Firing on all cylinders, the 25th annual High Sierra Music Festival, one of Northern California’s biggest and most cherished summer jubilees, was bursting at the seams with music and merriment over the Fourth of July weekend. Though several “Fare Thee Well” T-shirts could be seen around the meadows and campgrounds at this year’s festival, there was no finality in the air here as there was in Chicago as members of the Grateful Dead, fathers of the jam band scene that was on display at High Sierra (The String Cheese Incident, ALO, Umphree’s McGee), bid adieu. From its 3,500-foot-elevation perch at the local fairgrounds in Quincy, California, High Sierra offered a whole host of sounds and genres, including folk, funk, alt-rock ‘n’ rhythms, and more)
So much goes on, on and off the stages, and into the campgrounds, workshops, and impromptu jam sessions, that one cannot experience everything that High Sierra – and its devoted, free-spirited attendees – have to offer. Unscripted side shows and surprise moments containing all sorts of artistic self-expression broke out constantly as the audience was just as big a part of the festival as the bands themselves, This photo gallery serves as a two-day glimpse into High Sierra’s joyful rainbow of colorful sights, sounds and people.
Check out more photos from High Sierra Music Festival.