Patrick was most gracious to call me and set me straight on my brushfire. Indeed, I did get a call from the Express Times later, asking me for my views. Patrick told me of his respect for my music over several generations, having two young children of his own, and the importance of family music at the festival. He explained that, though there would be no music at the kids’ site, there would be events throughout the festival, mixed in with the other types of music, wanting to expose that music to a new generation of kids. I said I can accept that.
I still think it boils down to money, though. The kids’ stage saw very little return in sales and the bands probably cost them money. But, I would think that it would be worth the effort in some community good will. This comment popped up, “It was nice to have a “kids stage” so parents had one place to go and not have lug everyone/everything all over looking for kid friendly entertainment. Not happy that they took away the kids stage for rides!”
Musikfest is a corporation and benefits from the goodwill of the community, especially from corporate donations, a huge volunteer staff and other perks from being the entity it is. That’s the state of the ‘Art’, pun intended, in the LV. But there are smaller community venues and artists who are starting to connect with each other in order to promote the value of indigenous community arts.
Still, at risking of losing some gigs in the Arts Quest sphere, I took up the cause. I also wanted to know why I was not booked for some of these other venues as a family act.
That discussion follows.