Best Food Moments of Wakarusa 2015: Community in Action

We are all back home after Wakarusa 2015.  It is almost hard to believe it actually happened.   I know I went and have the dirty laundry to prove it, but somehow if flew by.  Some moments stuck out in my minds eye a little more then others.  So here are some highlights of the community food scene at Waka.

At every festival there are those people that love to feed other people.  They can hear a not so distant relative saying "eat, eat, you are too thin."  So when they get to these festivals they make huge communal meals sharing karma and joy.  Some people see a festival as a gourmet experience while people eat nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and corn dogs at these things.  So, here are some of my favorite meals.  

1) Craw-fish at Camp Danger.  Each year Camp Danger puts on a craw-fish boil.  Last year they were in Unreserved RV.  This year they got a choice spot in Upgraded RV.   They brought in about  200 lbs of Craw-fish from Texas. The feast was open to anyone who was brave enough to dig in to those beautiful mud bugs and suck the heads with the best of them.  Yummy!  Really absolutely lovely.  I frankly ate so many that my mouth was on fire and I had cuts up and down my thumbs from cracking them open.  They added sausage, corn, potatoes, mushrooms, lemons and lots of spice to each batch. They were incredibly welcoming.  Check out the video below at this link.  

Craw-fish Crazyness

2) Chompdown.  This years chompdown was a great success. Friday morning the folks in Upgrade RV, right beside the backwood stage area, put on a huge feast.  People brought food to contribute and also volunteered to cook and prepare food.  I worked the first few hours of it until I had to go on my St. Bernard shift.  We were short some of our normal participants, for various reasons, but somehow it just happened with new people jumping in to help.  Dirtfoot played a set for everyones enjoyment. 

3) Spaghetti and Meatballs. Yet another group in Upgrade RV put on a communal spaghetti and meatball dinner.  This was inspired by a meal the patrons mother used to put on in his youth.  They cooked the meatballs and sauce in a huge wok on the same base that was used for the craw-fish boil. I had never seen such a huge wok before.  It was full of 100's of meatballs and gallons of sauce.  The pot of noodles was also impressive.

All three of these meals were spectacular in favor and most importantly they were made with love and freely shared.  People were called in off the street to have a fresh, free, hot meal.  You could feel the love in every bite.  Other memorable community meals included Gumbo and Walking Tacos.  The moral of the story is to come to upgrade RV if you are hungry.

Waka Waka.