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Rootwire: Celebration Of Creation
By: Sara Brumfield | Athens Messenger
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Melding the musical, art and consciousness realms, the Rootwire Music and Arts Festival is anything but your standard summer music festival.
Held Aug. 15-18 at Kaeppner’s Woods in Logan, Rootwire brings together dozens of musicians, visionary artists, guest speakers, yoga instructors and a variety of performers for four days of performances, workshops and camping.
The event, in its fourth year, was created by the Athens-spawned psychedelic band Papadosio.
Anthony Thogmartin, lead vocalist and guitarist with the group, said that Rootwire is a “magical environment” in which festival-goers feed off the creativity that surrounds them. He said some may pick up a paintbrush for the first time or make new life-long friends.
While the event is overflowing with creativity, Thogmartin said Papadosio aims to keep the crowd size manageable.
“We want to maintain that spacious community vibe,” he said, noting that many festivals have swarms of patrons, which isn’t an atmosphere conducive to creativity and interaction.
Playing in Logan also allows Papadosio to return to its southeast Ohio roots once a year. The band members now reside in Ashville, N.C. Due to the band’s large following, Thogmartin said there aren’t many venues in the Athens area large enough without seats to host the band.
“We want our audience on their feet,” Thogmartin said.
Papadosio will perform four sets during the festival. During the numerous musical sets throughout the weekend, artists do live paintings, fire twirling, acrobatics and other forms of performance art.
“It becomes a user-generated circus,” Thogmartin said. “We don’t have to plan it. It just happens on its own. There’s so much to take in. It’s a celebration of creation.”
While touring across the nation throughout the year, Papadosio spends quite a bit of time organizing the annual festival.
“It’s a labor of love,” Thogmartin said. “It’s growing as fast as we’d like it to.”
With a laid-back spacious atmosphere, the Rootwire Music and Arts Festival also allows for families to take part in the festivities. Thogmartin said that family camping will be new this year as well as a children’s area. He said the children’s area will include six hours of children’s programming a day such as kids yoga and lessons about different cultures around the world.
A slew of art galleries and installations are also included in the festival. Thogmartin said new artwork keeps the festival “fresh” for return visitors.
Advance weekend passes for Rootwire are $125. Tickets at the gate are $140.
For information about Rootwire, including a full list of artists and musicians, visit www.rootwirefestival.com.