Behind the scene

Aug. 6, 2006

By Amy Schenck

Frontiersman

While carloads of young people streamed in, old timers scrambled to make this year's Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival a success.

Jose Peyralans, the man in charge of security, zipped through the gravel pit-turned festival grounds on his four-wheeler. He stopped by his camper to put on rain gear, he handled a situation with a fallen-off wrist band at the entrance, and he saw to it that all those working had enough water to drink.

After 15 years of bluegrass, Peyralans knows the routine.

The annual Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival, which draws thousands, kicked off its 25th year on Friday. The live music continues through today, with the entrance fee dropping from $35 to $10.

Most people who show up at bluegrass leave sleep deprived from a little too much partying. But those behind the scenes leave sleep deprived from the loads of work it takes to pull off a festival.

The festival's coordination efforts branch out from &#8220security hill,” conveniently the highest location on the grounds.

From a small shack, radios are distributed and white boards keep track of comings and goings.

Nearby, the med shack and the recovery shack - manned round the clock by medics - are set up for the worst-case-scenario.

It is from the recovery shack that Mikkibeth hands out her famous tea, known as the Talkeetna Bluegrass tea, the revive-you tea or the rehydration tea.

Mikkibeth declined to provide her full name.

&#8220With a name like Mikkibeth, everyone will know who I am,” she said.

Moe's Karma Kitchen, in charge of feeding all those working the festival, is just down the hill. At Moe's, the coffee is always hot and there's a fireplace ringed with chairs for people to take a break.

In total, there are more than 100 workers, including those who collect the money, manage the bands, set up the vendors, clean the bathrooms and serve on Karma Kontrol, the festival's security staff.

Dirty Ernie, who owns the festival grounds and has been part of bluegrass since its beginnings, led the efforts to make the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival a more coordinated event, and it shows.

Barrels clearly mark traffic corridors. Outhouses are painted with large numbers to help people locate where they are, showers are available for public use, and a separate camping ground has been set aside for families and senior citizens.

Sitting in his red pickup truck with his two dogs, Dirty Ernie told a story to explain what keeps him and the others so persistently, and at times stubbornly at it year after year.

Two disabled people and their caregivers saw the festival signs while driving on the Parks Highway on Friday night, he said.

They stopped to see what it was all about, and Dirty Ernie brought them into the festival and gave them free T-shirts.

Watching them smile for two hours while they listened to the music is what makes it well worthwhile, Dirty Ernie said.

&#8220We're here, and we're going on and we're going to continue going on,” he said.

Contact Amy Schenck at 352-2269.