Festival Sayulita 2018

Festival Sayulita 2018 has come and gone already.  Always a great party for town with movies, activities and of course the big concert closing the Festival on the last evening of the event.  We always go to the opening in the Plaza the first night and hit a movie or two on the beach for kid's night.  This year it was "Paranorman" and the director was there during the showing.  Always fun to see a drive-in sized screen sitting on the sand in beach chairs watching a flick with the surf breaking behind you.

Ostrowskis with Dirty Heads!!  So stoked to meet these guys!

For a second time, Dirty Heads was headlining the concert line up.  We have become Dirty Heads fans the past few years and when they played two years ago I did not take the kids since tickets were a bit pricey and they were a bit younger so I went by myself.  VERY unpopular decision on my part not to take them so this time we made the concert a family event.  Kids 12 and under were able to attend the concert free.  Security at the entrance did not believe that Alex was only 12 years old and even brought out a supervisor to check her ID.  Yep, Alex was carded at the show since she was believed to be too old to enter for free.

Nortec Collective.  Yes, that is a tuba.  So freaking good!

The kids have seen some larger concerts in Sayulita on the beach but not one that has a stage set up like a Festival Sayulita concert.  There is more room for the show out on a nearby ranch and the music line up is a tier or two higher than those we have seen previously so the expectation for sound, stage and lights is higher as well.

Alex in front of the VIP section.

We walked in and the warm up bands were already playing and Ashley and I hit the beer tent.  We walked around the venue and we could tell that Trace was already uncomfortable with the level of noise, light and size of things.  He eventually got more comfortable and we heard over the sound system that our favorite band, Dirty Heads, would be holding a meet and greet in 5 minutes in a tent just behind us.  One of our friends was in charge of the tent and we were first in line to meet the band.

Trace in the front row.

Trace digging the show.

We were told we had two minutes and we stumbled in to say hello.  The lead singer, "Dirty Jay", looked so amused to see this mostly blonde gringo family in Mexico walk in and he just smiled appearing bewildered...or maybe just stoned.  Such a funny look.  They do this kind of thing everywhere so it was business as usual for them but for us it was pretty damn cool.  Fortunately, our friend Michelle was nearby and was able to take a great photo of us with the band.

We left the band all pumped up from our introductions and the Nortec Collective took the stage complete with trumpet, tuba, video gear, accordion and mixing boards.  They are a very popular Mexican techno band and they were absolutely amazing!!  Even Trace and Alex were dancing the whole time.  They really could have headlined considering the show was in Mexico and they had the crowd on their feet for their set.  I never thought a tuba could be so cool!

Dirty Heads came on and the crowd thinned a bit as it got closer to midnight.  Trace and I made our way up to the very front against the crowd control railing with Alex and Ashley just behind us.  The great part of this show was that the kids got a front row seat and knew about 90% of the songs they played.  The songs we did not know are now in our usual Dirty Heads music rotation.

Yes, Ozzy and Ashley had some fun too!

That about sums up Festival Sayulita 2018.  We will look forward to what the organizers have planned for Festival Sayulita 2019.