'We are the land we live on': Celebrate the Eno River at JamborEno

This Saturday, Oct. 5, the Eno River Association (ERA) will be hosting its third JamborEno festival at the Eno Confluence in Hillsborough. 

The ERA ties its passions for protecting the environment and bringing the local community together by creating events like JamborEno and The Festival for the Eno, which has occurred every July 4th weekend for the last 40 years. 

Its goal is to spread awareness of the Eno River and its importance to the community while bringing people of all ages to a safe and family-friendly environment with games, live music, jam sessions, camping, food and drinks.

“We hold events like this to raise awareness and hopefully a little bit of money to support our land protection on the Eno,” said Kim Livingston, the director of conservation and stewardship for the ERA. “We’ve been conserving land in Northern Durham and Orange County since 1966, and we have accumulated over 7,000 acres of protected land.”

The Eno River provides drinking water for over 600,000 people throughout Orange County, Durham and Raleigh. 

“I hope that (people) will get an awareness of and an appreciation for the Eno River specifically, and the importance of stewardship of our natural environment in more general terms,” said Greg Bell, festival director for JamborEno. “And moreover, I hope they have a really good time doing that.” 

The land reserved for these events has over two miles of hiking trails available to the public. There will also be a hayride, bonfire and a hootenanny, an informal folk music gathering. 

JamborEno will have sponsored ciders available from Bold Rock Hard Cider as well as craft beer from North Coast Brewing Co. Attendees are welcome to bring their own food and drinks to picnic. 

In addition to a variety of food, drinks and games, JamborEno will have several bands, some of which have played at ERA events in the past and others that will bring a fresh sound to attendees. 

Blue Cactus, one of the bands performing, will be bringing a mix of rock and country-inspired sounds. 

“We know Greg Bell from playing the Eno River Fest and we’ve been playing that for a couple of years now,” said Steph Stewart, a member of Blue Cactus. “We like to be involved with that because of the mission of the festival. It’s a really good time, we love nature and we think that it’s really important to keep the rivers clean.”

This will be their first time at JamborEno, and Stewart said they are very excited. 

Secret Monkey Weekend, a family band including Jefferson Hart and daughters Lila and Ella, will also be performing. 

“Anybody who has kids and including the kids would pretty much like what we do," Hart said. "We do a mix of covers and our own material."

They are currently working on recording their first EP and playing at Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance on Sunday, Oct. 6. 

The Tan and Sober Gentlemen will also be returning to the festival. They bring a mixture of Scotch-Irish sounds with traditional North Carolina bluegrass. 

“We are the land we live on,” said Ben Noblit, one of the seven members of the band. “We’ve got to take care of it.”

Tickets are $10 for adults and free for kids up to age 12. The event will last from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. with overnight camping for $15 per tent. 

"Just come out and have a good time,” Livingston said. “Listen to some local music, eat some local food. Just hang out and build relationships.”

@ben_mcentire

arts@dailytarheel.com