Culture Watch

It Takes More Muscles (But Less Money) To Frown

Twelve years ago, in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s death, a group of music lovers threw a small festival—a party, really—at a Piedmont-area campground. It was a humble event, with only three bands and an $8 admission fee to help cover expenses. And yet, something about the thing worked. So, they did it again. It got bigger. And bigger … and bigger.

By 2006, the Deadhead-friendly event known as Smilefest could count on bringing more than 3,500 attendees to its new home in Western North Carolina. Plans for 2007’s Smilefest seemed to count on an even bigger crowd. But, not everyone loves the jam. It was announced in late March that the festival had run into permitting problems, placing Smilefest on “indefinite hiatus.” Evidently, organizers were unable to get a mandatory mass-gathering permit, which requires signed permission for land use from all residents within a 1,500-foot radius of the festival’s site. Perhaps fearing the massive drug crackdowns that have plagued Smilefest since 2002, local residents were simply unwilling to sign off on the event. But, the big question is whether or not this is merely a setback or truly a death knell. Although nothing has been announced yet, an e-mail from festival organizers hints that the hiatus may turn permanent. Still, there’s some hope that a new site can be found by 2008. Keep an eye out for updates by visiting smilefest.com.

Shakespeare, AAK

By the time you read this, North Carolina Stage Company will have performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream for more than 15,000 students. And no, it wasn’t all at once. Touring nine counties in Western North Carolina over the course of 22 days, and performing as many as three shows a day, NC Stage has been blasting across the region with their abridged version of the classic comedy. It’s part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ “Shakespeare for A New Generation” program, featuring updated scripts (although the Bard’s actual language has reportedly not been fooled with). Dream was trimmed down to 80 minutes, and, according to a press release from the company, “the production features costumes inspired by Indian and punk-rock styles, as well as the surprising use of a RipStik skateboard.” Some students will even be able to take workshop-like classes in Elizabethan slang, meaning it’s only a matter of time before kids start texting each other with phrases like “WUMDEC?” (“what’s-up, my dizzy-eyed coxcomb?”). Learn more at ncstage.org.