Enjoying Atlanta Jazz Festival

I was traveling by subway or train. In a station, I bumped with a group of people were distributing leaflets mentioning that there will be a jazz music festival at piedmont park, Atlanta. I was so excited due to its coincidence with the summer break. The time which I could manage my schedule to go there without worrying the priority of being a student. I took and looked at a leaflet, shortly I scanned the time of the show, bands and some other information in it. 

Saturday noon was a sunny day, a huge lawn field was filled with men and women were sitting, playing football, eating, chatting while listening to jazz music. Atlanta Jazz Music Festival was a big entertainment event that I came across since my arrival in the home of “Coca Cola.” Actually, Jazz music festival was held in various places in the downtown. However, the concert at the Piedmont Park was the most crowded. Piedmont Park has huge area with very nice atmosphere for relaxing and breathing for 'probably' unpolluted oxygen. This is a man made forest, and one can have a sit looking over the natural features such as lake, and other preserved natural creatures.

I went there with a very good friend, my senior Fulbrighter from neighboring country Indonesia. He has landed in Atlanta for some years before I came. Good news is that he could have been my guide at the time, “peace” since I am a new comer in this huge city. Yet, he is going to leave for Indonesia in a week, so I need to learn from him how to become a city explorer without any accompany. 

As we entered the Piedmont Park where the jazz music festival was held, the park’s entrance was full of long queue of food carriers such as cars, and coca cola trailer trucks . Those cars are there to make sure that food and beverage stocks are available whenever people need it. I figured out how an event is organized in this city (affluent country) in comparison to the world where I come from. Parking, food stalls are arranged very neatly, and the pedestrians adhered the rules. Something is worth of learning from this event.

We then decided to buy soft drinks with some chips in order to accompany our mouths as we were about to enjoy the jazz music.

I sat down on the lawn and looked over the field excitedly. I was watching the players on the stage playing instruments. Some songs are boring, but some are nice to my ears; that is the nature of jazz music anyway. Then we decided to walk around if songs are boring and back to the sit if there are some good songs. I like jazz music because it sounds very peaceful, freedom of expression of those who play it. Even though I like to listen to jazz music, I don’t really get how these instruments are played. It sounds very difficult to understand the cords and notes. Well, I don’t have a sufficient knowledge to talk more technically, so skip this.

To give an end, I truly enjoyed the event. Not only from the jazz itself but the atmosphere of people gathering and doing activities. On the other hand, I noticed one thing that Atlanta is a land locked city, instead, people are picnicking in the park. But still, the same enjoyment as on the beach. Similarly, installing tents, laying down on the lawn like what we see in the typical beach picnic.