For the last few years, we have been attending Imagine Festival. We have a great group of people we go with, including our oldest son and his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the festival was canceled last year due to the pandemic, so we couldn’t wait to go this year.

Covid and the Festival

The month leading up to the festival was stressful. I contracted Covid and was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to provide a negative test, which the festival required for attendance. After panicking, I did more research. They decided that people who had recently had the virus could show their positive test result for entry, provided it was outside the window for isolation.

With that information, we only had to worry about Chris getting sick before the festival. We stopped socializing and only went to work and the store when necessary. Chris became concerned when there was an outbreak at his job. He took a home test and was relieved to find he did not have the virus. Even with that test, we were still nervous that there was a possibility that he could get sick before taking the test for the festival.

When we scheduled the test, there were no appointments available for a rapid test. Instead, we scheduled a PCR test, which takes longer to get results. The festival required the test within three days of the festival. We worried about whether we would get the results back in time or not. We were happy when the result came the next night. At least we weren’t driving the seven hours to Atlanta without knowing if he was good to go.

Festival Preparation

We spent most of Monday and Tuesday preparing our typical festival food, pork butts, pimento cheese for grilled sandwiches, pico de gallo for burritos, and vinegar sauce for pork sliders. The weather called for rain, so we bought rain jackets and boots. Tuesday night, we packed the truck so we could quickly leave in the morning.

On the Road

We usually get the early day pass, which allows us to set up camp at the venue on Thursday before the crowds pour in the next day. After our first year at the festival, we learned to make the long drive on Wednesday and spend the night in a hotel. That way, we are at the venue when they open the campground, rested and able to relax.

We stopped for a quick fast-food breakfast. We had been sitting in the line for an incredibly long time when we realized that it was not moving. Luckily, we were not locked in and could get out of the line and on our way. I felt for the people two cars ahead of us, as they had no escape and were stuck there.

I always enjoy the unusual things we spot on the road. On this trip, we passed a truck hauling a helicopter. That’s not something you see every day. As we neared Atlanta, the road was in the flight path to the airport. We found ourselves face to face with a low-flying jet. While we knew it was heading for the airport, it was still somewhat intimidating.

Bad News

We were an hour and a half south of Atlanta when we got a message from one of our group, indicating that they had canceled the festival. My first instinct was that it was a joke. I attempted to check the festival website, but it was not working. Everyone else must have had the same idea. I checked their Facebook page, and sure enough, there was an announcement posted. While the festival is rain or shine, the impending residual hurricane heading in that direction caused the authorities to shut it down.

We had booked a hotel room for the night near Atlanta, so we decided to keep going. The hotel was non-refundable, so we might as well get a good night’s sleep and figure it out from there. Two members of our group got to the hotel right before we did. The rest of our group had yet to leave Virginia. I was happy when all but one member of our group decided to make the trip anyway. They would arrive early in the morning.

Fast Replanning

Throughout the night, a variety of alternate activities became available. Most of the artists scheduled to appear at the festival had rebooked shows at the various clubs in Atlanta. Quite a few people headed to a campground in Florida.

We found a mini pop-up festival about an hour east of Atlanta. Joe had already been in touch with the organizers and would be performing. A few people on Facebook complained about the location, indicating that the police would never let an event happen. We decided to trust that the organizers knew what was allowed in their area.

With the decision made as to what we would do, we walked across the street to Waffle House for breakfast. Camping would not be available at the new venue until Friday, so we booked an inexpensive hotel for the night. It was one of the worst places we have ever stayed, and we have had some horrible hotel experiences. The kids (and I use the term lovingly and with affection) spent most of the night in our room. We enjoyed burritos for dinner. Joe and Bridget entertained us with incredible music sets. They started DJing after we left Virginia, so this was the first opportunity we’ve had to see them play. It was such a treat.

In the morning, we looked for something to do until they opened the venue for camping. We thought about a zoo but then realized it was too far out of the way for our schedule. We went to a deli for lunch. When we saw how crowded it was, we got our food and went to a nearby park for a picnic. The park had a fairy theme, and we enjoyed exploring. The highlight of the park was the foundation and chimney from a long-gone building.

After lunch, we headed to the town where the mini-festival was to take place. We stopped at Walmart for last-minute supplies. I couldn’t believe how exciting it was when they finally released the venue address.

