Woodstock ‘29 Is On
In just twenty-four bizarre and busy hours, Ocracoke has made its way to the top of that rivalrous list of locations – and nestled itself deep in the heart of executive event planner for Woodstock Music and Art Fair, Mycah Logus.
Logus first heard of the island a short twenty-seven hours ago from a friend, who informed her of the recent “mind-garbling” discovery, temporarily being referred to amongst mycology-enthused circles as psilocybe wokokon – at street level, it’s already settled into its hip nickname: “Wok” (pronounced woke).
“A journalist friend of mine was wearing this neon T-shirt that said ‘Get Wok at Ocracoke.’ So of course I was like ‘what is Ocracoke? What is wok?’ And he told me,” Logus explained, when inquired about the origin of her relationship with the island. “It’s hard to describe the connection I had to this place, right from the get-go, just from this word-of-mouth anecdote about psychedelics,” Logus commented via phone call this morning. “I don’t expect most people to understand. It’s just been a harrowing process, planning the logistics in all these potential places – but I heard Ocracoke, this wild windy place where wild new things are growing, and it just clicked. That’s where it has to be. That’s a place where music wants to be heard, where things want to grow.”
Planning for a festival as colossal as Woodstock ‘29 requires years of preparation – preparation that the pioneer festival did not employ. Logus and her team want the event to be as safe and functional as it is beautiful, and they believe Ocracoke to be the “prophesied oasis” for such wishes.
“We’ve literally been waiting years for this, to find a location we’re this happy about,” the planner gushed. “There’s a formula to it, and if it’s followed, I think the true purpose of what we’re after here can be achieved.”
Logus has spoken on the phone with several prominent members of the community in order to develop an understanding of the small town’s way-of-life. “The formula is this: you’ve got the Yasgurs, you know, the hesitant but fairly welcoming locals, and then you’ve got the hippies – they’ll find their way there, if wokokon hasn’t called them already – and the isolation of it, the lack of worldly influence to wreak distractions, the feeling that you’ve really reached a freestanding civilization – and of course you’ve got the mushrooms. That’s it. That’s the recipe.”
Logus hopes islanders do not feel the festival is seeking to exploit their newfound resources, as one anonymous community member accused the festival committee of doing via phone call. “This isn’t ‘99, we’re not just reviving mushrooms,” Logus defended. “We’re reviving morals, and Ocracoke is just that kind of paradise, that sanctuary that supports said morals. You’re not influenced by anywhere else in the world, you’re detached, you’ve got the beach and the woods and the water – space to live and be. And to not be puking on other peoples’ puke, that infamous ‘69 myth – it’s the whole peaceful package.”
Coincidentally, the festival is currently set for the same August weekend that annually hosts the Fig Festival.
Sundae Horn, local Fig Festival planner and fig enthusiast, reports that she is “just really happy” to merge the two events. “Fig cake; love; psychedelics, it’s all the same thing. This is Ocracoke culture. It’s so colorful,” Horn commented. Horn says she is even considering creating a third category to join “traditional” and “innovative” in the beloved Fig Cake Bake Off: “magical.”
“I might even strike the traditional category altogether. Bring on the change!” she exclaimed.
The Ocracoke Preservation Society – group behind the Fig Festival and various other displays of Ocracoke culture’s unique passions – agrees they are fine with the conjoining of the two celebrations. “Just glad they aren’t planning it for Pirate Weekend,” commented OPS director Andrea Powers, with a collective agreement echoing through her office.
As for further local opinion, Phillip Howard remarks that he’s “always known,” and would not comment beyond for clarity.
Emmet Temple eagerly looks forward to the festival, set to occur five years into the future: “That’s a sick scene that I wanna be a part of, musically. Woodstock (‘29) is the kind of place where you can play your indie-sleaze folk-horror punk-rock Romeo-core beach tunes, and nobody freaks or yarfs. Not more than they’re already yarfing, anyway.”
