Harvest of Hope - Day 1

The Harvest of Hope is a benefit for better working conditions and wages for migrant workers. These immigrants work in some of the worst conditions in the world to barley make enough to feed their own families back home. If we did not have these immigrant workers, food prices on most produce would rise three times the normal rate. Harvest of Hope is the first benefit festival I’ve ever attended. Being the first year of a festival, there will always be a few kinks that will accrue. We arrived worried about the lack of camping space available to the public. Several hundreds of festival goers arrived early to the site to set up a guaranteed spot. Most campers, after setting up their temporary homes for the weekend, enjoy cracking open a cold beer to celebrate their accomplishment. Ice is one of the most essential items need while camping at a festival. After wondering around the camp/festival grounds, I used my media pass powers for good and traveled to the backstage area to hopefully find some ice. After 20 minutes of following different signs marked "ice" I figured the ice truck had not arrived at it's destination. So I paid a vender $5 to get a 20 pound bag of ice and took it back to the campsite. I have never received so many looks of confusion/anger walking back to my tent.

If you are wondering where I am writing from, Harvest of Hope definitely cut back on their press area. Right now, I am under a canopy with no internet, electricity or even an adequate amount of shade. The odd thing is, the bands do not get access to anything in the back. They do not get a camping pass, meals, water, or even a pass for the full festival. They do get 7 Miller Lite drink tickets thought, per band.

Indie rock dj, Girl talk, headlined the first night of the festival. Girl Talk’s music is a mix of pop culture reference, hip hop, and iconic older tunes that you might hear on Lightning 100. Even without my new camera, I ventured into the photo pit to get a few quick shots. Enjoying my amazing view from the photo pit, I decided to step it up(literally) to the show. So I joined a bunch of indie white kids to dance on stage to hip hop. If you are wondering what that looks like, it’s just a whole lot of jumping. Standing on stage is always a different view of a show.



Also the Harvest of Hope forgot to provide power for the press tent. I am on a race to write before my battery kills my media experience.

UPS of Hope: Pre-Festival

Normally I would start my blog from the start of the festival, but this long car ride has inspired me to pass the time with a story. After many days of researching digital SLR, I finally order my first large camera purchase. After a good week of work at Lightning 100 packed into 3 days, I came back home expecting my camera to be waiting for me at my door. Don’t expect anything from UPS. After several hours on the phone, I was informed that my camera was on my front doorstep. I was actually told by UPS that “You must of not noticed them dropping it off while you were on the phone with us(customer support).” I asked UPS to wait a moment while I checked. No camera. After UPS actually check their records, they informed me that the driver took the package to the wrong address. It was delivered to a house in East Nashville off Dickerson Road. I ventured to the house in hopes that I would be able to obtain my package. The house was dimly lit on one of the worst streets in East Nashville. I knock on the door and do not get an answer. The neighbors next door were nice enough to take a break from their 40’s to tell me that they were not home. I guess UPS will be buying me another camera, but I doubt try will be able to repay me for the priceless photos I would of taken at the Harvest of Hope Music Festival.