The Caspar Community is pleased to announce that the First Annual Caspar Gorse Festival commenced on Groundhog Day of this year, 2 February 1998. Gorse rending season began on that date.

The First Annual

Festival Schedule : Poster

The village of Caspar, California will hold the first Annual Gorse Festival during the second weekend of October. The Festival celebrates the auspicious beginning of One Hundred Years of Stewardship. Residents of Caspar have been meeting for more than a year to design a sustainable future for their tiny coastal village, because the current owner of the majority of the village's open space, many rental homes, the headlands, and Caspar beach wants to sell. All proceeds from the Gorse Festival will help the Caspar Community fund its stewardship effort.      The festival opens on Friday evening at 6pm with Gorse Festival Art Show at What's Afoot Gallery in downtown Caspar. Caspar residents Sunshine Taylor and Doug Desmond head the list of artists whose paintings, drawings, photographs, found-object sculpture, and other media will be shown. The Art Show opening features the music of the Caspar String Quartet, including Joselyn and Tony Miksak and friends. The famous Caspar Lumber Company film (circa 1920) can also be seen. The Art Show will be open on Saturday from 11am until 5pm, and on Sunday from 11am until 3pm.

Caspar Trail Walk      On Saturday morning at 11AM, the Inaugural Walk of the Caspar Coastal Trail leaves the parking lot at Jughandle State Reserve and heads south to the Lighthouse at Point Cabrillo. As they walk along the newly laid-out Caspar Coastal trail beside this beautiful stretch of coast, walkers will encounter the gorse incursions which give the Festival its name, and which demonstrate the fragility and fertility of this land. The trail is so new that some of its sections cross private property, which makes this an extraordinary opportunity to travel a new route. Music Festival      Starting at 3 o'clock on Saturday next to the Caspar Inn, several groups of Caspar folk musicians and their friends will present an exciting afternoon of Folk Music and Dance From Around The World for the whole family. Just back from a successful appearance on Prairie Home Companion, Tour de France will play French Village dance music. MicBeth, featuring Mickey Zekley and Elizabeth Clark will play Irish dances, and Ceili instruction will be given by Karen Juliano. Instruction will be given for all the dances, so no previous experience is needed! The suggested donation for this event is $10 for adults, but children are admitted free.      Saturday Night at The Caspar Inn, starting at 9pm, an all-star extravaganza of Caspar musicians will revive The Casparados, featuring Gene Parsons, Meridian Green, Lily Parsons, Phil Dunn, with special guests including (but not limited to) Bill Bottrell, Richard Feinbop, Mike Ward, John Bush will rock your socks off. Suggested donation for this event is $10, and you must be 21 to attend.      The Gorse Music Festival is being sponsored by Lark in the Morning, the Caspar Inn, and William's Place. Food will be available throughout the afternoon and evening from the Caspar Blues Cafe.

Workshops      Sunday morning at 11am two workshops will be held. For those cursed with Gorse and other exotic plant pests, there will be an Eradication Workshop. The principal purpose of this workshop is to eliminate the plague of Gorse from the Caspar environs, but another reason is to offer potential Gorse athletes an opportunity to refine their technique in preparation for the Gorse Olympics slated for the Second Annual Gorse Festival. (Due to the demanding preparation and physical danger involved for unwary participants, there will be no Gorse Olympics events at the First Annual Gorse Festival.) The Gorse Workshop will convene at the Jughandle Reserve parking lot. Another workshop will be held at What's Afoot; this gathering will consider plans for the Caspar Preserve, which has recently been partially funded by the State of California. Attendees will explore means for financing the rest of the Preserve.      The monthly Caspar Community Meeting will commence as usual at 3pm at the Caspar Shul. While the agenda may change, but current plans call for the first serious brainstorming session on ways and means for funding the acquisition of the Caspar Cattle Company lands. As always, Caspar residents, real or imagined, are urged to attend this meeting. Following the Community Meeting, there will be a sunset Headlands Walk. CD Launch Party      At 6pm on Sunday evening the release of Meridian Green's new CD "IN THE HEART OF THIS TOWN" will be celebrated at William's Place, Bill Bottrell's newly-refurbished recording studio in the old Caspar Company Store building at the south end of Caspar Road. The evening will include hor d'oeuvres and music presented by Debra Dawson (of Good Thyme Herbs) and Tour de France, followed by an acoustic concert with Meridian Green. A special pre-release pressing of "IN THE HEART OF THIS TOWN", dedicated to the Centennial Gorse Festival, is included in the admission of $25, or $35 for couples. Since attendance is limited, reservations are recommended, and may be secured my email (to gorse@solarnet.org ) or by mail (make checks payable to the Caspar Community Fund and mail them to Caspar Community, box 84, Caspar, CA 95420.)      On Monday, those still able will gather for a picnic on Caspar Beach at noon.      All benefit events will contribute to the Caspar Community planning process, which began in 1997. Up-to-the-minute information about the event may be found RIGHT HERE on the web at http://www.mcn.org/1/caspar/Gorse.htm .

Downtown Caspar : Festival Schedule : Festival Poster