Life is good in Canton
By Jay Turner
First photo (above): Guster singer/guitarist Adam Gardner performs on the main stage at the Life is good Festival at Blue Hills. (Kaitlyn Erickson photo)
With beach balls flying, kids of all ages dancing and playing, and upbeat music blaring, the scene at last weekend’s Life is good Festival at Blue Hills was precisely what organizers had promised — a kids’ festival for adults and an adult festival for kids, all seamlessly blended together with the company’s trademark brand of optimism.
More than 26,000 in all made their way to Canton for the two-day event, held September 11 and 12 at historic Prowse Farm, and while Saturday offered far and away the best weather conditions, both days provided festival goers with a host of entertainment options, including a diverse musical lineup spread across three stages and a variety of games and activities — from rock climbing and tug-o-war for the older patrons, to parachute play and a “Tower of Power” ball toss for the littlest ones, to multiple face painting stations for both the young and the young at heart.
For brothers Bert and John Jacobs, co-founders of the Life is good Company, the success of this year’s festival was especially gratifying for a number of reasons, beginning with the fact that it helped raise thousands of dollars for the company’s Kids Foundation, which relies on the healing power of play to help children overcome “life-threatening challenges such as violence, illness, natural disaster, and extreme poverty.”
They were also thrilled to see both parents and kids genuinely enjoying themselves at the same event, which was their mission in creating such an ambitious festival.
“People were skeptical that we could blend these things, and yet we’re seeing it realized right before our eyes,” said John Jacobs, Life is good’s chief creative optimist, who attributed the success of the weekend to the power of positive thinking.
In fact, other than one of the musical acts, Trombone Shorty, missing his flight and having to go on later than scheduled on Sunday — he made up for it with a rousing performance on the Good Kids Stage — the entire event went off without a hitch, according to festival manager Adam Klein. And even when the temperatures began to fall and the skies threatened rain late in the afternoon on Sunday, the mood of the crowd remained as sunny as ever, lifted by the performances of popular acts such as Guster, Corinne Bailey Rae, and festival headliner Jason Mraz.
“Everybody’s having such a great time,” said Klein, reporting from the VGP (Very Good Person) area. “Relatively speaking, it’s been a seamless event all weekend.”
It seemed that everyone, from the festival goers to the Life is good volunteers, to the Canton Police officers and firefighters on site, had only good things to say about the entire experience, and the joy was particularly evident over at the Good Kids Stage, where acts including the wildly popular Laurie Berkner Band drew thousands of eager fans.
And despite the large crowds, there were no major injuries or illnesses to speak of, and no trips to the hospital, according to Canton Fire Chief Charlie Doody.
“It’s been a very smooth operation thus far,” Chief Doody said Sunday. “This has been a good company to work with — very organized. They did a very fine job with this festival.”
He also praised festival organizers for holding a brief ceremony on Saturday morning in recognition of September 11, 2001. The ceremony featured members of the State Police and the Canton and Milton police honor guards, as well as members of the Canton Fire Department, and it set the tone for a day of remembrance that continued at the 9/11 Giving Tent, sponsored by UPS.
Mojdeh Barros, a volunteer at the tent, estimated that festival goers helped assemble more than 250 care packages, using supplies donated by Canton and Milton residents, that will be sent to Massachusetts soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It was wonderful,” said Barros, adding that people took turns writing notes of appreciation while children drew pictures to include in the care packages.
Klein, meanwhile, could not say enough about the contribution of the Canton community, not only with the collection effort but with the festival as a whole. He said without the town’s help in planning and executing the event, it simply would not have been possible.
“Canton has been absolutely wonderful,” he said. “They really have been unbelievable. The whole town has bent over backwards to help make this happen.”
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=2661
Posted by Jay Turner
on Sep 16 2010. Filed under News, Photo Gallery.
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