The Greater Heart Music Festival

Barbara Lawlor

Gilpin County

It doesn’t get much better than this. A lazy summer Saturday, on Aug. 11, warm with gentle breezes; a pond with two islands in it and a canoe on the banks of the shore, waiting for children to take a ride; water-loving dogs swimming to their heart’s content;

Bluegrass, Cajun, blues, Zydeco, sweet music pouring from the blue tarp-covered box cars in the meadow; campsites where musicians tuned their instruments and picked up a melody, their harmonies mingling over the wildlife refuge;

Reports of a moose in the early morning; burgers on the grill; fresh strawberry-rhubarb and peach pie; cold beer; a massage therapist; a palm reader and a tarot card reader.

Perfect weather except for an afternoon drenching which, as it usually does, blew over for the night music. The Greater Heart Music Festival at the Eye of the Heart Wildlife Refuge has become a summer indulgence, an idyllic weekend before school starts and a place for musicians to play to the wildlife as well as the music lovers.

The event benefits the wildlife refuge which was founded by Laurel Higgins and her husband Steve. Since Steve’s death, Laurel and her sons and a group of friends and wildlife advocates have carried on the summer concert tradition.