Whale Rock Music and Arts Festival: A ‘dam fine’ weekend at Castoro Cellars
On Sept. 19 and 20, Paso Robles became home to a weekend of live music, surrounded by vineyards, yoga under the trees, sea glass jewelry stands, on-site painting and acrobats dangling from branches. Whale Rock Music and Arts Festival once again fostered a place for all unique art forms to come together in harmonious expression.
Started by Castoro Cellars Vineyard and Winery in 2013 as a celebration of their 30th anniversary, Whale Rock’s mission is to give back to the community of artists and musicians that contribute to making the Central Coast so special. The festival donates its profits to the Templeton Education Foundation and Templeton High School Band.
Originally called Beaverstock, the name Whale Rock now honors the Whale Rock Vineyard it takes place on. Beaverstock’s legacy, however, lives on through Beaverstock t-shirts worn by veteran attendees, cut-out beaver imagery, and flags flying through the campgrounds.
The main stage sits at the front of a sea of lowback Tommy Bahama chairs, with a beautifully painted landscape tapestry of a vineyard in the background. Acrobats dangle from the trees to the left, while kids hula hoop to the right. No matter the set or time of day, you can count on there being a tie-dye dance circle in front of the stage.
On Saturday afternoon, Afro-Cuban rockstar CimaFunk electrified the main stage. His bedazzled cheetah pants reflected the sunlight, combining with the stage lights for a kaleidoscope of colors. The horn players elevated each song to send out good vibrations into the bopping audience.
The smaller of the two stages, Stomping Ground’s name suggests exactly what it wants you to do there — dance. Nestled into the trees, the bands perform on top of an old truck bed a few feet above the ground. Stacks of hay form a semicircle around the stage, doubling as seating. Behind the stage sits a landscape view of rows and rows of green vineyards.
A folksy blues band, Wolf Jett, played their set as if we were all sitting around a campfire. Gathered in a circle, surrounded by trees, there was a communal feeling that rippled through the area. The audience resembled the shop of the Mad Hatter — brim hats, baseball hats, cowboy hats, fedoras and even a pair of wolf ears.
It’s not a proper festival without a Silent Disco. Located under a big, colorful tent, the Silent Disco had people ages four to 70 grooving. Fleetwood Mac remixes played on one station, while Donna Summer played on the other.
A lounge upon a hill, the Sunset Lounge overlooked miles of vineyards and the rest of the festival grounds. The wind shifted slightly and the smell of grapes from the vineyard floated into the air, combining with the potent smell of a joint being passed around conversation circles. Couches of every color, rugs of every pattern, and even a tiny stage provided attendees with a vibrant oasis. With the intimate size of the festival grounds, cheers could be heard all the way up the hill as the first headlining band walked on the stage.
On Saturday night, rock band Local Natives were greeted with a buzzing crowd and immediately jumped into their energetic set. With an early 2010’s alternative sound, the skill at which they played their instruments is evident in every song. Their voices harmonized together seamlessly and made you want to dance.
Local Natives on the Main Stage/ Image courtesy of @kendallalexanderdesign
As for the underbelly of Whale Rock, volunteers, musicians, and artists spend their weekend camping in the vineyards. It’s not advertised to the public, but remains an annual tradition for many. Driving through the campsite, it’s a sea of old vans, Beaverstock flags, campfires and people dressed as hobbits. Since every festival seems to end a little too early, campers gather under the stars for a silent disco, jam sessions and even a crepe truck churning out desserts.
“It’s very burning man-esque back there,” camper Kate Scheffing said. “Lots of food, lots of booze. There was an ice luge. Everyone’s just in very high spirits and down to clown.”
A cloudy Sunday morning set up the perfect conditions to mosey about the artist booths and take a cat nap on a selection of boho beds.
Displaying a beautiful collection of local artists’ work, the art tent lies in the center of the festival, with the music and attendees orbiting around it for the weekend.
Scott Beaver, a local illustrator, live painted portraits of Dolly Parton, Bob Marley and Jerry Garcia over the two day period.
Marco Mazza, an underwater cinematographer and jade carver, sits behind a beautiful display of jade. People flip through his colorful prints and admire the clarity at which they can see these underwater creatures. It’s his fourth time selling at Whale Rock.
“The festival is always amazing. It’s really cool people that come here,” Mazza said, “everywhere from people that are young trying to have a good time and listen to good music to families to a bunch of other artists to weird characters to funky people.”
Qigong teacher and oracle reader, Lara J. Day invites passersby to sit down for an oracle reading. She uses her own 13 Scared Nights Deck to guide these readings. Day is a longtime attendee of Whale Rock, but this year was her first doing oracle readings.
“Every year, I feel like there’s another corner of beauty and creativity that they’ve added to the festival,” Day said. “But it’s largely kept the same vibe, and I appreciate that because it’s our home festival and we just think it’s the best.”
The outdoor yoga studio taught classes throughout the day, ranging from Rhythm Rooted Flow to The Healing Art of Booty Shaking. Participants were of all ages and skill levels, because, after all, who doesn’t want to learn how to twerk?
Rayland Baxter walked onto the beautifully painted main stage at 5 p.m. on Sunday. He played one of the singles, “The Fool” from his upcoming album, “True Violet.” He joked around with the audience and reminisced on his previous time playing at Whale Rock in 2018. On its course to set, the sun broke through the trees to illuminate the stage during “Yellow Eyes” — fitting.
Directly following Baxter’s set on Sunday afternoon, founder Niels Udsen addressed concerns about the future of Whale Rock by asking, “Help us make it keep on going,” Udsen said. “[Whale Rock is] the thing we look forward to every year. It’s part of our community. It’s so important.”
Cheers come from the crowd, agreeing with the stated necessity for a gathering like this.
“You will need this place to just hang out and love music and love each other,” he said. “All musicians that are here, it’s what they live for. We live to listen to this.”
By the way he connected with the audience, you could feel the years of hard work and love that he’s given to bringing this festival to life.
“Support live music. Support music festivals. Support Whale Rock,” Udsen said, closing his message to the crowd. A call to action to the community, reminding them there is ways to help maintain the butterfly face paint, endless jam circles, sense of hope and belonging and exposure to killer bands that Whale Rock provides to San Luis Obispo locals and beyond.
Back at Stomping Grounds, the sun was just beyond the horizon when all 20 members of Samba Loca began their journey of leading the crowd through the festival grounds.
Started by drummer Graham Yates, Samba Loca has been playing at Whale Rock since 2015.
“It’s more than just a band, it’s a family,” Yates said.
The crowd followed the sound of the banging drums, cheers, and foot stomps. Weaving through tree stumps, jewelry tents and wine barrels, the entourage danced all the way to the main stage. Samba Loca kept jamming until shouts for Larkin Poe began as they walked onto the stage — a perfect transition into the final headliner of the weekend.
Rock duo Larkin Poe brought a heat to their set on Sunday night, closing out the weekend. Whispers of anticipation for their set could be heard throughout the festival grounds. Larkin Poe t-shirts were proudly worn by folks eager to hear them play. Even with all the build-up, their set still exceeded expectations with guitar solos, deep harmonies, and a thrilling performance.
While you can never predict the future with certainty, the devotion and pride the community has for this festival is undeniable.
