The Richmond Folk Festival was an amazing experience that I had the privilege of going to for the first time with some moderately cool people- McKenzie, Quinn, and Jack. During my time there, McKenzie and I decided to help minimize the trash and preserve the sanitation of Belle Isle and Brown Island through the outreach of the Green Team. Meanwhile, Jack and Quinn had the crucial role of asking for donations and raising funds for the event as Bucket Brigadiers. The people that we interacted with ranged from all types: from other college students like us to elderly looking for a nice evening out. However, most of the people at the event were just your average Joes; they weren’t necessarily hardcore nature enthusiasts, but rather common people with an appreciation for the river. I thought about how Cronan’s article mentioned that national parks and public lands act as a gateway for further passion in nature. Thus, it was really amazing to see how this event was a real life example of this model; the Folk Festival got everyday people to come out to a spot that they might not commonly go to and open up their eyes to the outdoor scene. Also, during the event I saw many people bring their children. I recall a specific instance where a father and his 2-year-old daughter went up to Jack and Quinn, and encouraged his daughter to place several dollars into the donation bucket. It was a really precious scene and I thought how this related to Cronan’s idea of how we must push forward appreciation for the outdoors at an early age.
However, as amazing of an event the Folk Festival was, I can’t help but also think that we have degraded the magnificent James into an event aimed to entertain the masses. As Thoreau would say, preserving the James and attracting others to come out to this area is also taming it-making it into something for the sole enjoyment of human and turning it into this completely man-made structure. Furthermore, like Cronan mentioned in his article, wilderness attracts those who have the means to afford it. Although this event is open to the entire public, it consisted of food vendors, artisan shops, and donation collectors who were all trying to profiteer from this event. It became more about what was going on at the Brown Island/Belle Isle rather than these areas itself. I am still a believer that the wilderness is more sublime as it becomes more remote and distinguished from civilization. The Folk Festival was a really cool event, but-to me-it was more of a glorified state fair than a true way to appreciate the outdoors.
