Free Republic

My favorite weekend of the year.....lots to choose from. It's all free. Great for lovers of all types of Americana music. 2014 Lineup.

NOTE: On the message board was a discussion about the 24-year-old girl who died of an apparent drug overdose at Coachella. The story is referenced here - http://pitchfork.com/news/54842-coachella-attendee-dies-after-collapsing-at-festival/ What is interesting is that some were mocking the poor girl's death. It turned into a political discussion with me saying I would not mock her death but would certainly mock someone evil, like Castro. Here is one of the most staggering responses, which shows what the left has done to the education system in this country: "Pretty sure when you weigh it all out, Castro is responsible for more positive effects...

(WJLA) - With blue skies overhead and spring officially here, we are now less than three weeks away from the peak bloom of the famous D.C. cherry blossoms. Thursday marks the first day of the festival, and a chance to see how the trees and buds are progressing after a long winter. Already, the district is seeing an influx of tourists and sight-seers, hoping to catch a glimpse of blossoms in bloom. "They look pretty fat. I think they might bloom soon," tourist Donna Kessler said Thursday. "But they might have some flakes on them next week," Kessler added, in...

The new Ethan Hawke thriller The Purge was number one at the box office during its opening weekend, but critics are slamming the film for its thinly veiled commentary against the National Rifle Association and Tea Party groups. The plot brings moviegoers to the near future where in 2022 a new regime has come to America. The "New Founders" have taken over the country and practically eliminated unemployment crime, and want. One of the ways this new political movement has brought on such an idyllic society is to allow one night a year when any and all violence, even murder,...

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi responds to a journalist's question about the Vatican's participation in Venice's International Art Festival. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, May 14, 2013 / 09:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican is participating for the first time in a famous international art exposition in Venice under the theme “Creation, Un-Creation and Re-Creation,” with the aim of promoting modern dialogue on faith. The 55th edition of Venice’s Biannual Art Festival, known as the “Biennale di Venezia” in Italian, will take place June 1 to Nov. 24 and will bring together exhibits from 88 different countries. The Vatican’s contribution will...

The Klement's Racing Italian Sausage went barhopping in Cedarburg recently, delighting patrons and posing for photos. The only problem: No one can say who was wearing the $3,000 costume, which had just been stolen from the city's Winter Festival. The 7-foot-long weenie was lying unused in a backroom at the Milwaukee Curling Club's new Cedarburg location during a fundraiser on Feb. 16 with beer-tasting and curling, and a witness saw the sausage walk out of the south door about 7:45 p.m., Cedarburg police Detective Jeff Vahsholtz said Wednesday. The Italian walked into TJ Ryan's in Cedarburg an hour later and...

“We expect it to be one of the best,” said John Solomon, president of the non-profit that oversees the affair. “It’s shaping up to be a very good one. There’s a lot of growth and interest this year in the festival.” As proof of his assertion, Solomon cited Saturday evening’s headline entertainment, country star Lee Brice, whose hit song “Hard to Love” has reached number one on Billboard's Country Song Chart. Two days before he steps on stage, Brice will be at the Country Music Awards, striding the red carpet with his fiancée as he waits to learn whether he...

Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, 6:37 AM Two weeks ago American Muslims stone a group of Christians at the Islamic festival in Dearborn, Michigan. But there’s more… One Muslim was arrested for trying to run over 9 Christian protesters. Via Answering Muslims: Dearborn Muslim charged with nine counts of attempted murder for trying to kill street preachers outside the Islamic Center of America – Unfortunately, one of the Muslims got in his SUV, drove up over the hill, accelerated and came right at us where we were standing. This guy came directly at us and we...

"I can't wait to see what they do to him" The Muslim crowd gets increasingly hostile throughout the video. Thanks for to David Wood for the video. He lives in there -- in the belly of the beast. Imagine if this were an imam and non-Muslims were threatening, harassing and menacing him this way. Seriously. It would be played on enemedia 24/7 until they beat us into submission. This video should anger every American who loves this country and our way of life. This is sharia law on the streets of our towns and our cities. America, where are you...

The Pennsylvania Maple Festival - Meyresdale PA I'd like to make amends for a post I made earlier. I shot from the hip and missed, so I'm falling back on something fun, interesting - I hope - and of which I am familiar. This is near and dear to my heart although I haven't been able to attend for a while. I first attended in the late 1950's and documented it on a GE reel to reel tape recorder that was pretty hi-tech for the time. Pinging Bill Murray...Groundhog Day PALES in comparison to this! My family used to take...

