Bombino performs on the Grandstand Stage at High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California, on July 7, 2024.
Photo by Kyler Klix.
High Sierra took place once again July 4-7 in Quincy, California. The festival in its 32nd year brought thousands to the Plumas County Fairgrounds. The festival was the hottest High Sierra on record in Quincy with an average of 100.3 degrees over the four days, according to the National Weather Service.
Once everyone sets up their camp and the music begins on Thursday, it’s non-stop action right until early Monday. More than 50 bands and musicians were invited to play across the four stages.
There’s always a heavy amount of loyal fans, the High Sierra Lifers as they are called, who return each year with the same smiles, some of the same costumes and even a little dust from previous years. There’s always newcomers as well and everybody has a different experience, favorite show and reason for coming. Among the thousands that attend, here is just a sample of what some had to say:
The 2024 High Sierra Music Festival was held from Thursday, July 4 to Sunday, July 7 in Quincy, California. All photos by Kyler Klix of the Nevada Appeal.
‘HOME ON THE FOURTH’
Bill and Judy Watts came from Silver Springs, Nevada. The couple has been attending for 18 years and they work with the shuttle crew.
“This is the hottest music festival that there ever was — figuratively and literally,” Bill said. “This is our home on the Fourth of July.”
One highlight was Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives.
“Most of the younger people don’t know who Marty Stuart is, and he’s a country singer and we’re country people,” he said.
He said while he doesn’t follow all of the bands, he does get a good variety and enjoys everything that he sees.
“It’s nice because you can hop from all the different venues and when you do that you get to hear everybody that way and not just a few,” Bill said.
RETURNED AFTER 20 YEARS
Alexis Illiinksy came from Truckee and he said it’s been 20 years since he last came to High Sierra. His girlfriend helped make his decision to attend.
“It’s her favorite festival,” he said.
One of his favorite sets of music came from Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew’s Remain In Light featuring members of Cool, Cool, Cool.
“It’s amazing, I didn’t realize Remain in Light was going to be playing Talking Heads songs,” he said. “That was a mindblower. I have seen David Byrne perform before and I haven’t seen these guys and it was incredible. It was an incredible, incredible surprise.”
He mentioned that his time there has been awesome and the people have good vibes and open energy. He stayed cool by spending some time in the river nearby.
He said it was cool to see young children and older adults at the festival and everyone in between, and everybody was having a good time.
“That’s a good sign it feels like a healthy environment,” he said.
SHABBAT TENT
Rabbi Yonah Bookstein and his wife Rachel organize the Shabbat Tent and they first attended High Sierra 12 years ago.
“We’ve been coming ever since and we love coming,” Rabbi Bookstein said.
The Shabbat Tent is in the corner of the food court and provides a hospitality space for all patrons to relax and unwind and celebrate Shabbat, as did about 200 people there on Friday night. The non-profit based out of Los Angeles creates spaces at festivals with the goal of bringing people together, creating community, spreading joy and love.
“Hospitality is a great way to do that,” Rabbi Bookstein said.
The couple bring along their two children, who have grown up going to the festival. The youngest is 17 and started coming at age 5.
“We just have loved bringing the kids here,” he said.
High Sierra means a lot to Rabbi Bookstein and his wife.
“It’s a very, very special festival,” he said.
He said he wrote once that High Sierra is changing the world one festival at a time and often sees attendees practicing kindness and looking out for each other.
“It comes from the top — the organizers. The kind of music and the vibe and how they just created the festival and what their purpose was and it’s kind of stayed through,” he said. “It’s about music and community and people and you can tell when you’re here and that’s what their mission is.”
‘IT’S REAL CHILL’
Sara Hutchens came with her 17-year-old son, and it was their second time at the festival.
“It’s fun because there’s music for him that he can enjoy,” she said. “I wish I would have brought him when he was younger because I thought that would be fun. And if it keeps going, then I’ll take his kids.”
She said she enjoyed seeing families at the festival with younger kids, grandparents and everyone in between.
She volunteered with Clean Vibes cleaning the grounds and said she enjoys getting involved and helping and learning more.
“It makes you part of the community,” she said.
She said the festival vibe is an easy-going atmosphere that isn’t too crowded. She enjoys the intimacy of it all, saying that she wouldn’t want to spend a bunch of money to go to a crowded event.
“You don’t feel rushed. It’s real chill,” she said. “Some festivals you feel like you have to run around like you’re going to miss something. A lot of the artists play multiple times here, so if you miss something you can see it later.”
‘FEELS LIKE HOME’
Carter Hayes drove more than 2,000 miles from Lansing, Michigan, to attend the festival for the first time.
“I had so much fun, I don’t even know where to start,” he said.
He came out to see Lansing band Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, but he really was interested in Holly Bowling’s set and seeing her perform with Greensky Bluegrass headlining on the main stage.
