Two weeks ago, Jack and I trekked all the way to Michigan for the first annual Rothbury Festival. As a festival virgin, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from what Jack referred to as “a real-life Hippie Jam Fest“.

After a 20-hour car ride north, we finally arrived in Rothbury, Michigan and to the Double JJ Ranch that would be our home for the next three days. We set out to find the press tent and get to work setting up interviews and preparing ourselves for the weekend. Little did we know that the festival site was roughly the size of Alaska and staff communication was sketchy at best. Several hours later, tired, confused, and exasperated, we gave up and decided to try again in the morning, when things were running more smoothly. I decided to park it in front of one of the stages while Jack got us some lemonade.

I started half-heartedly people watching, feeling a little homesick and very snarky. Why were these hippies so enthusiastic about some crappy jam band? They were obviously just there to get obliterated and dance around in some field. I spotted a girl blowing bubbles with a hula hoop balanced on one shoulder and figured she could probably provide some footage that we could make fun of on the blog.

She started walking towards me and I half-jokingly asked if she would hula hoop for me. I immediately felt like a jerk when her face lit up. “Of course!” she said. “Will you watch my bubble maker?”. Embarrassed that I had been so mean, if only in my head, I nodded and moved over so she could set down all of her stuff. Right then, Jack walked back over with our cups and said “Hey! Cool! You’re one of those hula hoop girls!” Apparently he had seen this kind of thing before.

I had no idea, as most people probably don’t, that hooping is a kind of art form in the world of outdoor festivals and concerts. After showing off her skills (see video), the girl plopped down next to me and started telling me all about the world of “hooping”. She told us her name was Natalie and she was from Mesulah, Montana. She first started hooping at last year’s 10,000 Lakes Festival and had been practicing in her spare time. She explained that most of the people that you see hooping at festivals or concerts have been doing it for years. Eventually, she said, she hoped to learn to use a fire hoop, which is a heavier hoop equipped with pyrotechnics.

The more she talked to us about hooping, the guiltier I felt. This girl was so stoked to tell us about her passion. Who was I to make fun of her, even just to myself, for that? The people at Rothbury may have been light years different from Jack and I, but they were there for the same reasons we were- they were passionate about something. After we met Natalie, Jack and I instilled a no-snark ban.

We only got to talk to Natalie for a few hours, and the world of hooping is so diverse that I still don’t know everything about it. Our own Vilma is staying with a woman in Austin who is famous for hooping and fire dancing and taught Thievery Corporation her tricks. Hopefully she has some good stories and pictures to share when she gets back. I do know that hooping is hard to do and fun to watch. The video below doesn’t do justice to what it was really like- home-girl can swing a hoop.

Our Friend Natalie from GroovesharkRothbury on Vimeo.

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