Posted
by Liz Weslander
September 19, 2004 at 7:09 p.m.
Winfield Redux
Our family just returned from its maiden voyage to the [Walnut Valley Festival][1]. We made the decision to go at the last minute, and this is my first piece of advice to people, especially families, thinking about making the trek to Winfield: don't make the decision to go at the last minute. Doing Winfield is an art form, an art form best perfected by copious planning. While our impromptu jaunt to Winfield resulted in a mediocre experience complete with under-impressed children (the heat was a factor), my husband and I have decided that we're going back next year. We are convinced that if we get our act together, Winfield could be a fun and affordable family vacation. If things go really well next year, this Winfield thing might just become a Weslander family tradition. Now if I can just get those images of Clark Griswold out of my head...Anyway, the first step in getting our act together for next year is to solicit the input of Winfield veterans and general camping enthusiasts. For those of you who just got back from the festival, while it's still fresh in your mind, tell me the items that you couldn't live without this year, and the items you kicked yourself for forgetting. I was personally thankful for our shade tent and my earplugs (I do love my sleep). I wish I would have brought a mode of transportation (besides my shoulders) for my kids to get around the campgrounds. For those of you who have been to Winfield with kids, what is your advice for keeping them happy and entertained? By the way, I'm also game for any general comments about the festival, like say, about the music. I was so busy wrestling kids and the heat I didn't see a whole lot.For those of you who haven't been to the festival, please offer any general camping tips and gadget/equipment must-haves.Finally, I must ask, will buying one of those hipster straw cowboy hats make a cool kid at Winfield, or just a wannabe with some shade?Thanks, and see you next year! [1]: http://www.wvfest.com/
Comments
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merrill (anonymous) says…
First of all plan to go a few days in advance for the best camp site.
My first trip to Winfield was the second annual and my how things have changed. I haven't made the trip in a few years.
Children: Take things for them to do...how old are they? Hell yes take a straw hat for shade who cares what anybody thinks just do it.
Some of my old pals now haul in a refrigerator for some food and much drink.
If you want to do the "nightlife" camp scene I suggest taking a nap
as this can go until the wee hours. Many of the performers can be found at just about any camp site jammin. This can be a great time.
Enjoy
liz (Liz Weslander) says…
We were lucky in that we met up with some people who had been there all week, so we had a nice, decently equipped campsite. As for the kids, they'll be 4, going on 5 next year. Is there any place there where it's safe to play in or near the river? We were near a cliff.
lazz (anonymous) says…
a long weekend of hot, cramped camping in winfield, kansas, with live bluegrass playing nonstop? sheesh, good thing there's a cliff nearby ...
(sorry, only kidding, just couldn't resist...)
anyway, sounds like a Tiny Tots Rappelling Harness Set might be a good idea. Or perhaps hang glider? hehehe ...
by the way, I wouldn't sweat it about a straw hat making overly-cool any kid who is stuck camping in winfield with his parents for a week ...
wow, sorry, the mixture of elements here is just irresistible ...
i am just kidding ... family trip for bluegrass does sound good. but i stand by my lifelong determination that camping in kansas should be outlawed -- at the least, vigorously discouraged -- from June through the end of September ... (unless there's a spring-fed Flint Hills creek within leaping distance...)
n8 (anonymous) says…
i use my yearly exodus to winfield to don hats that i would never sport elsewhere.
sallyride (anonymous) says…
In the mornings there's a stage set up for kids, who send in a demo, to perform, and other kids watch. The woman who camped next to us had a little 2 year old and a 4 year old, and she said they loved it! (I think it's stage 5 or 6 near the Walnut Grove?)
Our camp buddies set up a make-shift shower in the woods with a bellow bag of cold water and a zip up tarp, which helped beat the heat. (although last year, it was so cold, we needed gloves/hats at night). Or you can stand in line for the pay showers...$3 (don't forget towels).
A blanket and camping chairs with a strap for easy transport are needed at stage 5 and up. Lots of foil, paper towels, and a cooler. Woo-hoo, I'm ready to go back!!
stater1977 (anonymous) says…
Ahhh, a Winfield virgin. I remember my first time. I had five perfect moments during the week. Here are my suggestions:
Arrive as early as possible
Be prepared for very hot and very cold weather
Bring:
A head lamp with extra batteries
Broad brimmed hat
a comfortable chair
swiss army knife
camera
extra boots or shoes (in case of mud)
yellow caution tape or cones to mark walkways around your tents, it can get real crazy with guy wires and tent stakes
If space is not a concern:
Some kind of apparatus to support a water container with a spigot and a sink below; water is available for free if you have a container.
