Festivals come in all shapes and sizes—from internationally prestigious events to your town's local street fair. We don't usually spill much ink about free local events, since it wouldn't be practical for Festival Preview to gather information on the huge number of such festivals.

I'm making an exception in the case of Lakefest '08, an art, music, wine and food festival held last weekend, August 2-3, on Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland CA. That's because the band I play in, Foggy Gulch, was in the lineup—one of 11 bands across all genres to perform. Oddly enough, the Oakland Tribune, which sponsored the event and also covered it, chose to feature a photo of yours truly onstage at Lakefest.

Here's a scan of the news page, including the caption with the hilarious error misidentifying my trusty mandolin as a fiddle. That got a giggle the next day from my bandmates, especially our fiddle player Becky Bart, who unfortunately had to miss the gig. I promise you, I did not pay off the photographer.

For a small festival, the producers did a great job with the music. The sound system was outstanding. We got a nice crowd that grew larger as our set went on. Our bandleader Eric Hughes kept us on pace as we delivered a crisp set of traditional and contemporary bluegrass. It was our first gig with our new co-lead singer, Heather Thompson, who worked through her nervousness and nailed her leads and harmonies.

After our set, a grease fire in a nearby shop brought our the fire engines and caused an hour-long delay before the Les Moore Band was able to take the stage for a set of blues Americana. I took the time to browse some of the interesting craft booths and chat with a few neighbors I ran into. Altogether a pleasant afternoon, and what more can you ask of any festival experience?