Sales of precious metal coins during the festivals in India, the world's largest consumer of gold, are higher this year as compared to last year, the Times of India reports. Many jewelers ran out of low-denomination gold and silver coins on Wednesday evening, when Dhanteras kicked off the first five days of Diwali. The coins are typically gifted during the holidays. ''Most markets are witnessing a huge crowd," Praveen Khandelwal, president of Confederation of All India Traders, told the newspaper. "Business has been much better in comparison to the past two years." Indian demand for gold typically rises by 40...

GAUTIER, Miss. -- Brothers Matthew and Joshua Calhoun, of Semmes, sat stone-faced and stared each other down Saturday afternoon at the 20th annual Gautier Mullet & Music Festival. "Go!" yelled cousin Jonathan Harding, and so they attacked their cobs of roasted sweet corn. Within seconds, 9-year-old Matthew tossed a mauled cob at 7-year-old Joseph, and raised his arms in triumph. Gallery: 20th annual Gautier Mullet & Music Festival (11 photos)

If you live in the Bay Area, chances are you’re familiar with Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Chances are you’ve even attended at least once over its 10 years running. It’s hard to disregard a massive, three-day festival that’s six-stages large and hundreds of thousands of attendees deep with a star-stacked lineup that takes place out in the emerald expanse of the Golden Gate Park every first weekend of October—the sunniest, warmest time of the year in San Francisco. This coming weekend, Hardly Strictly is poised to throw what could be the biggest and best year yet with a staggering lineup that...

Two days before the resurrected Lilith tour is scheduled to begin in Calgary, Alberta, a report in The Globe and Mail newspaper of Toronto said the concert series has been canceling dates because of poor ticket sales. The Lilith tour, which spotlights female artists and whose founders include Sarah McLachlan, is preparing for its first season since 1999, with a lineup that includes Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow and Erykah Badu. But a manager for Norah Jones told The Globe and Mail that the dates Ms. Jones was scheduled to perform on, from Aug. 10 through Aug. 16, in cities...

In Saieg v. Haddad, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56331 (ED MI, June 7, 2010), a Michigan federal district court upheld as a valid "time, place and manner regulation" a requirement that any literature distribution at the annual Dearborn, Michigan Arab International Festival must take place from a booth in the vendor area. Dearborn has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. Plaintiff, founder of a ministry whose purpose is to proclaim the Christian Gospel to Muslims, sought to continue Arab Christian Perspective's pre-2009 practice of handing out literature while roaming the public sidewalks at the Festival. Festival...

Two people were injured in a Sunday afternoon shooting that happened outside a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Two groups of juveniles exchanged gunfire in the area of Lake Street and 5th Avenue, according to Minneapolis Police Sgt. Bill Palmer. Authorities say the incident was gang-related. One teen was shot in the chest and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Another teen was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries after being shot in the foot and the leg. Police have one person in custody in connection with the incident, which happened near a Cinco de Mayo celebration. They have...

"The 'red hour' marked the beginning of the festival on Beta III, during the governance of Landru. ("The Return of the Archons")" http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Red_hour ____________________________________ "The U.S.S. Enterprise is investigating Beta III, where the U.S.S. Archon disappeared over 100 years before. When the landing party exhibits strange behavior, Kirk sends another party down to investigate. They find the culture on Beta III is quiescent, with no creative tendencies. The entire culture is controlled by a group of 'lawgivers' known as "The Body" which is, in turn, controlled by the omniscient Landru. The inhabitants change from normal, peaceful people to a violent...

The 3,750 cherry blossom trees that line the Tidal Basin and surrounding national parks in Washington, D.C., survived winter blizzards and will again bloom during the peak tourist season, according to the National Park Service. Agency horticulturalist Rob Defeo says only four or five trees were destroyed and that crews are working seven days a week to prepare for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs from March 27 to April 11. The damage is nothing we haven't seen in 90-plus years," he said. "I guarantee you, by the time the festival comes around, you won't even know there was...

A red kangaroo that is goaded into fighting a human clown is the star attraction at a festival in the US designed to celebrate Australia. The Daily Telegraph reports that the BorderFest festival in Hidalgo, Texas, features an event called Rocky Show Circus, involving two kangaroos and their owner, Javier Martinez, who dons the clownsuit. The festival is sponsored by Kraft, the US owners of Vegemite. The report says Mr Martinez baits the kangaroo by pushing it and poking it before placing it in a headlock. If Rocky fights back too much, Mr Martinez's wife Sandra restrains it using a...

I know why they don’t want to call it a Christmas Tree anymore!I know why they want to banish it from the public square! An evergreen is a symbol of eternal life; yet, it is cut down and nailed to two wooden members— reminding men of the Eternal Son of God Who was nailed to the Cross. It is topped with a star reminding men of the Bright and Morning Star or the Star of Bethlehem; or, it’s topped with an angel who announced and attended His birth; or, the bow— a love-knot binding the two: man and God together...