This year’s 33rd annual Community Festival–Comfest–was marked by politics. Amongst the beer, wine, and revelry, groups from around Ohio descended onto Goodale Park in the Short North this past weekend in an effort to influence the vote this November.
It was the self-proclaimed, “Party with a Purpose.” Beer mugs and T-shirts were emblazoned with the slogan “Vote for Peace/Work for Justice.” One could not escape volunteers with clipboads charged with the task of registering potential voters.
The independent group, ACT which works against the re-elction of President Bush toward energizing progressive voters was front and center.
While the group obviously has its own political agenda, Jess Gode, communications director of ACT said, “there’s a need every election for every American to express the most sacred right they have–to vote.”
In addition to Comfest, ACT has registered 65,000 new voters state-wide, since its founding, September 2003.
One such clipboard-toting individual, Collin Lawson, admitted that Comfest has its own certain political perspective.
The first year volunteer at Comfest went on to say, “we can’t influence people–whether to vote for Bush or Kerry, but we can raise awareness-give people their voices back and in doing so create a real community.”
Politics was palpatable. One such group seemed to capture the essence of this year’s Comfest-young and pissed off.
The League of Pissed Off Voters is a youth organization that seeks “to build a progressive governing majority.”
“There’s a one party system, there claims to be Democrats and Republican, but in actuality, one hand washes the other,” said Steve Johnson, a “Pissed Off” volunteer.
Zoe Chance, coordinator, league of pissed off voters, spoke of the unique opportunity that Comfest presents for inclusiveness. Comfest’s location in the Short North guarantees Pride’s presence.
“Pride events are usually complacent. They don’t address the issue of young queer youth. It’s older white men who dominate Pride events and their issue-marriage.”
Despite the politcally charged atmosphere this year at Comfest, most were there to bask in revelry or browse through the ample assortment of retailers.
“I got a necklace from Africa, food from Egypt, and sat and listened to Blues music,” said Maria Sheharta.
Comfest’s hallmark is its diversity. According to Comfest’s mission statement, “the Community Festival’s purposes are to provide recycling and community centers for charitable, cultural, and education purposes in Franklin County, Ohio.” This year was no exception.
“There are a lot of groups that come to Comfest for differenet reason, everybody’s different. We all have different cultures and political affiliations. Anyone that wants to be exposed to the diversity that makes-up our community should come to Comfest,” sad Connie Gadell-Newton, 2002 Ohio State graduate in Philosophy.
Nevertheless, it is an election year and Ohio is a swing state, perhaps it is inevitable that Comfest, this year, would be seeped in politics.
One Comfest volunteer put it this way, “the elections are so close. Canidates and representatives are looking to Ohio. The revolution is here and now. It’s visable at Comfest and in November when we show up to the polls we’ll change the world.
