Features
Gettin’ Piggy With It
Wavy is opening his Black Oak Ranch near Laytonville, Calif., for the 12th annual Pignic September 2 – 3, co-hosted by the Hog Farm – an “intentional community” (i.e.: commune) that resides at the ranch.
The two-day campout and jamfest isn’t just for aging hippies longing to relive the 1960s, though.
The lineup sports acts running the gamut from traditional folk to pop to rap, with some political activism thrown in, of course.
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals headline the festivities September 2, and are joined by Zap Mama, Indigenous, the Flying Other Brothers and David Gans. Jackson Browne tops the September 3 lineup, which features Richard Thompson, Michael Franti and Spearhead, the David Nelson Band with Henry Kaiser,
Also making an appearance the last day of the Pignic will be activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill, who earned headlines last year by living in the branches of a northern California redwood tree she dubbed Luna in protest of logging practices.
There will be bonus shows for campers only, and plenty of vendors purveying wares from arts and crafts to food.
The Pignic began 12 years ago when Wavy Gravy asked late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia to play a gig for the Hog Farm as a fundraiser to pay the mortage on Black Oak Ranch. Garcia agreed, and the show called Electric on the Eel became an annual event. Five years later, the concert moved to the ranch and was renamed the Pignic.
Black Oak Ranch is located some 160 miles north of San Francisco.