Impressions of the 2021 Dry Diggings Music Festival, Nevada County Fairgrounds, California, USA. Aug 27, 2021 – Aug 28, 2021

Dry Diggings 2021

The air was definitely smoky. So smoky it looked like an orange fog. And stress was high. The fires running rampant in Northern California were spreading. So bad, in fact, the folks at Dry Diggings had to move the venue to a different site in Grass Valley from it’s home in Placerville, CA. Lots of victims were already evacuated in the nearby areas. Add to that the surging Covid threat. The Delta variant was starting to make a push through the area. And hospitals were filling up. What a terrible time to hold a music festival. That was the sentiment across many social media posts around the event at least. Or was it?

Maybe it was EXACTLY what was needed? Bare with me. I know it sounds crazy. But let’s face it…these are very serious times. Many of us are really struggling with it all. PARTICULARLY the live music and entertainment industry. According to Elana Gross at Forbes (via Pollstar), the live music industry has lost approximately $9.7 Billion worldwide in lost revenue due to the pandemic. And we all know that’s not just musicians, but the stagehands, sound guys, promoters, venues…the list is long. And that’s just the financial side. A lot of us use live music shows as a way to take a break. A time to just get lost in the moment and release. I would argue that is needed now more than ever. So as weird as it sounds…this show was right on time.

And it delivered. The new venue was relaxed and had lots of shady trees surrounding the soft grass fields. The parking situation was good. I came somewhat later and there was still plenty of places to park. And the music was…well…incredible. You could feel the energy from both sides of the stage just feeding on the other. Everyone felt lucky to be there and we were all enjoying it for all that it was worth. And it felt great.

Here are some highlights from a lot of those performances. Performances from a year of being pent up and bottled. All released on that stage. What a great show.

-Eyeree

Pictures by EyeRee Images