In one of my favorite descriptions of Marfa, writer David McDannald points out that sometimes it’s “a shadow of a town” and sometimes it’s “a desert Mardi Gras.” At the end of this month, West Texas’s buzziest destination will be lit up like Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday when hundreds of Austinites and Brooklynites and Portlandiers (okay, and maybe some folks from other parts too) roll in for the seventh annual Trans-Pecos Festival of Music and Love.
Held at El Cosmico, hotelier Liz Lambert’s trailer-strewn (and Beyoncé-approved) kibbutz just off of Highway 67, the event will have all the trappings of a true hipster gathering: an “epic” sandlot baseball game, arts and crafts workshops, and Shiner-braised vegan riblets from Frank, along with three days of jam sessions with Ben Kweller, Meshell Ndegeocello, Amy Cook, Brownout, and others. I can only hope that Blondie himself will be making a surprise appearance like Robert Plant did last year. Tickets, which range from $25 to $130, are available here.
