Kentuck has a mystic to it.
If you get into Kentuck, you've arrived!
Or, at least, that's the thought. I think this has to do with how impossibly difficult it was to get into this festival. Prior to a few years ago, this festival would "grandfather" in various artists that had been doing this festival for years. Which means, there were fewer spots available for new artists wanting to show here. As a result, I have seen many a Kentuck rejection letter.
But, once they changed their review process, I got in two years ago and was crazy excited about it! And, ultimately, a little disappointed with my sales...
You have this thought that if a show is difficult to get into, it must be amazing! And, that can certainly be the case. Of course, I've also been to shows that were easy to get into and they were also amazing, so it's hard to pinpoint how this all works. Coming into this year, I had tempered my expectations a bit and thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. Sales were good. The festival has a wonderful artist's party on Saturday that rivals any that I have been to. Load-in and load-out was super easy. So, all in all, it's a wonderful show. But, you have to realize that it is just another show and not build it up too much in your mind.
What really sets this show apart, however, are the other artists. And, the Lake House. One of the other artists showing at Kentuck has access to her parent's lake house and, thus, me and five other artists stayed there that weekend along with some of our spouses. Art festivals can be exhausting. The set-up, the long 9-10 hour days of talking to patrons, the constant complaining about the weather (it's too cold, too hot, rainy, sunny)... it wears on you. So, having a really nice place to stay, complete with boat dock, with boat, with fire pit on said boat dock, with good friends and colleagues to share wine and stories with... well, it doesn't get a whole lot better than that.
It also doesn't hurt that we nicknamed ourselves "Love Machine" after the family van that was parked in the Lake House's driveway. There's more to that story, but it's not a salacious as you would think, so not worth the copy here on the blog :)