Monk]

‘The promoter literally took the money and ran’: No refunds for canceled Northern California music festival
By Aidin Vaziri, Staff WriterJuly 23, 2024

Reggae act Steel Pulse was among the acts scheduled to perform at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, which was abruptly canceled last month. It is unclear whether the artists were paid in full. 
Leon Morris/Redferns via Getty Images

Organizers of the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, which was abruptly canceled last month, have informed ticket holders that they lack the money to issue refunds.
The three-day outdoor festival, scheduled for June 20-23 at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, was scrapped at the last minute due to “extreme financial challenges,” according to a message from the promoters.
Initially, the refund status was unclear, but in emails reviewed by the Chronicle, event promoter Gretchen Franz Smith confirmed no refunds would be forthcoming. 
“We are truly sorry for the unavoidable cancellation and the delay in getting information to you,” the promoter wrote. “Since the cancellation, we have been working diligently with See Tickets and professionals to try to find ways to lessen the painful impacts. We are devastated to inform you that SNWMF does not have sufficient funds to reimburse ticket buyers.”
A screenshot of the email that organizers of the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival sent ticket holders announcing they would not be able to provide refunds for the canceled event.
Sierra Nevada World Music Festival
Franz Smith noted that preshow income, including ticket sales, covered costs such as artist advances, airfares, operational expenses, insurance, licenses, fees and advertising, most of which are “non-recoupable.” She added that festival insurance does not cover cancellations for low ticket sales.
The festival was supposed to feature dancehall and reggae artists like Busy Signal, Koffee, Steel Pulse, Third World and Barrington Levy. It is unclear whether the artists were paid in full. 
Responding to fee disputes filed with credit card companies, See Tickets, a subsidiary of Vivendi Ticketing, claimed customers “received the goods purchased.”
Franz Smith did not respond to Chronicle requests for comment on Tuesday, July 23.
“We bought tickets online the first moment they were available, were ‘lucky’ to get one of the very few premium RV campsites,” said Scott Romer of Rohnert Park. “Now we’re left with nothing.”
Based on receipts shared with the Chronicle, he spent $1,083.89 on two adult three-day passes for the festival and an RV camping fee.
“The promoter literally took the money and ran,” Romer said.
The festival has disabled comments on its most recent Facebook posts, including the notification of the cancellation.
Romer’s wife, Kirstin, said she was recently hospitalized.
“We have mounting medical bills due to my emergency surgeries, and the refund of that money matters to us,” she said. 
Franz Smith co-founded the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 1994 with her late husband, Warren Smith. This year would have marked its 30th anniversary, known for attracting thousands for an immersive experience including camping, dance workshops and children’s activities.
As a consolation, Franz Smith said tickets would be honored at Reggae on the River 2024, produced by a different company, scheduled for Aug. 2-4 at County Line Ranch in Humboldt County, for those who registered in advance.
Romer said the festival required an additional $50 fee per day for admission and does not offer the same amenities at its campsite, such as electricity and water hookups.
“We cannot apologize enough for this turn of events,” Franz Smith stated at the time of the cancellation.

A rewrite, but a devastating one. What a sad ending to a once glorious festival.

[Drunk Monk]

'We're f—ked': California's music festival bubble is bursting
The culprit isn't something as simple as inflation alone

Protoje performs at the 2023 Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in Boonville, Mendocino County, Calif. The 27th edition of this popular roots reggae music festival was to be held in 2024.Lee Abel
By Timothy Karoff,Culture ReporterOct 15, 2024
[/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fsf-culture%2Farticle%2Fcalifornia-music-festival-bubble-bursting-19786530.php%3Futm_campaign%3DCMS%2520Sharing%2520Tools%2520(Premium)%26utm_source%3Dt.co%26utm_medium%3Dreferral&text=%27We%27re%20f%E2%80%94ked%27%3A%20California%27s%20music%20festival%20bubble%20is%20bursting&via=SFGate]

For a moment, it seemed like the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival would weather the storm. 

