Bill and I took a trip down memory lane at Woodstock 50, an Austin event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock music festival. The afternoon was hosted (and transmitted live) by local community radio station, KOOP, and held at the Austin Central Library. A few nostalgic folks wore tie-dye and bell-bottoms, but the rest of us were more appropriately dressed for an Austin summer afternoon with a high of 104°F.

Eight time slots featuring local musicians were scheduled throughout the afternoon. First up was Sho Humphries playing the ukelele. His little brother Shin then joined him onstage for a lively and entertaining uke version of Wipeout.

Between acts, Mindy Reed, author of a novel titled This is the Dawning: a Woodstock Love Story, spoke about the 1969 music festival. Bill and I didn’t attend that festival, but we had lived not far from Woodstock (the town, not Yasgur’s Farm) before coming to Austin. I visited a few years ago and was glad to see that Woodstock still manages to keep that ’60s hippie vibe (and that Candlestock with their Candle Mountain is still there).

We also listened to a set by hip-hop artist Deezie Brown, who was joined by surprise guests and fellow Bastrop residents, The Peterson Brothers.

Bill and I couldn’t stay for the entire afternoon, but we made sure to pick up our free cup of ice cream…yet another sad reminder that there’s no Austin Ice Cream Festival this year.

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