Happy Earth Day!

Atlanta, Georgia, April 22, 2012:  Sunny, with a high of 69, low of 43.  Humidity at 37%.  Winds NW at 17 mph.  A perfect day, and a perfect day for a festival in Candler Park.  The last time I was here was for something called the Midsummer Music Festival back on a muggy day in June, and pouring rain broke out and soaked the entire audience.  There was no chance of that happening today.

The proceedings were part of something called the SweetWater 420 Fest, a three-day festival that is in part a promotional event by the brewing company and in part a neighborhood party.  Admission was free, but you had to pay $5 for a wristband if you wanted to buy beer.  There was music, there were vendors and food trucks, there was lots of beer, and there were a large number of parents pushing strollers.

The string band on the stage played earnest and proficient Appalachian bluegrass with some Grateful Dead covers thrown in for the laid-back crowd.

The band on the other stage played a funkier brand of Americana roots rock, with an emphasis on soul and R&B.

Like last summer's Music Festival, there was no available parking anywhere in the residential neighborhood surrounding the park.  But unlike last summer, MARTA, in its wisdom, closed the parking lot for the nearby Candler Park station, the nearest public parking facility.  After cruising the neighborhood behind a long line of similar cruisers, I eventually found a place in front of someone's house just barely large enough to parallel park my little coupe (several SUVs in front of me paused to consider the spot, and wisely decided to move on).  Squeezing into the tight space was made no easier by the resident coming out to watch me from the sidewalk the entire time to make sure that I didn't nick her car.

Overall, though, it was refreshing to breathe some unseasonably cool fresh air and to get a little sun after an evening of rock music in The Basement (pictures soon), and a nice conclusion to the weekend (which even included a Friday night puppet show that I didn't even get a chance to talk about yet!).