It was pretty awesome and I'm SO glad I went.

It was the 29th Festival, and the 3rd one for me. So I saw lots of familiar faces and met lots of new folks.

Saw some INCREDIBLE saw-players and awesome bands. The entertainment gets better and more inventive every year. A band called 123 Not It was fantastic -- banjo, guitar, saw, washboard, and really gorgeous vocals. They're my new music crush. ( profile.myspace.com/index.cfm )

Caroline McCaskey won the Saw Contest, and then proceeded to blow everyone away with her incredible fiddle playing. Did I mention she's 20 years old? It'd be easy to resent her if she weren't such a genuinely sweet person.

All of the people I talked to were incredibly nice. It was impossible for me to be my usual cranky, negative self while surrounded by such good-hearted, caring, talented people. A LOT of folks asked if Stella would be playing this year, and expressed genuine regret that we weren't. Apparently, we made quite an impression last year! Most of the other acts lean towards folk-y traditional stuff, and we shook things up by playing David Bowie and such.

I put out lots of feelers for anyone who might want to play together, so I'm hoping something willl come of that. Because I really do miss playing. God, I miss it.

So, in short, YAY!