Organizers of a first-time music festival hope their mix of big sounds and the ever-popular legend of Bigfoot will lead to another recurring event in Ellijay.
The Holla Yella Music and Bigfoot Festival will take place Saturday, Aug. 7, at the Artful Acres site at 516 River Street. Gates open at 11 a.m.
Marcelo Sandrini, one of the festival’s organizers and owner of local restaurant Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza, said he and his brother, Jorge, started brainstorming their first foray into music festivals during the past pandemic year.
“We came up with the concept for it during lockdown. We realized that Ellijay doesn’t really have a music festival. Since the world is supposed to be getting back to normal, we felt like folks would be ready to start getting out again right around August,” Sandrini said.
“Holla Yella” is an Appalachian name for the sometimes-seen, but always elusive Bigfoot, Sandrini noted.
“Bigfoot has hundreds of names, and every single culture around the world has some sort of idea of Bigfoot. It’s a very popular thing around the world,” he added.
One of the festival’s performers, Saxsquatch, brings a new shine to the age-old character. The alter-ego of North Carolina musician Dean Mitchell, a former member of blues rockers The Marcus King Band, Saxsquatch wails on his instrument while outfitted in full Bigfoot attire.
“He’s a combination DJ and saxophone player. He’s actually a very accomplished saxophone player,” Sandrini said.
While Saxsquatch’s live performance options may have been limited in 2020, his social media profile caught fire thanks to popular YouTube videos featuring the costumed sax man performing classic rock hits like “Hotel California” and “Baker Street” in wooded settings.
“He very much has a cult following. Any time he shares a post, (his followers) go crazy,” Sandrini said. “Saxsquatch is really what we built (this festival) around. He really defined lockdown for us. We thought it would be fun to bring him to Ellijay and get out into crowds again, which is something we all really missed.”
The festival will feature two stages with an array of Georgia and North Carolina-based performers.
Asheville group Dr. Bacon plays a funky mix of rock and bluegrass, while Mystery Cassette is a melodic indie/alternative band from Atlanta. Ellijay’s Surrender Hill plays country-infused rock, while The Neon Queen, also of Atlanta, reworks the music of ABBA.
Funk You, a nine-piece Augusta funk-soul ensemble, is Holla Yella’s headlining act. They’ll close the festival, Sandrini said.
“They play a lot of shows in Atlanta and have a really big following in the other half of the state,” he added.
The event will feature various food and merchandise vendors, several of which are Bigfoot-themed. The festival location will offer onsite parking for a fee. A shuttle will also transport concertgoers to and from the downtown square area, Sandrini noted.
“There’s a really nice spot down by the Cartecay River, and I think that property is absolutely perfect for (this),” he said about the location of the fest’s main stage area.
If the inaugural Holla Yella proves successful, its organizers will likely build on that for a bigger outing next year.
“It will be our first time (doing an event) of this size. We kept it small, but our goal is to make it a yearly festival and grow it. This year, we’re capping it at about a thousand. If it goes well, we hope next year we can cap it at maybe 5,000 and bring in some bigger name acts,” Sandrini said.