by Kiva Navarro

March 2013 brought the Wildfire Reggae & Arts Festival back to Austin. Usually, Wildfire is located indoors at a popular music venue. However, for the first time the event was outside with food trailers, two live music stages, miscellaneous vendors, and port-a-potties. Placed at The Music Ranch just off FM 973, Wildfire brought a vast selection of musicians from all over the nation. Bands such as Don Chain, Ashes of Babylon, Mike Love, The Expanders, Axis Unity, and Nai Kete performed for the weird, the hippie and the bohemian. This year, fans had the option of camping overnight and purchasing three-day or one-day passes. The weather threatened storms, but fans made the most out of the weekend in between rain clouds and light showers.

There was food and drinks of plenty, but everything was overpriced. Beer was eight dollars for a sixteen-ounce can. Chicken-on-a-stick was nine dollars—twelve if you wanted the meal, and a 10” pizza cost twelve dollars—forget about asking for a single slice.
There were vendors. Ah, the cattle call of homemade trinkets and anti-political t-shirts—it just is not a festival with them. Beer chug gadgets, herb paraphernalia, and handmade jewelry also made the cut this year.

Oh and there were dogs. Lots of dogs. Austin is the land of the canine friendly and it certainly showed at Wildfire. Who could say no to the sweet face of puppies roaming free in hopes of a fallen piece of chicken—or the stick…for that matter?

There were two music stages. The smaller stage was ghetto—to say the least, but was up to code and allowed for solid performances. The larger stage, obviously reserved for big-ticket sellers, was vibrant and inviting. I had VIP access (my boyfriend plays for Axis Unity), so I was able to see the cool running of things from behind the stage. I watch the crowd grow from a solid twenty to about thirty in just one hour. That’s right, the turnout was not very big at all. In fact, I was bored because of the lack of participants. I was also discouraged in taking joy at the festivities, because of the poor layout. The stages were on opposite ends of the grounds. If attendees did not walk far down enough to find the smaller stage, or vice versa, then attendees never knew it existed. Since there was never an overlap of bands performing, I did not see the point of this particular layout, and I felt that the oversized property did not allow people to enjoy a true festival atmosphere. By the end of the night, the attendance grew just in time to watch Baja fire dancers perform. Perhaps the growth came from sleeping campers who finally awoke from their tents just before dusk.

Overall, the Wildfire Reggae and Arts Festival did a commendable job in hosting the event as a first time outdoor festival, but a smaller venue would serve it justice in the future. Then again, Wildfire fans might miss their strange encounters with the landowner of The Music Ranch—a crazy Apache woman living in a van onsite. She is nice enough to carry a conversation with, but crazy enough to scare the reggae out of you.