Com Fest 2008

"Come celebrate peace and social justice at Comfest, arguably the largest free, non-corporate urban music and arts festival in the US."

I should probably preface my comments by letting you in on a not too well kept secret. I am probably the most plain vanilla dude on the planet. Hi, I'm Joe "White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, Republican (how's that working for me?), heterosexual, khaki and polo shirt wearing" America.

So Comfest (short for Community Festival) is a celebration of everything I'm not. That's an oversimplification but let's go with it for now. There's a big part of me that admires those that dare to be different and stand up for what they believe in. But there's also a part of me that wants to point my finger and gape. Luckily it's that second part that I brought with me to Comfest.

As N. and I pedaled up, the "Pride Parade" was beginning. Yes we rode our bikes to Comfest. I'd say, "How very green of us", but we drove to a park and biked in from there. Anyway, back to the Pride Parade. How very interesting. Sing with me now: "Who wears short shorts? Boys wear short shorts!"

Once the parade passed we were able to get into the park and check out the booths and watch the people. The booths offered a little something for everyone, even me. We got some lunch at the wellness forum's booth. I had a Del's favorite wrap, which included hummus and baked tofu. It was actually very good. BTW, in case you're wondering (Day ???, 236 lbs). N. had a salad with tahini dressing and we shared a side order of flatbread and hummus.

Then we went on to explore the booths. Like I said these ran the gamut. OK, not quite the full range of the gamut, I did not see a McCain 2008 booth anywhere. There was, of course, a Register to vote for Obama booth as well as a booth for the Libertarian party. There was tie-dye aplenty, and a huge assortment of pipes; we learned about saving the animals, ending the violence in Darfur, and how to simplify our lives. We perused the dozens of crafts booths. We purchased tee shirts from the local bike co-op, picked up a pinwheel whirly gig from another booth, and bought organic dog and kitty treats for our kids (what is spelt flour, anyway?).

Oh yeah, did I mention there were people there too? Apparently, Comfest is the opportunity to dive into the depths of one's closet and don the most outlandish apparel that one owns. Missing this memo, I personally arrived in a pair of rust colored Columbia shorts and a 'Big Dogs' tee shirt. At least I was sporting the bicyclist's mud spatter up the back of my shorts and shirt so I didn't look quite so much like an off-duty republican.

There were men in kilts, men in skirts, women clad above the waist in only pairs of "Obama 08" stickers, fishnet stockings of all colors adorning both genders, lots and lots of black, plenty of hand logo-emblazoned tee shirts (My fave: "This is what a lesbian looks like" Thanks, I'll update my field guide accordingly), and last but not least a somewhat lost looking chap in a "Hank Williams, Jr. tee shirt.

I loved it. I was drawn in enough to be irked by the "Comfest is going away" signs of protest in neighboring windows. Really, get over yourselves. If you're that closed-minded that you can't tolerate diversity in your neighborhood for three very peaceful, harmonic days then schedule your vacation around these days. Or take in a John McCain "Stay the Course" rally instead. Just remember that the right to have gatherings like Comfest is one of the rights that our service men and women are dying to preserve.