It’s right there on the flyers: Music, Art, Activism. There’s a ton of great music at the festival this weekend ranging from big name acts to promising new bands to a live marching band - but what about the other two thirds of the festival?

After searching through countless vendor booths selling glass pipes, organic cotton clothing, and hand made bead jewelry I finally found the six lonely booths promoting activism. Don’t worry if you missed them. They’re well hidden behind the main stage vendors and off to one side of the porta potties.

Despite the heat, you’ll find some dedicated activists out there supporting their causes. My personal favorite is the voter registration booth. This should be up front by the main gate instead of hidden away.

You’ll also find the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, No Kill Louisville, the Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition, an Eco-Info Zone, and the Dogwood Alliance’s delightfully frightening hand made plush display of a KFC bucket eating a forest.

And that’s all.

Despite the billing, I didn’t expect 1/3 of the festival to be about activism, but I did expect the festival to treat its activists as though they’re as valuable as the vendors and artists. This is the one fly in my delicious Forecastle Festival honey. The music is fantastic. The food is better than any other festival I’ve seen. Heck, I even like the festival’s physical layout here at waterfront park. Next year, let’s step it up and treat our hot and sweaty activists like they matter just as much as the hot and sweaty hula hoopers.

 Photo credit Chris-Rachael Oseland.