35th Rocky Mountain Folks Fest

artheffron
Aug 24
1 min read

Updated: Sep 9

Those Rocky Mountain fly-bys always defy the test of time. This year marked 15 years of photographing RMFF, and the magic hasn’t faded one bit. From the full moon rising over the river just as Watchhouse sang about howling at the moon… to two hawks catching a cliffside current directly above Daniel Rodriguez as he and the fellas led us in a Colorado classic about singing to the mountains…to Steve Poltz diving into the crowd as we folk raged to his Grateful Dead cover to the end of the festival where I saw the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for the first (and probably last) time, closing with their timeless reminder of the “circle that cant be broken” as they kicked off their Farewell tour — the weekend was threaded together with unforgettable moments.

Add to that the riverside hugs, the laughter, and sharing it all with my dear music-loving friends, my heart feels both full and still unraveling the wonder.

As my pal Daniel Rodriguez so beautifully put it: “Festivals must be an ancient tradition that persists out of a need for elevated connection. A rebellion against the isolated inclination. A rebellion against all the hate and travesty.

...Planet Bluegrass is a colorful waking dream of music, a river that informs the music and the couple thousand dancing hearts” dancing to it.

Enjoy a few photos from the weekend—and thank you, always, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, for bringing me in.

Daniel Rodriguez