Peace, love and Chompdown

Chompdown, an unofficial community potluck held each year in the middle of Wakarusa, is somehow more pure and celebratory than nearly anything else that happens. It's organized by veteran festivalgoers in tribute to a man named Jon "Rabbit" Cabrera, who died in 2010 of lymphoma.

Early Saturday morning at the wooded RV-campground, Chompdown organizers set up tables, a dish-washing station and camp grills. Around 9 a.m., they started frying bacon and scrambling eggs, as strangers lucky enough to be alert and in the know formed lines and filled plates free of charge. The food was primarily provided by the organizers, but some other festivalgoers brought contributions.

People clustered near a temporary tent, where Dirtfoot played rollicking, horn-infused punk-Americana. The band has been a Chompdown fixture since the beginning.

"[Cabrera] hit us up and said, 'Hey, this is your first year at Waka and you're at the very bottom of the list. Do you want to come do breakfast?' and we said absolutely," said vocalist Matt Hazelton.

That first Chompdown, he expected to play for 20 people. They played for about 200.

A woman named Coree Unruh, in zebra-striped bunny ears and a tie-dyed apron, assumed a position near four hardworking coffeemakers and shouted out a story.

The gist of it: Cabrera followed Phish and some other bands in the '90s. At one point, he was broke and hungry. Other campers shared their food and told him to pay it forward. So in 2007, when Cabrera and his friends planned a Wakarusa breakfast, he suggested that they bring extra for whoever happened to wander up. Chompdown has been an annual event ever since, feeding anywhere from 800 to 1,000 festivalgoers at Waka 2014.

Her story finished, Unruh grinned broadly. "Now who wants a Bloody Mary?" she called, doling plastic cups to the line.

Style on 06/17/2014

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