Culture
From first-time attendee to dedicated volunteer: Desirae Matherly’s Nelsonville Music Festival story
By: Betty Kankam-Boadu
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NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) – Desirae Matherly sat in front of the media tent at the Snow Fork Event Center, the venue for the Nelsonville Music Festival, engaging anyone who walked in.
She was there to assist media personnel who had come to cover the festival with anything they needed.
“I wanted to start to give something back to the festival because I felt I had gotten so much,” Matherly said.
She, like dozens of the volunteers who worked to make the festival possible, did so because something happened to them the first time they experienced the Nelsonville Music Festival.
“I was inspired at a time in my life when I thought I was too old to go to a music festival,” she said.
When Matherly attended the music festival in 2012, it was her first time attending a music festival. As a mother, she was not sure if the environment would be suitable for her, but she was pleasantly surprised.
“I think I probably cried multiple times just because I was so moved by all the effort I saw from the volunteers here, the event’s staff, and the organizers,” said Matherly.
“I think I probably cried multiple times just because I was so moved by all the effort I saw from the volunteers here, the event’s staff, and the organizers.” – Desirae Matherly on her first experience with the Nelsonville Music Festival in 2012.
That year, indie pop multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird was on the bill to perform, and she wanted to see her favorite artist live in concert. So, she went to Hocking Hill College, the venue for the music festival at the time, and that began her 12-year love affair with the Nelsonville Music Festival.
Nothing came close to the level of safety, intimacy and community she experienced the first time she attended the festival.
“I would often see fantastic acts at Nelsonville Music Festival up close,” said Desiree. “I could be right there, 15 feet away.”
And so, she kept coming back even when she moved out of Ohio to Tennessee.
Known as “one of the best-kept secrets of the U.S. music festival circuit,” the four-day festival attracts thousands of attendees. This year, hip-hop artist Killer Mike, Australian rocker Courtney Barnett and dozens of other artists performed.
Matherly said though she spent her time assisting people, she still found time to have fun.
“I had a great time just walking around,” she said. “People watching is one of the great things about a music festival.”
She said one of the special things about the festival is that it has a place for everyone, just like it did for her 12 years ago.
“You come here, and you see people of every age,” Matherly said. “I have seen wee little babies in peoples’ arms and much older and more mature people. Everybody just loves it, and I think they feel like they are coming to a family reunion.”