Founded in 1994, the festival usually draws a dedicated crowd of a few thousand to the Mendocino County Fairgrounds to sway to roots reggae under the summer sun. Although modest in scope, the festival’s tasteful bookings and community-oriented atmosphere earned acclaim. “Trust me, all over the world, people know Sierra Nevada World Music Festival,” reggae artist Luciano told the Ukiah Daily Journal in 2023. “This festival is on par with all of the great ones.”
After a rocky post-early-pandemic return in 2023, there was reason for initial optimism. In the winter, early-bird ticket sales were “gangbusters,” said Kaati Gaffney, a spokesperson for Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. But in the summer, the outlook took a turn for the worse. Typically, the festival sees a surge in ticket sales in June, but in 2024, a surge never arrived. With stalling sales and mounting bills — deposits for stages, bands, portable toilets and security — the outlook was grim.
The festival announced its cancellation just days before the planned start date. In lieu of cash refunds, would-be attendees were told that their festival passes would be honored at Reggae on the River, a festival in Humboldt County.
Sierra Nevada World Music Festival’s tale is a familiar one for California’s music industry. While the names, locations and details vary, the story beats are similar: A beloved event is canceled at the last minute; an apology letter is posted describing financial strain; fans get refunds, or they don’t. 
Gyptian performs during the 30th Annual Reggae on the River Festival on Aug. 3, 2014, in Piercy, Calif.
C Flanigan/Getty Images

Desert Daze, which boasts 10,000 attendees and was scheduled for October, was canceled in August, a month after its lineup was released. After a decade, Lucidity Festival is on the verge of bankruptcy. The Grateful Dead-themed Skull & Roses festival in Ventura canceled 10 days before its start date. Even Coachella, which reliably sold out for years, felt the pinch, with tickets moving more slowly than they had in a decade. And the trend extends outside of California — Float Fest in Austin was officially canceled just days before the event. According to a British trade association for independent music festivals, more than 50 UK festivals have been canceled or postponed in 2024.

Why have so many reputable events been folding? To understand the crisis facing the music festival circuit, SFGATE spoke to several promoters. The culprit, it turns out, isn’t as simple as inflation or a tight economy. Promoters faced a perfect storm of high hopes and terrible conditions — one that shattered a fragile equilibrium.
‘The business of risk’
To industry outsiders, the story of Sierra Nevada World Music Festival might sound risky. But for an independent promoter, throwing a music festival isn’t just risky business. Risk is the business. 
“I always joke that we’re professional gamblers,” said Amy Sheehan. “We are in the business of risk and we are well aware of that.” 

Sheehan co-owns Good Vibez Presents, the promoter behind California Roots in Monterey and several other West Coast music festivals. Small promoters, she explained, work on thin margins. They lack the robust financial war chests of their corporate competitors. Without the financial backing of cash-flush sponsors or generous donors, festivals rely on ticket sales, and occasionally loans, to pay bills as they go.  
“If independent promoters had to wait until they had all of their money to produce the festival, they would never do the festival,” Sheehan said. “That’s just not the way it works.”
Kabaka Pyramid performs at the 2024 California Roots festival.
Phil Emerson
Tickets aren’t small festivals’ only sources of revenue. Many also rely on merchandise, vendor booth fees and sponsorships. The proportion of nonticket revenue varies from promoter to promoter. Scotty Stoughton, founder of Bonfire Entertainment, told SFGATE that “success would be impossible” without sponsorship, food sales and merchandise. Chris Mitrovich, the booker behind the Skull & Roses Festival, told SFGATE that around 90% of his revenue comes from ticket sales. Getting sponsored isn’t always easy, he said: “It’s a huge crazy world of its own dealing with sponsorships.”

Festivals that rely heavily on ticket sales must budget based on projections: how many tickets they expect to sell based on past sales and the state of the market. It’s a mathematically-educated guess. If that math works out, they pay their bills. If it doesn’t, they go belly-up.
For years, that model could sustain small festivals. But for many California promoters, 2024 was the year when the numbers stopped adding up.

Commitment issues
When Good Vibez first introduced payment plans for festival tickets — the option to purchase tickets in several installments rather than paying up front — only “a handful” of attendees used them, Sheehan said. Last year, 70% of California Roots attendees purchased their tickets through a payment plan. In Sheehan’s words, it was “a massive jump.”