“Holly Bowling is 100 percent why I came here. That and Greensky,” he said. “You can’t go wrong with Greensky.”
Hayes was asked what his favorite part outside of the music was and he said: “The people. Everyone here is such a close family and it feels like home. This is my first time here and it feels like home, that’s why I want to come back next year.”
He said the heat was bearable as long as you took care of yourself.
He really enjoyed Eggy and then Primus where a “pit” formed in the crowd with tons of dust being stomped about.
“I can’t wait for next year.”
FIRE DANCER
Among all the music, High Sierra provides entertainment such as fire dancers to accompany the festival. Rosa Bair Productions, out of Quincy, leads the troupe of firedancers and Rayen Lowry is the organizer. She lives just a short distance away, and she camped out at the festival with her young baby. This was her fifth year at the festival and she has been fire dancing for 17 years.
“I love the music and the people and the community vibes,” she said. “It’s just such a friendly environment. It fosters creativity and lets your spirit play.”
She said it’s a dream come true being able to create the fire show with a different theme for each night. She said she gets positive responses to the fire show.
“It’s just very exciting for people to watch and it’s just a thrill and it could be a highlight of their evening,” she said. “It’s nice for us to connect with our audience and bring some sparkle and magic into people’s lives.”
Coming to the festival as a mother, she said it’s such a blessing.
“It’s incredible being able to raise my son in this environment and have the support to let his creativity flourish too,” she said.
‘NICE AND KIND’
A small group of kids were hanging out by the kickball lawn and the oldest shared his thoughts. Dharma Goldman came from Yelm, Washington, with his family and it was his second time attending after a few years off because of the birth of his youngest sibling.
“It’s my first time back and it’s been pretty good,” he said.
He really enjoys all of the shops and all of the people. One of his favorite highlights was seeing a friend of his play on stage in the Vaudeville tent.
“Everybody’s so nice and kind here,” he said.
BABY DISCO PARTY
Greg Messa came with his wife, parents and their almost 1-year-old child, Gentian. His first High Sierra was 2018, but he didn’t come last year because his wife was pregnant.
“We’re glad to be back this year,” he said.
He came back with a new program for the children as well, called Baby Disco. It’s a new business Messa started a few months ago to provide activities for infants to 4 years old.
“This is specifically a dance party just for babies,” he said.
They get disco gear which includes shakers, scarves, noisemakers, bubbles and different shapes the kids can explore.
“It can actually keep their attention for 30 minutes,” he said. “That’s amazing because usually you have about 30 seconds.”
He said he was super appreciative of High Sierra.
“They were great enough to have us at the family village here at High Sierra and we were super happy because this was our first year doing it,” he said. “It seems like a lot of kids enjoy it so hopefully we’ll be back in future years.”
FIRST-TIMER
Liz Plate-Bermeo came to High Sierra for her first time. She was asked what made her want to attend:
“I’ve heard great things about the community element, good music, I’m looking for good vibes and there was a chance to volunteer,” she said.
She volunteered with Clean Vibes and worked a four-hour shift each day of the festival. She said one of her highlights was “dancing like crazy barn animals at Cimafunk with some awesome new friends.”
She said she stayed cool during the day by hanging out at a friend’s campsite at Hillside.
“People had sweet setups,” she said. “I had never experienced how people set up camp at a festival like this.”
She said her favorite band/musician was Anna Moss (of Handmade Moments, and Anna Moss & The Nightshades)
“I thoroughly enjoyed myself here.”
‘SING FOR YOUR BREAKFAST’
Azere Wilson from San Luis Obispo has been to High Sierra seven times and she had a new experience this year. She played on Grizzly Radio through KVMR as part of “Sing For Your Breakfast,” a segment that gets aired in the Mineral building. It was the first time Wilson played live on radio and she dedicated a song to Roy Carter, a festival founder who passed away in April.
She was asked why she keeps coming back to High Sierra.
“This is family, this is home,” she responded. “It’s just a place where we can all be ourselves. It’s community and music.”
She said there is one staple that is not to be missed at High Sierra: Sunrise Kickball. It’s where many of the festivalgoers stay up all night to play a game of kickball with many shenanigans involved.
“It’s the most amazing thing,” she said. “The first time I ever saw kickball, Napoleon Dynamite was pitching and there were like five people in tighty-whities running the bases.”
‘MUSIC IS MY RELIGION’
Rob Schopen said he’s been coming to High Sierra for 20 years.
“Once I came here, I felt welcomed,” he said. “People take care of each other.”
He stayed cool by hanging out by the river. For some of his music highlights, he said Primus was his favorite show of the weekend and he also really liked Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew Remain in Light.
“It’s just fun and music is my religion,” he said. “It’s good music with so many good musicians.”
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