Folk musicians, artists and food trucks lined Sandy Creek Park in Athens, Georgia, to celebration of 34 years of the North Georgia Folk Festival. Since Art Rosenbaum's inception of this event over three decades ago, folk culture has been alive and well in the northeast Georgia community.
Both rising and established folk artists have celebrated the deep roots of folklore and history in American culture.
"The continuity of friendships and the collegial spirit about this festival is something that is impossible to walk away from-- something is happening here that matters," Ash Raymond, one of the original founders of the festival, said.
This is Manila Express's first year at the North Georgia Folk Festival. "Most people have been ordering the coconut chicken adobo which is the first thing he made me. Now I'm married to him," Rachel Barnes said.
"[I've been making brooms] since 2005. My son does blacksmithing and he wanted me to learn broom tying, so when he did a fireplace set I could do brooms for him, said Athens artist, Rosa Hall.
"A floor broom takes about an hour [to make] by the time I start; if I concentrate," Hall said.
"Since I’ve come out of my mother’s womb, she said I was holding a paintbrush," Kip Ramey said.
Kip Ramey, an artist based near Athens was presenting art and his eclectic truck at the festival for the first time. Ramey said he uses silicone glue to attach everything from Mickey and Minni Mouse to Mardi Gras Beads to mask of Darth Vader, but the hodgepodge truck started with the goat on the top.
A standout moment was when he was driving one day and saw a couple arguing in a car in front of him, as he watched the man raise his hand in anger Ramey blew past them in his comical yet jarringly-decorated truck, stopping the couple argument mid fight.
“Five years ago I got out of debt and I said ‘I’m gonna do what I love doing and that’s what I’ve done since then… I wouldn’t look back cause you just do it. You love doing [art] and it makes people happy. How many people get to do a job that brings joy to other people and you make a living doing it,” Ramey said.
Ramey creates pop culture pieces such as ____ dogs that make people remember childhood staples like “The Andy Griffith Show” and bands like “The Misfits.”
“I love to make people happy, so a lot of my art is nostalgia,” Ramey said
Ramey went to say the reason he does most of his work is to make people happy.
“People watch too much T.V. Stay on social media too much and they’re too depressed. It’s up to us as individuals to make people smile, cause we, as individuals, need it too. We need it from other people, so we should give it back,” Ramey.
Created by Donovan Harris (Tommy Jordan) and Mauli Desai (Folk Festival)