That figure is indicative of a broader trend. Whether because of economic pressures or changing preferences, fans are holding onto their money tighter and waiting until the last minute to commit to buying a ticket.
As a client success manager at the ticketing agency Tixr, Edwin Lopez works with several West Coast music festivals. Lopez told SFGATE that for some of the events he’s worked with this year, attendees were buying similar numbers of tickets to past years, but later than normal.
Coachella festival attendees with a cowboy aesthetic during Week 1.
Timothy Karoff/SFGATE

A large promoter like Goldenvoice (Coachella, Portola) has the financial cushion to withstand a delay in sales. But for independents, not all ticket sales are equal. Many small festivals rely on early-bird ticket sales to get the ball rolling on their expenses. Even a behemoth like Outside Lands offers discounted Eager Beaver tickets for those brave enough to buy before the lineup drops. (Another Planet Entertainment, the independent promoter behind Outside Lands, declined an interview request for this article.) To cover costs, some promoters have to bet on a 

“A lot of events had to withstand a little bit of the storm of not having that money up front,” Lopez said. Local California festivals that don’t have the budget to absorb those losses have “definitely suffered because of that,” he said.
This is the reason why Sierra Nevada World Music Festival couldn’t bank on gate tickets to pay the bills, Gaffney said: “There would have been no gates to walk up to. Because you have to pay all these things in advance. You have to pay the security, the stage, the lights, the toilets. And the cash wasn’t there. Because if you’re not [Live Nation] or Goldenvoice, you rely on ticket sales for money.”
Lopez noted that sluggish ticket sales were a national, not statewide trend, and that they were affecting the entire event industry, not just festivals. “All events that are happening are seeing similar challenges,” he said. “So it’s not just in the music festival world, it is a larger trend.”
Still, he suggested that California’s saturated music festival circuit may bear the brunt.

‘Inflation is f—king real’
Last year, Good Vibez paid $10,000 for portable toilets for California Roots Music and Arts Festival. This year, they expected a quote of $11,000, consistent with a typical year-to-year cost increase. Instead, the price for the same service as before rose to $16,000.
As costs of labor, gas and transportation go up, so do the price tags for amenities. Artist fees, lodging, hospitality, production and rentals all cost more. Sheehan said the cost of insuring the Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival has doubled over the last two years, even as the festival’s scope remains almost exactly the same. “Inflation is f—king real,” she said. 
At the same time, festivalgoers appear to be increasingly reluctant to buy tickets. Promoters are faced with a bind: raise prices and risk losing some fans, or attempt to push through with even thinner margins.

Faced with this bind, Stoughton of Bonfire Entertainment decided to opt out. A little over a month ago, he canceled 2025’s WinterWonderGrass Tahoe, an annual winter bluegrass festival at the Palisades Tahoe resort, citing “rising cost of doing business in Northern California” in an announcement. The costs have gone up, he said, but lodging has become especially expensive in the Tahoe area. Without a robust free bus system in place, he’s had to set one up for past events. Now, that’s become financially unfeasible.
Fans crowd the barrier at the 2024 California Roots festival.
Riley Kathleen
“I’m probably not the best businessperson, because I could raise prices….  But I can’t do that,” Stoughton told SFGATE. “I can’t in good conscience constantly say, ‘Well, let’s just pass it off to the consumer.’ I would rather just take a pause and reevaluate and see who comes to the table to help me subsidize in the future.”
Survival of the fittest
Two years ago, the outlook looked much, much brighter. COVID-19 lockdowns were ending. After spending a year and change cooped up, consumers were restless, eager to lay out their picnic blankets on patchy fairground lawns and day-drink to folk, funk, reggae and — what the hell, why not? — ska. As would-be festivalgoers got vaccine shots in their arms, it looked like the live music industry would get a shot in the arm of its own. 

Promoters saw an opening and jumped into the ring. “Coming out of the pandemic, everybody and their grandmother threw a festival,” Sheehan said. 
Lopez noticed the trend as well. “Everyone wanted to rush out and be outside in the world and do things, so there’s a big rush. 2021 and 2022 were pretty good.” 
If 2022 was any indication, 2023 was supposed to be a great year. 
2023 was not a great year. In fact, it was a bad year. That deluge of demand dried up, and California was suddenly left in the awkward position of having too many music festivals and not enough fans. When describing the festival circuit, a word that came up in several interviews was “oversaturated.” The bubble had popped.

“Post-COVID, there was a lot of pent-up demand and there was a lot of money out there,” Stoughton told SFGATE. “And now there’s not.” 
Before the pandemic, Skull & Roses drew around 1,500 attendees. In 2022, that number jumped to around 6,000, including gate crashers. “We weren’t prepared for the onslaught that came,” Mitrovich told SFGATE.
A baby Deadhead enjoys the music at the 2019 Skull and Roses festival.
Skull and Roses
In 2023, Mitrovich was prepared. He increased the festival’s capacity to 5,000 and budgeted accordingly. But two months after tickets went on sale, Phish announced a series of nearby shows for the same week. Jam band aficionados had a choice to make, and only 3,000 fans showed up to Skull and Roses. The festival went into debt.

