Roanoke's Go Fest 2023 Review
Roanoke's Go Fest 2023 Review
by Dan MacDonnell
October 2023
If you have lived in the Roanoke Valley over the last ten years, you’ve probably noticed the evolution of Roanoke into an outdoors paradise. It may have even had something to do with why you moved here. The Anthem Go Outside Fest is all about celebrating this outdoors culture. Whether you’re into running, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, climbing, slack-lining, biking… or even sitting outside on a cool autumn evening, sipping a craft beer while enjoying top-tier live music, Go Fest brings it year after year, with free admission. 2023 was no exception.
This was the third year Go Fest was held in metropolitan downtown Roanoke. Although some preferred the festival’s old site at The River’s Edge Sports Complex, many appreciate the convenience of brick and mortar shops and restaurants being easily accessible from anywhere inside the festival. This year’s event was launched on Friday, October 13 at 5:00 PM with hundreds of vendors lining Jefferson Street and Franklin Road adjacent to Elmwood Park. There were food trucks of all sorts, organizations promoting their products and ideas for cleaner living, as well as a plethora of things for the kiddos- big bikes, e-bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes, low, medium, and high slack-lines, climbing walls, and all kinds of interesting, unique opportunities to play.
I arrived at about 6:30 PM Friday in time to take a seat at the amphitheater and enjoy this year’s short film selections for the Annual Banff Film Festival. As I watched the opening segment highlighting a fantastic skier in the Alps, I witnessed several slack liners walking their tight-ropes directly over the crowd! Not to worry- they had safety lines, but that didn’t diminish the anxiety you felt as they did acrobatics about 30 feet over the heads of spectators. Halfway through the action films, Roanoke Outside Foundation Director Pete Eschelman took the stage to explained the vision and success of his organization and their alignment with Go Outside Fest. Following the film, many people shuffled over to the playground area where they distributed headphones at no cost for the Silent Disco. If you never witnessed a Silent Disco, you should! It makes for some outstanding people watching as people “bust a move” in the absence of music. As for me, I left to prepare for a busy Saturday schedule of events.
Saturday brought overcast skies, but we didn’t see any rain until late afternoon, so it didn’t seem to temper the crowd very much. Talk about silver linings: the clouds made it possible to witness the partial eclipse of the sun in the afternoon. As I strolled up Franklin Road, I first checked out about 20 patrons in kayaks and stand-up paddle boards, testing the equipment and their skills. Next I walked the two or three blocks of Jefferson street, where I spoke with many vendors and test rode an e-bike (too cool!). I met a team of custom Sprinter van camper designers, several cool Californians representing Outside Magazine, and even learned more than I’d ever known about tying knots! Great fun, but I was anxious to get over to Elmwood Amphitheatre for the live music!
The first band to play was local Grateful Dead tribute band The Kind, but their time slot was too early for me to make. One thing I had to come to terms with: There is no way you can catch every event and activity at Go Fest -- There is just so much going on. In light of this, the organizers offered a slick, web-based planner, with which you can select your higher priority events and design your best personal schedule to attend what’s most important for you.
I did arrive in time to see The Ambassador and The Chosen Few. I love this band! Some recall the lead singer from his days in the early 2000s when he played with reggae band The Seed. He left the valley for several years, and now we’re fortunate to have him back. Their mostly original songs are reggae heavy with lots of funky R&B and a little hip-hop. The Ambassador’s enthusiasm for performing makes you feel that he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be in the universe. They played for a little over an hour then the music stopped long enough for me to take another stroll through the food vendors to find something for lunch. So many choices… I settled on a steak shwarma- something I hadn’t had in years. Good choice, Dan. Hit the spot!
Next, I had to hustle back to the amphitheater to see Lazy Man Dub Band. Another fantastic local band, playing mostly ska tunes with a peppy brass section and hopping rhythm strings and keys to help you get your groove on. One thing for certain: Local Roanoke music can’t be pigeon-holed into a single category. Our music scene is on fire!
The weather turned to rain for about an hour in the late afternoon, which cleared out a fair percentage of the people. I managed to escape to 202 Social House and catch up on the day’s college football scores and relax for a little while. The availability of this option is one of the benefits I see in the event being downtown.
After the rain passed, it was time to make my way back to the amphitheater for the music headliners of the festival. First up was Magic Beans from Colorado at 6 PM. They bring a very uptempo, funky R & B, rocky-soul which had everyone in front of the stage grooving to their unique, jammy sound. Everyone was smiling and laughing, enjoying their decision to wait out the earlier rain. I would be remiss to not mention the fantastic sound and lights at Elmwood Park. The ambiance was terrific and spirits were high.
At 9 PM the final act of the day took the stage: The Werks. I must admit that initially, I thought it was The Worx band from Roanoke. The Werks however, are an improvisational rock band from Ohio, which brought the heat! They played a heady stream of funky originals, and occasionally slipped in teases from Phish's "Bathtub Gin," a very spacey cover of Steve Miller’s "Fly Like an Eagle," and Talking Heads’ "Psycho Killer." These guys have been playing together for about 20 years and their professionalism shined through: They knew what the crowd wanted and delivered. While watching The Werks play, I found their stage presence, the light show, and sound quality had me feeling like I was watching Umphrey's McGee- They were very tight.
I wandered around a bit longer and met with friends and friendly strangers, everyone still all smiles and clearly enjoying themselves. I watched a bit of the lumberjack competition and the BMX exhibition on Jefferson Street, then caught a few songs by Led Zeppelin 2. They were a solid tribute band. The drummer in particular, brought his best, high energy John Bonham. It was to me, a good time to head home.
In my opinion, Go Fest is about the unique, friendly culture of the Roanoke Valley. Not only the athletic, outdoorsy, action-adventure lifestyle which has taken hold in the area, but the idea that thousands of people can come together over the course of 3 days and celebrate the beauty of our part of the world, and the limitless opportunities we all have to play, young and old alike. I hope to see you at Go Fest 2024! <>
Photo credit: Openhead Takes Photos