When you get Billy Bragg, the one-man-Clash, you get opinion, politics, social issues, conversations and communication and community. You get values and you get value and I don't know if he's ever played Hillside but at Hillside you also get values and you get value. Seems a musical marriage made in hippie heaven and I love it. The Bragg played Mariposa a few years back and grown women were crying having met him, they were championing him, and his outspoken manner, and the way in which he challenges the system, challenges you can dance too. He is the current embodiment of the folkie activist, not the only one, but certainly a big one. It will be a homecoming for him of sorts and its a Hillside hug-a-thon you will not want to pass on. Bragg will perform solo and with Joe Henry. Together they recorded "Shine A Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad." Going to be a special couple of days.

The festival runs July 14 to 16 at Guelph Lake Conservation Area. Day passes and weekend passes are available online via Ticketfly. Get the weekend. Always get the weekend.