Camping at PFF-1998

Home at the PFF
This was "home" for the 3-day Philadelphia Folk Festival. I was one of the first ones to encroach upon what had been "community space" the night before, but my neighbors didn't complain too much, they just warned me about the bonfire and told me to expect others to surround me.

The firelanes and alleys were well-marked and had real street names related to music, places, or personalities.
This view of an alley shows how densely the "light camping" area was packed. There was a strict separation between light (tent or awning) camping and "heavy" (RV, trailer, 5th-wheel, pop-up) areas, and the heavy camping area was packed just as tightly.
These guys would've felt right (more?) at home at Winfield. There were a number of "named" camps, and it was kind of clear that some had a heritage. I did not get the feeling that there was a sense of community among campsites that I do at Winfield.

The camping area opens mid-day the day before the festival. I imagine it takes all of that day and most of that night to get this many tents set up in this small a space - there's not a lot of time left to get to know your neighbors or find out what neat things other camps have planned. Whatever sense of community there is has to be brought in with the tents rather than "created" as a part of the festival.

PFF 98 Festival Trip Reports Paul Kislanko's Home Page
Copyright 1998 by Paul Kislanko.�All rights reserved.

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