the commentary on hippifest...
it was funny how the they sold an idea...and how it became a fashion statement more than anything else. at first, i was angry, then amused and then angry again. here is the commentary that was published in Observer-Dispatch July 29,2007.
Meant to be a general assignment on the fest, I just could not write a straight piece on how people were enjoying. It had to be this way. Sometimes, we write to let it out.
Peace, love — and Christian Dior?
Past, present mingle at Vernon Downs' Hippiefest
July 29, 2007
By Chinki Sinha
VERNON — At first glance, a walk through Vernon Downs on Saturday seemed like a trip into the past.
On men's bare chests, painted peace lockets proclaimed "make love, not war."
"Peace for all, freedom for all," some Hippiefest fans shouted.
As bands such as The Turtles took the stage, long-haired people wearing tie-dye cheered.
Look more closely, however, and Hippiefest was very much an event of the present.
Some concert fans sported Coach bags and Christian Dior sunglasses.
Tickets cost $30, and everyone was searched before entering.
A beer sponsorship advertisement hung on top of the stage, while people bought $5 beers and listened to the music that brought back the ideas they had once stood for.
June Fillman of Lyons says she grew up in the Hippie Era but had never been to a concert because she became a mom. Attending this concert made her feel 19 once again.
"I'm a flower child," Fillman said, pointing to her heavily-embroidered purple outfit.
Still, she noted the contrasts between the free-and-easy past and the corporate-dominated present.
No one could bring drinks in to Hippiefest, not even water.
"Back then, you could take drinks and food in," Fillman said. "Here, if you're thirsty, you have to buy a $3 soda."
She shrugged.
"It's today world," she said.
That world simply means survival for Vernon Downs. The harness track continues its attempts at revival following years of bankruptcy and a dark track. New video lottery gambling machines are part of the effort to become profitable.
And so, strangely, is Hippiefest.
Bringing in a tour of countercultural favorites from nearly four decades ago — The Zombies, Mountain, Mitch Ryder, Badfinger and Country Joe McDonald, among them — offered an opportunity to draw attention and crowds to the Downs. Not to mention an infusion of funds.
"It's all for profit," regional marketing director Douglas Tudman said of the concert's primary goal.
He acknowledged he was hoping for a turnout of 3,500 people by evening. During the afternoon, there were maybe 500 or 600 people present. It wasn't clear late in the day if Tudman's attendance goal would be met.
Across the track infield, people sat in lawn chairs wearing tie-dye and beads. Some adorned themselves with leaves and flowers.
Older fans squeezed into decades-old clothing, while young people simply bought the styles. For those without, Hippiefest shirts went for $35.
The concert had an anti-profanity rule in place. Many fans routinely flouted it.
Beers in hand, they smoked. They danced. They spoke of peace and happiness and freedom. And then about peace again.
In the 1960s, it was Vietnam that galvanized the Hippie movement. Today, some said, it's Iraq.
Eddie Johnson was there to sell beer. He said the 1970s music that Hippiefest bands played was a bonus for him because he enjoys it.
He was quite pleased with the pace at which fans were buying the $5 beers.
"It's beautiful as long as they're buying beer,"Johnson said.
Beyond all the $5 beer and $3 Cokes and anti-profanity rules, it was modern-day hippies such as Andrew Gray of Verona, 43, who caught the day's vibe.
Gray, who also goes by Ghandii, saw the concert as historical.
Attached to his ear and nearly covered by his long hair, Gray wore a purple feather similar to a Native American dreamcatcher. He described himself as an advocate of peace and camaraderie.
"Look at the people here," Gray said. "They are not here for commercialization. They are here for the music."
Friends of 45 years
July 29, 2007
Friends of 45 years
Sometimes traveling down memory lane doesn't come cheap, said Mary Hill and Teri Mayo, friends for 45 years.
The tickets were $30 each, the peace sign that hung around their waists cost $1 and the beers and sodas were "too much."
"They are selling peace for a dollar and don't forget the taxes," Hill said, pointing to the green peace sign. "It's typical of 2007. They are taking away from the Hippie freedom."
Bringing in food or drinks to the event wasn't allowed.
"We should have the freedom of choice. I got searched," Hill said. "Jesus, this is a Hippiefest."
But the friends did not mind so much. They were babies during the Hippie era, they said, always "wannabe hippies". Wearing beads, flowing skirts, tye-dye tees, they made peace signs, danced to the music and drank beer. Peace is what being a hippie means, they said.
'Flower power times'
They wore "granny" sunglasses and swayed to the music from the 1970s.
John George wore floral-print pants and a jacket, while Anne DiDominick wore a headband from the '70s and a necklace with "peace" written on it. The hippies in them had waited for this moment.
"Today we are from the flower power times," George said. "We are normal people ... with 8 to 5 jobs."
"We feel 40 years younger," DiDominick said. "It's hysterical. Lots of memories."
— Chinki Sinha, O-D
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