Happy September!
For those of us in the North Country (Seattle area), the weather has changed and a cool wind has moved in….but the gathering season is hardly over! September is still packed with fests from coast to coast!
Scroll down further to get more info on each of these great events!….
In the “other” North Country, specifically Maine….the Great North Festival is in build week this very moment and if you can get there, please join them this coming weekend in Norridgewock, Maine….a fantastic place to celebrate and meet your east coast family.
You all know I’m excited about the bloom of education in our community and Symbiosis will join the trend with their week of Elemental Alchemy running through Thursday after the festival, just a few weeks from now. I’ll be at Symbiosis, come find me at the info booth!
Imagine Orcas Island is coming right up – here in my back yard and you’ll find me there too, photographing an epic ceremony on Saturday evening. William Close will string his Earth Harp across the cliffs over the sea, and some eye popping theatrical antics will ensue as the Goddesses come in over the waves to meet the Gods awaiting them on shore, mega drums beating and voices echoing off the stunning surroundings.
Our good friends in New Mexico will launch their first Unify Fest this month with a huge lineup and lots of great activities….
And at the Joshua Tree vortex in South Cali, Bhakti Fest will offer Yoga and Kirtan ….for what must be their zillionth event – these guys have been at it since the days of Woodstock and they put on a great renewal and revitalization weekend.
Finally, most reverently, The Fall Equinox brings us The International Day of Peace, a global event of cease fires and peace talks. Earthdance has long been a participant with their Synchronized Peace Dance live cast across 300 Earthdance events around the world….each featuring a full weekend of transformational gathering. Join them in Florida this month, or online if you can’t make it in person.
With just a few fests on the calendar this month, I decided to do a few features….I don’t always have the space or bandwidth for that for everybody, but today I am inspired…..
Thinking of you, and hoping you are having the best season ever,
Yours, Saphir
The Great North Festival
Sept. 9-11,2016 Norridgewock, Maine
The culture in Maine is EPIC in different ways than the well know West Coast. The moose is the Great North’s mascot – big and mighty, like the vibes out there in our farthest most reach to the Northeast. Folks in Maine are hearty and neighborly, they live by a ferocious sea, the Atlantic. They’ll have Farm to Table food and lots of seafood – (including lobster), tons of music and art. You’ll be moved by the strong spirits in the rocks and the wind and the salt air. The land there will call out to the ancient one inside you and wake up your inner greatness.
A 5 star review > > “Perfect mix of bands and electronic music. One of the best festivals in New England. TONS of art to look at–this is probably why this gets 5 stars. Most festivals claim “Music. Art. Camping” but most of the time, the art isn’t that important. You can tell that these guys REALLY focus on having the art be just as important as the music. There’s a legit art gallery on site, as well as live graffiti/spray-paint art going on during the entire festival. There’s also some cool installation pieces in part of the woods. Overall, this is a fun festival to go to.”
http://www.greatnorth.us/
September 7-12, 2016 Joshua Tree, California
Joshua Tree is one of the great treasures our country has to offer, with amazing Dr. Suess like trees in a wild desert setting. The resort is know to have 18 powerful energy vortexes right within the festival footprint, and its a wonderful place to get deep soul impact. Meanwhile, Bhakti offers the top most yoga and kirtan facilitators on the planet. Everything around you is designed to support your renewal and revitalization.
In Bhakti’s words – A Yoga & Music Experience of a Lifetime! The largest gathering of yoga & conscious music leaders from around the globe. Attend enlightening health & wellness workshops with world-renowned presenters. Shop the eco-marketplace and dine on the largest selection of vegetarian and vegan cuisine offered at any festival. Bring the family along and immerse yourself in four amazing days of heart-opening song, dance, and play! Bhakti Fest takes place in an alcohol and drug free environment, for your further nourishment.
http://bhaktifest.com
Imagine Orcas Island
September 16-18, 2016 Orcas Island, Washington
Orcas Island is known around the world for its stunning beauty. One of over 300 islands in the San Juan’s, covered in tall douglas fir and white tailed eagles – sea lions on the rocks and orca whales in her channels. It holds it’s own vortex, its rock being individual from the islands around it and featuring a small mountain in its center, the highest spot in the islands.
The festival is held at Doe Bay hot springs retreat, where you can soak on an magnificent cliff with a view of the crashing waves below and serrene surrounding islands. This year will feature a full musical lineup of top festival favorites, but the grand moment will be a fully theatrical ceremony featuring William Close and the Earth Harp, strung across the cliffs over the sea and the deeply moving vocals of Rafe Pearlman.
Locally grown dining, camping in a sweet grove of northwest cedars, yoga rooms and crystal baths and a community of gentle hearts with open arms.
http://imagineorcasisland.com
EVEN IF You Don’t Attend This Event…
I want you to know about it,
and to join the global sync from wherever you are,
it is a profound experience and I believe a
powerful contribution to the heart opening we seek.
