DelFest 2016 – Ruckus in the Swamp

The 9th Annual Delfest was a 4-day event that pulled together some amazing people, incredible music and a plethora of memorable experiences.  Surprisingly, this was our first time experiencing Delfest, but it certainly won’t be our last. 

Delfest seemed to have fallen perfectly in the middle of our “6-festivals-in-6-weeks” spring tour.  It was like a beacon on our calendar that we have been gearing up for the last few weeks, and it did not disappoint.  (In case you haven’t been following along, check out our reviews of the festivals leading up to Delfest: Sleepy Creek on the Potomac, Aiken Bluegrass Festival and Susquehanna Breakdown.)

For the most part, team Festy has been flying solo on our music festival tour, but we always find incredible people who invite us to be part of their amazing crew of festival friends. We love our “Fest Friends” that we get to see all around this country as we all travel to the best locations to see the best music.  It’s why we do what we do – to meet each and everyone of you, and share these amazing experiences with each other!

The difference with DelFest, and part of the excitement for us, was that we had a crew for this one.  Close to our roots in PA/MD, we were rolling in with a close group of friends and family, and were extremely excited to catch up on some festy time with them.  Further adding to the anticipation was our amazing amount of festy friends from far and wide that we knew would be in attendance at DelFest 2016.  Our East Coast, West Coast, No Coast and Mexico (way to represent, Strings and Sol!) families were all coming together in one big happy melee! 

While this blending of festy friends from far and wide was certainly going to lead to some serious fun, we could not have anticipated the DelFest family we would encounter at our first throwdown in Cumberland. 

Walking the campgrounds, the RV lots and the woods is as entertaining and adventurous as the unparalleled line up of non-stop music. 

Our crew went out one wet evening seeking a ruckus in the swamp.  After running into countless camps bringing all kinds of different funk, we finally came to the conclusion that the ruckus was, in fact, inside of each and every one of us.  We are the Swamp Ruckus. 

So it is, 2 days later, when most of the mud has been washed away, we are still left in our hearts and souls with a ruckus, one that can only manifest itself in one big, giant, smiling “Del Yeah!”