I usually go into town about once a day to one of the restaurants to eat a meal and use their bathroom.
We have gone back and forth on cooking; this year I only brought snacks; supplemented one restaurant meal a day.
Pringles were very popular around the campsite.
On the midway the home-made icecream stand was conveinently located next to the hot toasted nuts which worked out very well.
Stay up until you pass out, you won't need the earplugs.
Try hard not to make fun of the banjo players, they are people, too.
Write to the Walnut Valley Festival people if you feel like I do that the port a pottys weren't as well maintained as in years past.
liz (Liz Weslander) says…
Sally, I'm with you on the paper towels. A bit wasteful, but better than wiping your face with the same rag you used to wipe up raw eggs.
stater, I like the sink idea. It would probably be pretty easy to attach a spigot to a five gallon jug and then salvage an old wash basin to go with it.
I wish I was of the stay up until you pass out variety. I just can't do it anymore. The kids factor makes it impossible, and really, I do love my sleep.
Our port o potty was not too bad. We were in a pretty tame area, though. I went to a music festival in the spring where they didn't service the toilets once and we were camped next to the type of people who spray the walls and floor in their druken stupor. So, I'm easily impressed by clean johns.
murderama (Rob Gillaspie) says…
Somethign you should add to your must-bring list is hippie repellant. The jam band set has tainted that festival for all time.
pc (Phil Cauthon) says…
perfect, i wondered how i was going to keep track of this list until next year...here's a list of what i scratched down each time i regretted our last-minute pack job:
-- backpack style cooler
-- large tupperware carrier for dry goods
-- separate cooler for food (that is, vs cooler for beers)
-- blankets fit for ground
-- bath towel
-- tarp/rope/poles for flexible shade setup
-- wasabi peas
-- pistacios
-- cool, air-permitting button-up shirts
-- shitty table for food prep
-- propane dual burners
-- box for utensils, etc
-- camp shower set up
-- hammock
-- saw and pruners
-- rope/cinder blocks for camp barrier
-- bikes/lock/lights
-- grill grate/fire ring
this is in addition to the non-obvious essentials i remembered this year:
-- smal, portable chairs
-- sunglasses
-- dig camera + plenty of batteries/cards
-- cingular or verizon cell phone (the only services that work in winfield these days)
-- duct tape, rope
-- eating ware, knives, foil
-- potatoes, carrots, etc (easy, not so perishable ingredients)
-- tea-bag style coffee
-- *plenty* of beer (~12er for each day; even if you don't drink that much, your cooler will inevitably get tapped)
-- plenty of non-alcoholic beer (~6er for each day, for pacing during the all-day drinkage)
-- stoagies
-- diversions (ie frisbees, washers, bocce, book)
-- battery-op radio
-- (optional) tp + old chair with hole sawed out of the middle to park in the woods thus sparing yourself the disagreeable public variety
Carmenilla (anonymous) says…
We went too and brought our 8 yr old daughter. Its our 6th year down there as a family. We have really gotten it down to a science now. Packing for Winfield involves a very good pack list and the right kind of entertainment for the kiddo on the way down (it is 3 hrs.) and for once you've set up camp. Without fail, bringing a bug keeper with a lens top is hours of fun. Last year, we caught a toad and kept him as a camp mascot. We released him before we left. You just have to accept the fact that your kids are not gonna be clean and they need to have camping style fun. Leave the My Little Ponys at home and opt for a butterfly net. One lesson learned this year: leave behind all library books. We let our daughter bring a few and they are now waterlogged from being left next to a draining cooler. Ouch!
