Callen Harty
If you’re a regular at Madison music festivals, you know who Karen Jepsen is. She might have even pulled you onto the dance floor.
“The festivals are a chance to get out and dance, which I love more than anything,” says Jepsen, who is usually right in front of the stage, decked out in a flowing dress and turquoise jewelry. “I get to see my friends, see people I haven’t seen in a while, and it’s just the whole ambiance around me. It’s really incredible.”
Jepsen’s first festival was the WORT Block Party in 1977. Since then, she estimates she’s attended upwards of 100. She didn’t miss a single one last summer, although she admits her furious dancing can get a bit taxing.
Callen Harty
Karen Jepsen
“By September last year, I was like okay, I think I’m done, I don’t think I can go anymore,” she says, laughing. “It was the first time I was really wiped out.”
But the love of music, dance and community keeps her coming back: “It’s like a mini reunion every time you go to a festival. It’s the most special thing.”
Through her 30 years of dancing across Madison, she’s seen changes. “I am really glad to see more of an eclectic group of people. It’s culturally more diverse, which is very nice,” she says. “We’re getting more festivals, more people are coming up with ideas.”
She’s also marked the years through her children. In the early years, she danced with them nestled to her chest in front carriers. When they got to be teenagers, Jepsen says she’d watch their faces redden when their friends saw her dancing.
Jepsen began dancing 30 years ago at the Cardinal Bar with her best friend Susan.
She has checked out the festival scenes in both Boston and Los Angeles while visiting her now adult children, and says Madison can’t be beat when it comes to the quality of the music and the free admissions.
“For a town this size, it’s pretty remarkable that for three or four months you can pretty much find something free outside all of the time,” says Jepsen. “I’m sure that happens other places, but not to this extent and not for free.”
For now, it doesn’t look like Jepsen is slowing down anytime soon. She still hates to skip any festival if she has a conflicting event, such as a wedding, to attend: “I feel like something big is going to happen and I’m going to miss it.”