In 2023, some festivals folded, and many of the survivors entered 2024 bruised and cautious. That year, Good Vibez lost money on two festivals. (“To be completely frank, it almost destroyed us,” Sheehan said. “We’re still climbing out of it.”) In a letter announcing the cancellation of the 2024 Skull and Roses festival, Mitrovich blamed the “financial devastation” of 2023’s event. 
“We were the first ones who came out and said, ‘F—k. We’re f—ked,’” Mitrovich said. “And then all of a sudden, a whole bunch of them did. This was a crucial time this year where everybody was finally willing to admit it — emperor’s got no clothes kind of thing, you know what I mean?”
The house always wins
The event industry is looking to the next summer with a mix of optimism and trepidation. Lopez said he could see an upswing on the horizon, but in the meantime, industry players would need to tighten their belts. Stoughton also expressed confidence that things would turn around, and that new, more efficient events would pop up to cater to “the discerning festivalgoer.”

Sheehan wasn’t so sure. Independents are going to have to “bob and weave” to survive, she said: “It’s kind of like survival of the fittest right now. Some festivals are going to go down and unfortunately never come back.”
Even in hard times, a few genuine success stories pepper the bleak festival landscape. Gaffney said that when the Reggae on the River festival, where she also works as a media coordinator, returned in August after a five-year hiatus, it was “gangbusters.” Good Vibez’s new line of Holo Holo festivals seem to do consistently well, Sheehan said, possibly due to their small scale. Among larger festivals, Goldenvoice’s Portola Festival has found its niche in a year where Coachella couldn’t, and sold out handily.
Mitrovich is planning the next Skull & Roses, this time with fewer frills and more emphasis on the music. To make things work, he’s considering a different ticketing model, one that relies on early sales and customer loyalty.
Rebelution performs at the 2024 California Roots festival.
Riley Kathleen
If small festival promoters are professional gamblers, then well-heeled, multinational bookers like AEG and Live Nation are the house they’re betting against. Coachella can weather a rough patch. Lucidity Festival cannot. Small promoters have to hold out hope that fans value intimate festivals enough to open up their wallets in the coming years. The house may always win, but that never stops the gamblers.

“People want what we offer,” Sheehan said. “They don't want the Coachellas of the world. They don't want the giant corporation, big sponsorship names, all of that.”
Stoughton had a more existential outlook.
“They’ll survive,” he said of the major festivals. “And the question is, will we?”

[Drunk Monk]

I rose at dawn on Sunday. Father's Day. Tara was up by breakfast (the JM cooking crew does the most amazing veg biscuits and gravy, one of my fav dishes but hard to come by in a veg form - I often tell them that the only reason I work JM is to get that, and there is some truth to that). She gave me a SNWMF hat, which I had said I wanted, as a gift. Truly the gift was spending SNWMF with her. I'm so pleased that she enjoys being my accomplice on these adventures. I added a Wu-Tang pin to that hat that I bought from a pin vendor I like. He does these laser etched wood pins, with abalone inlay. Much like my Cali Roots souvenir hat with the SLA Dead pin from 2019, this new lid will serve to remind me of a fantastic run.

I dug out my SNWMF hat. It got a tad moldy, as things that I neglect due here near the ocean. I stripped the pins (added a Garcia Cats Under Stars pin that was gifted to me at Dead & Co at Oracle by a longtime supporter of RM) and am tossing it in the wash (I hand washed out the mold). 

Got this email from Gretchen, the wife of Warren (the late founder of SNWMF):
 

Dear SNWMF Family,

I’m thinking of and sending love and appreciation to all of you this summer solstice weekend.  
Thank you for the heart and soul you put into and the sacrifices you made for SNWMF.
Please know that the love and positive energy you shared, even when the festival was not realized last year, 
is still reverberating in countless peoples’ favorite memories and lives.  
I hope you will think of SNWMF with pride for the amazing and beautiful life affirming celebrations we created together & feel the  always.
I miss you. 
With Love and Respect,
   
Gret, and on behalf of Warren too
P.S.      Please share this message with your SNWMF crew.

Dug out a few SNWMF T-shirts to wear. Man, I got dozens of these.  Been avoiding them since the collapse but now they're a small solace of what we left behind...