A Hippie’s Method of Enjoying the Eclipse

By Ella Bullock

Taken by Ella Bullock

​     When a friend contacted me about going to a music festival during the eclipse on Monday, I was unsure. I had never been to a full-on music festival before. I told myself, the eclipse was a rare event. It would be a cool experience to listen to live music during the day. So I replied back, "Yeah, absolutely!"

​     Astral Valley is an “interactive art park & event center” about 45 minutes South of St. Louis, located in the Missouri Ozarks. Solar Strings, Astral Valley’s event for the Solar Eclipse, offered a large space for community and celebration, including a main performance stage, food booths, artist booths, and yoga spaces. People from all walks of life–young families, retired couples, self-proclaimed hippies, college students like us, and even a duck–were at the festival. The event technically lasted 4 days, ending on Monday, and people were able to camp at the venue during that time. My friends and I chose to participate in the last day, the day of the eclipse. ​

Taken by Ella Bullock

Astral Valley Website

Taken by Ella Bullock

Their Facebook

    When the moon started to meet the sun in the middle of the day, an instrumental group called Gerard Trimble and Jambaroque performed, intending to provide festival goers with an eclipse soundtrack. By singing old folk songs and playing instruments from multiple countries and periods, they wanted to connect “cultures through music.”  The set featured an original 300+ year old sultana, a Turkish davul, a cello played on the shoulder called violoncello da spalla, a Renaissance cittern, and Scottish small pipes. They played songs of Turkish, Irish, old English, Armenian, and Arabic traditions. Trimble himself stated after the total eclipse, “We could not have had an audience that was more distracted and more attentive.”
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     The eclipse itself was an amazing experience. Gradually, the air around us got cooler, the sky got darker, and more and more people couldn’t stop looking at the moon through their eclipse glasses. One moment I couldn’t get out of my head was when the eclipse went into totality. Right as the moon covered the sun, there was a gigantic BOOM. I compare it to Admiral Holdo’s cruiser ship going into lightspeed and crashing into an Imperial starship in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I learned soon after that someone had a firework and set it off, which took some of the awe out of my expression. Gerard Trimble’s musical group continued to play throughout the eclipse, providing the perfect auditory partner to a remarkable visual experience. ​

Taken by Ella Bullock

Eclipse News Footage

​     After the festivities were said and done, our troop of college sophomores headed out. Though the most unique part of our day was over, our personal musical experience was not yet finished. When we got in the car, we were in for a long drive. The supposed “45-minute” journey turned into multiple hours filled with traffic jams; everyone wanted to get home after the eclipse. We made the best of it, adding songs to the queue and singing along. Grimy, hot, and in desperate need of a shower, we enjoyed the wind blowing through the cracked windows and the music playing through the car speakers. Admittedly, there’s nothing quite like driving through Missouri farmlands listening to Greta Van Fleet with the wind blowing in your face. My overall experience was enjoyable, to say the least. If I had to endure the traffic and skip my classes again, I would. It was a very special way to start my week. Sorry professors!
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Taken by Ella Bullock