What’s the big idea with The Ramble Festival?
Brick
I’m frequently asked why we created The Ramble Festival and what makes it different. My partner J and I have spent the better part of the past twenty years attending live music events, concerts, and festivals all over the country. We love live music, we love the people that love live music, and we love the deep and meaningful connections that we make with those people. We realized that going to music festivals and seeing great line-ups is amazing, but what we really love the most about the festival experience is the other people that we shared the experience with.
The Ramble Festival is born from the idea that festival-goers come for a great lineup, but they come back for the relationships and community they build with other amazing live-music-loving folks like themselves. We’re flipping the music festival script and instead of focusing solely on the music, we’re focusing on creating a vibe and building a community through the love of live music and shared unique experiences with other people. We have this crazy idea that when people are given space to be free to be who they truly are and take off the masks that they wear in their everyday lives, they drop their internal walls and defenses and become more open to connecting with others. When folks are more open, the ability to connect with others and build relationships and friendships through shared experiences happens naturally. Community is built through those connections, and with community comes understanding, empathy, patience, and a generally better world for all of us.
It all starts with live music and the Ramble Festival is bringing some of the best live music around.
We’ve put together a killer lineup that we’re very proud to bring to the Ramble, and we’re building a culture of live music and jams off stage as well. The lineup has been carefully selected to ensure that each artist that graces the Ramble stages bring good vibes, fun times, and will keep us all smiling from ear-to-ear all weekend. There will be nightly artist-led campfire jams and we encourage everyone that enjoys pickin’ and grinin’ to bring an instrument out and join in the fun. Live music can be the vehicle, the catalyst if you will, that brings people together and builds the kinds of communities and camaraderie that last a lifetime.
It's not just the music that brings people together, the physical space that people share is just as important. We can’t imagine a more perfect venue for the Ramble Festival than Camp Ramblewood. It was founded over 30 years ago on many of the same principles that the Ramble is founded on today and operates with a mission of creating an inclusive space where people are free to be themselves. The vibe of the place is second to none and it is well situated for a 3-day music and camping festival in Maryland.
The Ramble isn’t just about making the world a better place through shared experience for the folks that attend. We are using this platform that is becoming the Ramble Festival to support charitable causes as well. We are reaching out to select charitable organizations that align with the Ramble Festival ethos and are working on building charitable partnerships to support both national causes and local Harford County residents alike.
I’ve been asked what constitutes success for The Ramble Festival in this inaugural year. There are two measures of success that come to mind: 1. Ramble Festival attendees will be surrounded by live music from the time they set foot on-site at the Ramble until the time they head out; and 2. Attendees show up to a festival, but feel like they are leaving home at the end of the event.
They say that home is where the heart is; for me, home is The Ramble Festival. I sincerely hope that when you come out to the Ramble, you’ll be part of the vibe, find your tribe, and have a new place to call home as well.
- Brick
