GREENFIELD — As the night’s rain eased to a drizzle Saturday morning, campers both young and old awoke with high spirits and prepared for the second day of the 30th annual Green River Festival.
More than 100 tents peppered the grounds of the Franklin County Fairgrounds, also known for the weekend as “Camp Green River.” Some campers set up their tents in the rows of barns, and others spent the night in roughly 20 RVs parked behind the grandstand.
“Even with the weather, people are having a nice time,” said campground co-director Karl Helander, who said more than 500 people registered to camp for the weekend.
“And most people didn’t cancel because of the weather,” added fellow co-director Phoebe Helander. “We expected lower numbers, but most people are here despite being a little soggy.”
For some campers, the ability to camp, and then take shuttle buses to the festival, influenced their decision to attend.
“If they didn’t have camping, I wouldn’t be here,” said Dickie Colo, 58, of Saxtons River, Vermont. Colo came with several Vermont friends, including Abby Warren, 50, of Westminster, and John Curtis, 50, of Brattleboro.
For Warren, attending the festival and camping was a way for her to spend quality time with good friends. In a nearby tent, Ralph Nelson, 55, of Northwood, N.H., and his son Ryan Nelson, 26, of Somersworth, N.H., used the camping experience to bond over music.
“It’s a good chance to play our guitars,” Ralph Nelson said. “The only time we get to play together is when we hang out around a campfire and drink beer.”
The Nelsons were attending the Green River Festival for the first time, and decided to come after reading online that the festival is one of the 10 best in the country.
Saturday’s lineup of events and music featured a little something for everyone. Young children doodled on tall colored chalkboards and participated in free art activities under The Art Garden’s tent, making flying creatures, masks and music-makers for the festival’s traditional Mardi Gras parade.
Andrew Paterno brought his daughter Cecily to hear her favorite musician, Mister G, who performs children’s music in English and Spanish.
“For a local person, it’s great stuff,” Paterno said of the festival. “It’s a world class event.”
Even some of the festival’s musicians commented that the event, in many ways, is unlike any other.
“All the time I was growing up I wanted to have a concert where I could see people hula-hooping and playing with beach balls,” said Hannah Hickok of the folk-pop band Hannah & Maggie. “Dreams do come true.”
The campground also offered an array of events like morning yoga, ukulele lessons, hacky-sack crafting and live performances by festival artists Lula Wiles, Upstate Rubdown and Sumner & Moss.
Campers were invited to play instruments around a late night fire with Max Wareham of The Morning Bugle and Dan Bui of Twisted Pine. Walking into the campground Saturday morning, you could hear a keyboard playing and a camper singing Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel,” keeping with the musical theme from dawn until dusk.
Campers appreciated the facilities, which featured free showers, convenient water spigots, food booths and a camp store. As two Standardbred horses trotted around the track Saturday morning, campers commented on the relaxed atmosphere.
However, some festival goers expressed concerns that the festival has reached its maximum capacity.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t get any bigger,” said Nicholas Jones, 50, of Whately, who has been coming to the festival for eight years and has seen it grow dramatically. Jones dislikes when the fields are packed with people and the traffic gets congested.
John Reilly, better known as Johnny Memphis, a stage manager for the festival, said that once 5,000 people are admitted, the festival is considered sold out.