Take one little mountain valley, mix in some mandolins, mud, master brewers, musicians, and some local towns named Roseland and Lovingston and what you get is a well organized and highly enjoyable musical event known as The Festy.  Greeted with road signs pointing out Walton’s Mountain, the Patrick Henry Highway and Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest while passing through classic Americana towns on curvy mountain roads; folk’s attitudes were appropriately adjusted before hearing the first song.

Yesterday’s beautiful weather didn’t last past noon. It wasn’t long before the clouds rolled in and fog began to creep around the campsites. The first beer of the morning was cracked around nine as we made breakfast and waited for more of our friends to arrive. In the meantime, we met a bunch of our neighbors – everyone we’re camped next to is really friendly! People would stop in just to say hello and ask how our night went, and we had great conversations with people who also love these gorgeous Ozark Mountains.

It rained. It didn’t pour and ruin everything, but it rained. As I was walking through the small amount of mud created by the rain I decided to just be thankful for it. So here I am on Saturday morning…thankful for all the great I get to experience this weekend. (And the morning sun.)

Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Music Festival is the best that Mulberry Mountain has to offer. While Wakarusa pulses to the vibrant beat of youth culture and features many of today’s top acts across varying musical genres, Harvest offers an entirely different experience that has a way of twiddling itself into one’s heart.