Kay Jones
AC360 Editorial Producer
Music festivals are always an interesting mix of people, sounds, and food. This past weekend at Camp Bisco in Mariaville, New York, was no different.
With artists like The Disco Biscuits, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Bassnectar and Snoop Dogg taking the main stage, there was ample opportunity to dance and mingle with new friends while soaking up the hot sun. But just off the main stage, was an opportunity to do something that will last long past the three days of nonstop music: Voter Registration.
Many concerts and music festivals have voter registration tents. But at Camp Bisco the organizers of HeadCount made the most of their opportunity, making their tent the first you pass while leaving the main stage area. HeadCount says it is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that was created in 2004 by a group of artists, music professionals and fans who wanted the music scene represented at the polls. They have traveled around to various concerts and festivals over the past four years and are seeing record numbers this year.
While Camp Bisco isn’t the biggest festival they’ve been at, HeadCount co-chair Andy Bernstein told me that percentage wise, this was the most successful mid-size festival this year with 366 of the roughly 7500 in attendance registering. The music fans at this particular festival were mostly fans of the event organizers, The Disco Biscuits, and those who came to the tent early in the day Thursday and Friday got a real treat as Marc Brownstein, the bass player for the band, came out to talk to those interested in HeadCount.
Brownstein is the other co-chair of the organization and is doing all he can to make sure people know what to do to get their voice heard, even mentioning HeadCount during Thursday night’s Disco Biscuits show.
HeadCount will be out and about at many more concerts and festivals this summer, encouraging young people to get involved in the political process. And while every election cycle has stories about how the youth vote will set records, after seeing how many people were interested in our voting process in this short three-day span, I am inclined to think this year’s election actually will set records.
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