Its nearly Fairbridge time again - five more sleeps to the big dance town, music fest fun weekend of my year. wee hoo!
My partner and I have been going to Fairbridge Folk Festival, whenever we can over the past 14 years with our daughter, Tess and various friends and their children. We usually make every second year and we love the weekend. The local musicians, big bands and international guests are always top quality and with various activities, workshops and venues there is always something going on for everyone. I especially like the atmosphere as I am a wannabe singer - Oh how I wish I could sing...I was just not given that particular talent - so I will have to settle for the lesser known inner humming and tapping talent that I do possess, and can get quite a song up in my own head - especially if i get in touch with my inner voice and keep it inside, way , way inside, then the weekend will be a success. Sharing my singing has always been the issue, for others mainly, I am unusually OK with it, audiences on the other hand are usually just not ready for what emerges as tonal squeaking and unpitched bellowing, the grazing animals that have been moved on from the fields at Fairbridge to make way for the camping, usually get it and I have heard them reply to my midnight songs but relax not this year I will keep my inner voice silenced.
Anyway it is always a great atmosphere and we plan another great weekend at Perth's premier Folk Music Festival this coming weekend! Although this year I have become a bit concerned as they have announced that the organisers plan to incorporate a dress up parade in honour of the royal wedding and I think they have misjudged the Fairbridge festival goers, I thought of all the places the Fairbridge Festival would keep away from celebrating such a deeply royalist event, I thought I danced among friends, that we were all 'agin' the kin', anti-royalists. Now I feel I may be shamed into having to stand alongside revellers who will wave a union jack and dance about into the wee hours in a strange outdated colonial Wills and Kate hootenanny.
I am afraid, I don't want any part of it. perhaps instead I dress up in gum tree and sing and tap against the tall jarrahs of the bush and give and inward song to the ancestral people of the Pinjarra land, in celebration of a place before the Fairbridge farms came, before the tall ships and the royal monarchs. I feel no celebration is required, even if I was to get an invite to the Wedding, all white and sharp edged in gilt with royal coats and arms (and that is the guests not the paper invitation) - I wouldn't go.
I'm going to slink off and choose instead to corroborree, elsewhere, down near the river, near the ghost gums, just until the I do part is over, because, I don't.
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