Jubilee

I volunteered for Jubilee’s 2013 Festival, which had moved from the Silverlake area to the Arts & Music District in Downtown. Pretty cool. I had been lucky to work the easy volunteering shifts but some of my fellow volunteers didn’t get it so easy. But hey, free access to the festival the rest of the day you choose to volunteer, plus a pretty rad shirt. Really cool vendors, and good food. Bands were great, and incredibly nice too! The festival is usually around June, so if you know you get whiny over the heat, prepare yourself and dress/​accessorize accordingly. I came to see the Drums close the night and their set was super awesome. Aside from almost dying in the pit, I had an amazing time and overall, super great experience. Thanks Angie, Jack, and everyone else!

Ugh.
This festival was a DISASTER.
There are so many, many things that have convinced me to never, ever consider going back here and giving these people a dime of my money, but here’s a couple incase you consider this sad excuse for a festival…
1. Everything was terribly coordinated… The door staff, Jubilee staff and security staff didn’t communicate and didn’t know what the hell was going on. Some security people told us the doors opened at 5pm, others said 2… no one could agree.
2. Hot, black pavement, no seating, no grass, no relief.
Basically everyone was huddled around buildings sitting on the dirty cement ground trying to catch the little shade available because it was hot and there was no where to sit and relax with your food truck grub.
3. Terrible band organization.
Why do all the bands playing at any given time sound the same?
Have a punk stage, an indie stage, etc. That way there is always major genres playing and people aren’t sitting around bored.
Also a couple stations where there are free events to get people involved and meeting new friends could go a long way to making this place better. (ie. free communal craft station, dodgeball, drum circles… anything!!)
4. Changing rules.
On day 2 of the event, suddenly there was signs posted everywhere for no in/​out.
This wasn’t the case the day before, I had several staffers argue with me that I didn’t go in and out the day before, which is a fucking joke, because I did, several times, with many other people following suite.
You trap me at 330 pm in this black, sweaty concrete parking lot excuse for a festival with $ 7 draft beer, barely any vegetarian options and you tell me I can’t go in/​out with my wristband? Blow me.
5. Weird door staff.
I’m not sure if cracked out was the look some of the door staff ladies were going for this year, but dazed/​confused/​wild eyes and smeared lipstick all over your face might be a good look for an after hours club, but when you’re running the event that’s taking peoples money… get your shit together. What a mess.
6. Is this a festival or an outdoor mall?
Ugh, enough said, Get the vendors out and more artists in. This whole event seemed like a dirty, dirty cashgrab and I’m out.
In conclusion… Jubilee, we heard once upon a time you were free in Silverlake, our conclusion? If the event was FREE this year, we STILL would have been disappointed. F– never again.

Calvin Love stole the show. Bartender in the Heineken beer garden felt the need to give himself a tip with all of our change, which was 5 dollars. We took back 4 and made him feel like an idiot.

Seems like the move from actual Silver Lake effected the entire thing adversely. It was not well organized at all.
Just lost it’s luster being in this dirty location downtown.
And the music this year was not very good at all. Friday was a huge disappointment. Not fun at all.

Forget your uppity festival standards when coming to Jubilee. This is one of the best showcases of local LA culture and the great bands that came out have provided me with an audiogasmic playlist for months to come. Pair that with the local vendors in addition to the food trucks and you’ve got yourself the penultimate Angeleno experience. Sure, they could have organized and coordinated a few things better but it’s all good, I’m sure they’ll know what to do next year. I’m looking at the glass half full here. I like the way they used the abandoned lot of warehouse space to its advantage. There is nothing quite like watching your favorite bands play against the backdrop of that historical LA bridge. It’s the iconic backdrop of industrial Downtown LA, where there is an art community nestled under that bridge, where works of art are tagged and pinned just about everywhere you look. Jubilee could not have picked a better home. My favorite use of space is the long hall of clothing retailers. It’s like walking into a seemingly endless urban bazaar where each local retailer is different from the next. All you need to do is pick one and rummage through their eclectic pile of offerings. I f*cking love it!
Notable Vendors I Liked:
– United Couture: A group of stylish Japanese gals were babysitting this small corner of treasures. Their shirts are chic, edgy and so comfortable. Even better that they were offering 50% off most of their stuff. I made out like a bandit.
– Drifter Industries: The guys who made this year’s signature Jubilee shirts. Gave away free shirts in exchange for you following them on Instagram. That’s cool.
– DIYFO: I love these folks! Got my tailor-​made Jubilee tank with all its fringe from the lovely Jane. What’s better than a standard event tee? An event tee that’s cut to your liking. You can do it yourself or have them do it for you.
– Bakeology: Was chatting with the daughter of this mother-​daughter duo and she was such a sweetheart. Not to mention how amazing their line of gluten-​free vegan cookies is! I’m spreading the word to everyone because I love their cookies this much.
– Everly: Beautiful summer blouses and dresses from their sample sale stash make it hard not to pick up every piece you see. Only downside is that sizes aren’t marked so it might be a hit and miss for curvier body types.
Don’t get me started on the music. All I know is that Cherry Glazerr, The Dolls, Bleached, Fool’s Gold, Calvin Love and The Drums are rounding out the rest of my 2013 playlist. Thanks for being good to me, Jubilee. I’m coming back next year and forever after!