Bering Strait are among the headliners at the inaugural Eden Fest on Memorial Day weekend (Friday, May 23 through Sunday, May 25) at the Taylor Ranch in Fairview. They play the Stargazers Main Stage at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 24.
Eden Fest’s other headliners:
The Neville Brothers • The Wailers • Buckwheat Zydeco • Jim Lauderdale • Tift Meritt & The Carbines • Cephas & Wiggins
More than 15 other international music-and-dance acts are also taking part.
Eden Fest will host outdoor activities (campfire events, more); exercise options (yoga, Hula-Hooping, lake sports); art, performance art and poetry; playback theater; dancing (note: there’s no contra-dance space at this year’s festival); late-night movies; workshops; drum circles and jam sessions; and stuff designed exclusively for kids and teens.
Ticket prices vary, from day passes to full three-day access.
Visit www.edenfest.com for a full musician listing (stages, showtimes) plus ticket information, directions and more. Or call (828) 686-8742.
The gates of Eden
How much is too much?
Organizers of the biannual Lake Eden Arts Festival are betting they haven’t hit that mark yet as they kick off what they hope will become a new annual music-driven event: Eden Fest.
Before this year, spring LEAF events typically fell on Memorial Day weekend at Camp Rockmont. The most recent one, however, was held May 9-11.
Memorial Day falls close to when Camp Rockmont for Boys cranks up for its own summer business on the property in early June, and keeping the land in shape for invasion by a horde of kids was a great source of stress to LEAF organizers.
“We needed to give the grass more time to heal, so it looked as pretty for camp as it does for the festival,” notes Jennifer Pickering, producer for both LEAF and the brand-new Eden Fest.
And all rumors aside, she added, the next 10 LEAF events are planned for Camp Rockmont (including the fall festival scheduled for Oct. 17-19).
Eden Fest was created to fill organizers’ newly vacant Memorial Day slot (no fall Eden Fest is planned). Yet even the spring double-billingseems like it could be overkill. Pickering sees it otherwise.
“I think what we do is so unique in the whole festival world,” she asserts. “And if you go to LEAF, you will definitely recognize the level of commitment and quality [at the new event].”
Eden Fest, to be held at Taylor Ranch in Fairview on May 23-25, will follow the 8-year-old LEAF’s basic blueprint for music and other events, including outdoor activities, many focused around water.
Taylor Ranch, sitting on about 500 acres, includes a pond and a 7-acre lake. The site allows for some amenities not available at Camp Rockmont, including two newly built covered stages.
“Regardless of weather, everything will go full blast,” Pickering asserts.
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