Unimaginable Mini-Fest

We arrived at Valhalla. It was a private home on six and a half acres. They had graciously opened their property to allow festival-goers to camp and enjoy some great music, all at no cost. We had already spent a ton of money preparing for and traveling to the festival. So it was refreshing to find an alternative without having to put out even more money.

In the interest of saving space, the organizers asked that we unload and park two of our vehicles at Walmart. We weren’t entirely comfortable with that idea. The camping spot we decided on was further back in the woods. The organizers decided that we were far enough off the road that we didn’t need to move our vehicles.

Time for the Show

In the evening, we headed to the stage where Joe and Bridget would be playing. As we watched the DJ and danced, we saw a guy with a fantastic totem. Upon closer investigation, we realized he had covered the staff with hundreds of little octopuses. After talking to him, we learned that he had created the octopuses with a 3D printer. The totem was a result of 1200 hours of printing. He told us we were cool and gave each of us an octopus named Jimmy. We spent the rest of the weekend driving Chris crazy, playing with our Jimmys.

We spent the next couple of hours dancing as first Bridget and then Joe played their sets. I was impressed with both and wore myself out dancing. When we finally returned to our camp, Chris fixed another round of burritos, and we enjoyed margaritas. We stayed up most of the night. It was a great time with friends who have become family.

Day Two

After some rest, we awoke to see more people had arrived. I made grilled pimento cheese sandwiches for everyone, and then Joe and Bridget played the garage stage for hours. It was fun to watch people coming and going while they played, dancing the afternoon away.

That evening, there was a mix-up on the schedule. Joe and Bridget were going to play back-to-back in a one-hour time slot, with a friend of his joining in as well. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues, the person before them went on late. The problem was that the next time slot had to start at 10 for a scheduled live stream, leaving them only 30 minutes. Joe decided to take a later time slot to share with Bridget, giving his friend the shorter one. He was discouraged that he had given up the primetime spot when his friend ended up playing for an hour and a half.

He quickly recovered from his disappointment when they asked him to play the garage stage instead. The later time worked well for me also.
Still feeling the effects of Covid, I became dizzy and needed to lay down for a nap. Had he played his original time slot, I may not have been able to see him.

When they finally went on, I was feeling much better. It was such a great time, dancing my heart out, with and without my whip. As the crowd gathered, enjoying the music, I wanted to shout, “That’s my baby playing,” but I maintained my decorum. While taking a water break, a young man approached me and told me I was a god. I took that to be quite a compliment.

The Police Show Up

In the morning, as we packed, six police cars showed up. We didn’t understand why they came in the morning instead of while the music was blasting. We were uncomfortable with their presence, but as two of them walked by our site, they smiled and joked with us about missing the fun. We later learned a young lady had come to the festival with her boyfriend, without telling her parents. They had reported her kidnapped. When they canceled the festival, the couple had ended up coming to the pop-up.

Our Last Hurrah

Our regular festival tradition on the last day is to go for breakfast before parting ways. We went to Waffle House, but we decided to go another direction when we saw how crowded it was. We realized there was another Waffle House nearby, so we went there instead. Still more crowded than we liked, we decided to get our food to go and head to a nearby park for another picnic. Upon learning it was a 45-minute wait even for to-go food, we headed to Bojangles instead.

Bojangles was only open for the drive-thru, so we stuck with the idea of going to the park to eat. The park was lovely, with picnic pavilions next to a big lake. We were delighted to see a disc golf course, even though we didn’t have time to play.

As we ate, we saw ducks waddling toward us. There was a duck feed dispenser by the water. As Joe walked to the machine to buy some corn, the ducks followed him like the Pied Piper. It was a hilarious scene watching the ducks run as fast as their little legs would carry them.

After eating, we had a hard time saying goodbye. We spotted an ant attempting to carry a piece of biscuit up and over the curb. He would get halfway up, and then the biscuit weight would cause him to fall back to the bottom. We had a great time narrating the show and cheered when he finally met with success.

After taking a group selfie, the time came to say our goodbyes and finally get on the road. We were so happy that, even though we didn’t have the magic of the festival, we were still able to have a fantastic weekend with people we love.