Another year, another Comfest. No matter how you feel about Comfest, it’s here to stay. The first Comfest was in 1973 and the festival has survived and grown through the years despite some unfortunate events and a pandemic. The festival did take a two-year break during the pandemic, but was back up to full strength again in 2022. Comfest is unique in that it really is run by the community. Volunteers plan, organize, and play music at Comfest. Where else in the country will you find over one hundred local bands giving their time to play a festival for free?
I have volunteered at Comfest for the past fifteen years, the last nine of those years I have given my time to volunteer in the Comfest Museum located in the shelter house of Goodale Park. The Comfest Museum has plenty of archival items on display to bring back Comfest memories of the past or learn about the history and reasons Comfest began. There are programs, T-shirts, and mugs from all of the past Comfests. The museum also has archival footage of past Comfest performances. How cool is it to see Scrawl, Willie Phoenix (who played this year) and Watershed playing on the Comfest Stages?
This year the festival was joined by the curators of the The Museum at Bethel Woods. The museum is located at the historic site of the Woodstock Festival and houses the history and artifacts from Woodstock. They were there to interview Comfest attendees on their experience at the festival. These interviews will be used for archival purposes and stored in the archives of the museum.
I did get a chance to take a few pictures of the festival. The pictures are posted below. In the spirit of Comfest the pictures are not labeled by band or artist, but I ask your help in tagging yourself or anyone you know in the post. See you at Comfest 2024.