MAMAT (anonymous) says…
Oh man do I remember the Festival. What fun. I brought my two year old, once, but that was a mistake. He was too young, or I was too distracted. Henceforth, it became an adult event. What I recall of it..... was fun. Even when I had to smuggle in beer, back when they banned it (is it still banned? I dunno) - put it in car boot/trunk, lie and claim to have lost key to trunk...when in fact the key was in my bra. I'm glad my baby brother (who once was in the 5 finalists in banjo there) is taking his young daughter - so she can carry on the traditions one day. And I am glad you are all so very organized. I usually just took a tent, and loaded up on money and bedding! I am also very happy that if/when I ever attend again, it will be sans youngsters who should not be drinking the traditional Winfield breakfast drink .... which the current managing editor of the JW (Ric) told me was spelled c-o-o-r-s. Ah what memories......
liz (Liz Weslander) says…
mamat, we've considered timing our next trip to Winfield with a trip to the grandparents for the kids, but I know that a lot of people have kids who like the fesitval as much as their parents, so we're going to give it one more try. I do think their grandma might go to Winfield next year and stay in hotel, which would give us some relief if we wanted to ship the kids off for a night.
pc, good idea on the separate cooler thing. Drinks take up so much room, plus you hate to expose the mayo and lunch meat to the heat every time you're thirsty. One question, why can't you just pace yourself with water instead of non-alcoholic beer? I can't handle drinking all day anyway, so I guess it's really neither here nor there. I actaully did Winfield sober this year (except a couple of beers) and I can't say that it bothered me all that much. I'm turning into such square in my old age.
It seems that if you get really into Winfield, a special vehicle just to haul all the crap down there becomes essential.
Shelby (anonymous) says…
bikes.
PC can probably attest to that.
doc (anonymous) says…
-Don't forget to ask the kids if they have to go to the bathroom before the deadly 56-mile stretch without a Turnpike exit.
-I talked to a longtime festival-goer this week who said her group had a big inflatable plastic pool the kids were playing in.
Carmenilla, I like the idea of a bug keeper with lens top. Does anyone know of other good nature-oriented kid diversions along these lines and a good place to buy them?
Liz, apparently you have not experienced the pleasure of a cool non-alcoholic Klausthaler.
lazz (anonymous) says…
a list of camping essentials actually includes "wasabi peas" and "air-permitting button shirts"?
ummmmmm ............ wow. OK. whatever.
MAMAT (anonymous) says…
Great idea - taking the g'ma's along and having them stay in a hotel with any or all of the tired kiddos. That would work out well, in my opinion, and make it more fun for all concerned! But for the love of all that is Holy and good, you'd better make reservations NOW. Something tells me the hotel/motel type places nearby fill up real quick. With a "home base" for the kids to sleep (after bathing) mom & dad can party down without worrying! Of course, as the kids get older, they can have more fun themselves (and perhaps find more real trouble to get into?? LOL) Love the plastic pool idea, for kids and adults, but WHERE did they get the water to fill it from? When last I was there, years and years ago, the one thing really missing was anything remotely resembling a bountiful fresh water supply! As far as taking a whole S*** load of stuff, any trip becomes less fun if you are merely transporting your entire home elsewhere (why travel is that is what you have to do?). It won't hurt anyone to get a little dirtier then usual (that's the Winfield way), and live on hotdogs or other yucky food for a few days. Make it as easy on yourselves as possible. If you end up needing something, like PeptoBismal after eating those hotdogs, I hear they still have stores in Winfield! Heck, they may even have liquor stores now!!
n8 (anonymous) says…
the best bathrooms on site are located in the back of the barn that houses the competitions. the flushies under the grandstand are open all night as well.
i witnessed something this year that has changed me forever. on our evening stroll through the pecan grove near stage 7 we came across a befallen portopotty. rushing past, a rumbling could be heard from inside the toppelled toilet. my one brave friend asked if someone needed help at which time the tenent said very matter of factly "yes". two people hoisted the shit box up and out came a shell of a man, dripping wet with slime from head to toe and speckeled with tp. he just ran until someone produced a hose and we just got out of the way. he had no idea who did it and i will never step foot in one of those again.
MAMAT (anonymous) says…
Oh that is so so so so gross. And it's really sad that pranksters had to be so mean. Thank God some little tiny child wasn't using the toilet at the time the hooligans tipped it over and down......
doc (anonymous) says…
I know some people read this blog for ideas about kid-friendly events and places around town.
The Midday Ramblers show Saturday night (10/2) at St. Margaret's Episcopal strikes me as a good pick. Plenty of opportunity for kids to dance to bluegrass, and it starts early.