by Kyle Taylor
While festival season hasn’t quit trickled to a complete finish this year, the Funkadelphia crew rounded out the summer of 2014 with what ended up being one of our most glorious experiences of the whole summer. After the treacherous debacle everyone experienced at The Hudson Project this year, we were admittedly a bit timid to return to New York state for another festival. However, that predisposition was completely shattered as soon as we arrived on the beautiful grounds of Bella Terra Music Festival.
The music and arts (with an emphasis on “arts”) festival returned for its 6th year this summer to Stephentown, New York. With a lineup heavily combining various spectrums of the musical world, including hip-hop, jamtronica, funk, and electronic. The lineup remains thick, riddled with incredible talent, but in a way that doesn’t necessarily cry for attention. Instead, Bella Terra seems to call to the true music fans. It doesn’t prop itself up on popular names to draw in more numbers, instead bringing in artists whose fans know what they’re looking for.
This year’s festival featured performances from some really heavy hitters though, including hip-hop collective Hieroglyphics (which features Del the Funky Homosapien); jamtronica acts Break Science, Conspirator, Papadosio, Dr. Fameus, and D.V.S*; and plenty of late-night heavy-hitters such as Araab Muzik, Cheatcode, Craze, Minnesota and Run DMT. The talent extended well beyond the festival’s however, delivering a well-rounded showcase of performers from all across the area. Plenty of immersive music could be heard breathing through the grounds all weekend. Local hip-hop artist Sean Byrne, DJ collective Digital $torm, and Big IC, were just a few of the local talents that brought the humming beats this year.
So why the heavy emphasis on “arts” festival? Well, while the festival was still sure to stuff our ears full of plenty of fantastic music over the course of the weekend, it also displayed one of the most eclectic and expansive visual art collections ever witnessed at a festival. With two full stretches of graffiti walls surrounding the main stage (which were re-painted every single) and countless art installations- including alien bunny rabbits, Jangala pyramids, and a super mega death ray- Bella Terra also provided more than enough artistic inspiration. Be sure to view our full photo gallery below to check out just a few of the many art installations from this year’s festival.
Bella Terra Festival – Website // Facebook
View the full gallery on our Facebook page HERE.
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