Still (or not so Still)
Life in Sandpoint

One Festival Picnic example - please send us your best picnic shot

It’s just about that time of year. The Festival at Sandpoint is coming, along with all the requisite traditions and rituals of this classic outdoor concert series on the lake. Those of us in the know are getting geared up with picnic gear, planning menus, and putting those tickets in the pocket of the beach bag.

For those of you who have never attended, we want you to be properly prepared , so we’ve put together this little guide to making the most of your Festival at Sandpoint experience.  Trust us, you don’t want to arrive and find yourself  coveting your neighbor’s Festival set-up. Festival picnic envy is not pretty.

Following are 5 tips to getting the most out of your Festival experience.

1. Pace yourself: If you have season pass this is a downright hedonistic, fun, exciting…. and exhausting two weeks. So pace yourself such that you can make it through the whole two weeks. Perhaps some training beforehand with eating and drinking, and staying up late on a “school night”.
2. Location location location: Is picnic blanket location important? Let’s be realistic. Pick the shows you are attending where sitting up close or having a great spot is important.  For the others, it’s a small enough venue, we can hear and see very well from all spots on the lawn. But for the one or two concerts you are especially excited to see, its worth it to plan a bit and get there early. To get a good spot, you need to be in line up to an hour prior to gate opening. Here’s how its done: Bring a book.  Bring your running shoes. (yours truly blew the whole deal when she lost a flip flop in the melee and had to backtrack to get it.) Roll up the blanket for optimal unfurling-and-placement in one step. There is no time to be grappling with a neatly folded blanket when you arrive at selected location. You will lose your space. Ok, now running is not allowed when the gates open, but you can practice run/walking this week and perfect the style now so you’re not practicing when the heat is on.
3. Picnic equipment: This is serious business. You do not want to look like a Festival newbie amongst the longtime attendees, aka the Festival pros. Bring your low beach chairs. Or, this is what I suggest: Once the blanket is down, and the corners are marked with shoes and bags to prevent encroachment by neighbors, send one of your party to the back to rent the low plastic chairs for $2 each. We do this anyway, it’s more revenue for the Festival, and we don’t have to carry the chairs. Believe me, we have plenty of other stuff to carry with the picnic. Your cooler is allowed in, and you can buy great picnic accessories at Pend d’Oreille Winery such as the steady stakes that hold your wine glass on the ground, or the plates with the clip for your wine glass, and fabulous picnic baskets with all the accoutrements.
4. The Food: What do you do for your picnics? How about theming your food with the music for that night. Salsa night meant spanish tapas, surf night with Dick Dale meant tropical cuisine. Our festival tradition is this huckleberry cake recipe for dessert. (replace the blackberries with huckleberries.) We’d love to hear about your picnic recipes in the comments section. Festival Street showcases food from many of our local restaurants and is well worth a visit at least a few times. So don’t feel like you have to take the time to make a picnic for every night.
5. The Music: oh right, we’re here for the music! What is so cool about the Festival is the line-up. It gets announced mid-May every year (the weekend of Lost in the 50′s). Prior to the announcement, season passes are on sale for a ridiculously low cost/high value ratio. You’re buying into it blind, and why wouldn’t you? Each year the line-up has some familiar names; musicians we can’t believe are actually coming to Sandpoint, and some new names, meaning we get introduced to new music each year. Additionally, some of our local musical talent is tapped to open for the bigger acts. If you havent seen it yet, the full list is here.

Seasons at Sandpoint is an easy cruiser-bike ride from the Festival. Who’s going?  What are your favorite Festival traditions? Please submit your photos and videos to online community manager Lisa Gerber – We’d love to share them with the rest of the group.