Earthdance Florida
September 16-18, 2016 Lakeland, Florida
This year we are celebrating Earthdance Global’s 20th Year Anniversary of Giving Peace a Dance!
Earthdance’s 2016 Theme is GLOBAL SHIFT
“Renewing the Life Force with the 6 Great Elements”
Join us on a collective journey towards Global Unity as we shift into a new paradigm. Together we will explore, inspire, create, participate, dance, and bond through the Six Great Element Realms as we renew the life force within us all. In our limitless creative landscape of Love, Oneness thrives and everyone recognizes each other as equal, sacred, and divine. We are the Co-Creators of our time and it is up to us to spread peace and love far and wide. Hand to hand and heart to heart, we gather together to pray, heal, and learn as one.
Est. 1997, Earthdance is now the largest, global synchronized dance event in history. Today, there are hundreds of Earthdance locations in sixty countries participating. They are united with a common vision for peace and humanitarian aims.
For this one weekend in September, all around the globe, people join together to dance as one global community, united with a common vision for peace and humanitarian aims. Every event across the globe recites a Prayer for Peace at the same moment via synchronized webcast – morning in the Australian rainforest, afternoon in California, dusk in Florida, midnight in London, and sunrise over the Himalayas. The Prayer for Peace is a profound moment that unites our intentions for World Peace. Earthdance Florida’s Prayer for Peace occurs on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
http://earthdanceflorida.org
Symbiosis Gathering, photo by Marisa Plenning
Symbiosis Gathering
September 22-25, 2016 Woodward Reservoir, California
Symbiosis is one of the most loved fests on the west coast. They are a major “fun in the sun” fest with a big lake. I especially appreciate that they showcase some of the greatest large sculptors in our creative family. They always feature the music that has moved people most through the season, and collaborators bring the best of the days enriching activities.
But I want to focus here on Elemental Alchemy. Symbiosis is riding the wave of education as it swells within our community and it’s something I am excited about. Educating ourselves in the fine arts of connection, communication, creativity, wellness and thriving as a species on the planet could not be more important than it is right now. To see our family thronging to expansion in every arena gives me goose bumps and an ear eating grin……
Sym says – “Elemental Alchemy has evolved in ways we had never expected and amazing teams and individuals have come to contribute their crafts and expertise. In growing our curriculum, we’re excited to have new opportunities to inspire, inform, and create a container for a growing community of embodied and immersive education. September 17-22 2016.”
Running on 4 tracks – Visual Art, Permaculture, Yoga and Ritual & Performance – find your way there. Today your festival experience can be more than a stellar memory, it can be a point of growth and learning too.
http://symbiosisgathering.com/
NEW EVENTS TO SUPPORT THIS MONTH!
MAULI OLA FESTIVAL
September 21-24, 2016 Wood Valley Farm, Hawai’i Island
What makes this festival special is its epic location on the big Island of Hawai’i. The power of Pele’s volvanic fire, set deep in the center of the Pacific Ocean makes for a richness no other location can match. Deepen your connection to your inner wise one while you celebrate and co-create with dance and song! We honor the convergence of ancient spiritual knowledge and the scientific paradigm, and we commit to live in the highest truth, as we gather our family in this sacred place.
http://www.mauliolafestival.
UNIFY FEST
September 22-25, 2016 Las Golondrinas in Santa Fe, NM
UNIFY is dedicated to unifying humanity, celebrating life, and leaving the land better than we found it! Experience a fun and conscious music festival that unites, inspires, and educates each of us to live in more harmony with the planet, increase our health through high-vibrational products and education, and connect deeper to our life’s purpose while learning to live sustainably on the land and honoring the planet and all living beings. Reviving native, localized, communal practices while bridging new scientific discoveries and skillsets of permaculture, biodynamics, healthy relationships and sustainable living.
http://www.unifyfest.com
TRI_UNITY
September 22-25, 2016 Ava, Missouri
Let’s Evolve Together! We are committed to bringing you educational and informative workshops all day with a focus on transformation: Opening Ceremony, Meditations, Diverse Body Movement & many styles of Yoga, Energy Healing, Wild Herb Walk, Chakra Alignment, Be Free Transformational Breathwork, Sound Healing, Crystal Singing Bowls, Permaculture, Flow Arts, Belly Dancing, Aerial Arts & Acrobatics, Massage, Finding Your Inner Shaman, Sweat Lodge Build, Primitive Skills, Discussions for Social Change, Sol Elix – Guardians of Developing Society, The Nest Kids Zone, Trash to Treasure Crafts, Find Your Bliss.
http://rootsinbliss.com/
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