Harmony Festival
Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California
June 10-11, 2011Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California
Photos and story by Alan Sheckter
Visit the Harmony Festival website at www.HarmonyFestival.com
Cover design/layout by Pamela Youngs
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| Harmony Festival June 11, 2011 |
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| Harmony Festival June 10, 2011 |
Click on the above thumbnail images to see the Harmony Festival Photo Gallery for both days. Images are from the 33rd annual Harmony Festival, which celebrates the latest trends in music, art, ecology, healthy living and spirituality. The festival includes several stages, pavilions, villages, activities, lounges, speakers and experiences. Photos and story may not be republished without expressed consent of the photographer. Contact Alan Sheckter
Visit Alan Sheckter's Photo Gallery to see more photos from the Harmony Festival.
By Alan Sheckter
Photographer and contributing writer for Steel Ties
Email Alan
The free-spirited and the socially conscious entered through the gates of the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa in the name of Harmony June 10-12 to listen, see, learn, camp and share.
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| Happy High Herbs, drugfree |
Before being green was marketed to the masses, the Harmony Festival, now in its 33rd year, was a leading-edge gathering place, beating the drum for a healthy planet and healthy humans. And once again, an estimated 30,000-plus, from teen skateboarders to stylishly graying elders, came to the three-day showcase of musicians, artists, dancers, healers, and philosophers.
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| Mini-ramp skateboarder |
Mother Nature’s beauty brought sunny afternoons in the mid-70s, and cool evenings that called for sweatshirts and modest wrappings, adding to the overall harmony. The 200-acre fairgrounds was impressive, dressed up for the weekend, outfitted with an Artists Pavilion, Sustainable Living Roadshow, Steampunk Garage of eclectic vehicles, Liquid Lounge, Kids Zone, Health and Harmony Village, Goddess Grove, Well-Being Pavilion, Harmony Altar, Eco-Village, and Harmony Teahouse and Café.
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| A couple relaxing at Goddess Grove |
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| Transformations Art Village |
Five stages hosted a variety of performers throughout the weekend, all of whom hold different levels of fame. This report covers June 10-11 activities, not including the late-night Mystic Beat Lounge shows. The main stage and lawn covered only a small portion of fairgrounds, which had so many sideshows and avenues that it literally took two days to visit the mall. The main stage itself seemed to attract two groups of attendees, folks who gathered and settled within close proximity to watch the band and those who took a casual stroll through the main stage field. Within earshot of the music was a beer-tasting area, along with a pillowed Harmony Altar, a mini-community of Hula Hoop enthusiasts, and a super array of colorful crafters like Poison Apple Parasols, Buddhafull Creations, The Gong Chair Experience, and Live Wire Neon. Also on the large main field, situated well back from the main stage, was a very impressive array of international cuisine, including Siam BBQ, India Gourmet, Global Palate Catering, Get Fried Rice, Lydia’s Lovin’ Foods, and Sonoma Teriyaki.
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| View from on the green |
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| Hula hoop fun during Railroad Earth's set |
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| Eugene, Oregon's "Get Fried Rice" |
The common and most popular dimension at the fest was the music. Michael Franti and Spearhead headlined Friday’s festivities, with a rousing and unifying set of reggae, rock, and hip-hop selections that sent messages of love, rebellion and human rights advocacy across the huge main lawn. The band, Carl Young (bass), Dave Shul (guitar), Manas Itiene (drums), Raliegh Neal (keyboards), J Bowman (guitar), and Jolene Rust (vocals) – the first three have been with Spearhead for more than 10 years were all in fine form. With kids invited onstage at the set’s beginning and end, and plenty of shouts from Franti of “How you feelin’?” and “Make some noise,” Franti and friends amped up the crowd. The collection of songs shared by Franti and Spearhead at Harmony included “The Sound of Sunshine,” “Hello Bonjour,” “All I Want is You,” “Everybody On a Move,” “Ganja Babe,” “Hey World (Don’t Give Up),” “Yell Fire,” “Hey Hey Hey,” and a closing number of “Say Hey.”
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| Michael Franti and Dave Shul, left |
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| Michael Franti fans |
In addition to Franti’s headlining performance, the main stage on Friday offered a mélange of popular roots/Americana-meets-psychedelic-jamming acts – Railroad Earth, David Nelson Band, and Moonalice. Eighty-one year old bluegrass legend Jesse McReynolds, who recorded a Jerry Garcia tribute album in 2010, sat in, along with his grandson, on David Nelson Band’s daytime main stage set.
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| David Nelson Band - main stage |
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| Jesse McReynolds, right, and his grandson Garrett McReynolds |
A late-night tribute took place in the Harmony Hall and adjoining Arts Pavilion to honor Jerry Garcia and the recently deceased Owsley Stanley, aka Bear, The Grateful Dead’s early sound engineer and prominent “chemist” for the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. The setting included a raised platform of celebrated poster artists including Stanley Mouse, Mark Henson, and Arne Jin An Wong, all painting on the spot, and a delicious, sensory-pleasing multi-media light show. Via a connecting corridor, attendees were welcomed to an adjoining Rock Art by the Bay show, presented by The Rock Poster Society (TRPS) and Tribe 13. The massive room was filled to the brim with artistic concert posters, handbills, and other art from the mid-‘60s to the present.
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| Legendary poster artists Stanley Mouse and Mark Henson |
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| Late night dancing tribute to Jerry Garcia |
A bevy of Garcia-inspired musicians, many of whom appeared earlier in the day, set the soundtrack. Jesse McReynolds along with members of David Nelson Band, Railroad Earth, Moonalice, and Zero, including guitar ace Steve Kimock, laid out several different player lineups. The first part of the late-night proceedings included “Alabama Getaway,” “Standing on the Moon,” “Black Muddy River,” “Peggy O,” and “The Wheel.” After midnight they reconvened for a set of tunes from the 1973 release History of the Grateful Dead Vol. 1: Bear's Choice, including “Wake Up Little Suzie,” “Black Peter,” “I’ve Been All Around This World” and “Smokestack Lightnin’.” The evening ended well into the morning with an instrumental version of “Stella Blue.”
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| Late night at Harmony Hall, Jerry Garcia/Owsley tribute - LtoR: David Nelson, Steve Nelson, John Molo, Jesse McReynolds |
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| Late night at Harmony Hall, Jerry Garcia/Owsley tribute - LtoR: Steve Kimock, John Skehan, Roger McNamee, Barry Sless |
Saturday’s main stage music lineup topped off with the pride of Oklahoma, the theatrically and aurally psychoactive Flaming Lips. Their dreamlike set was full of psychedelic, trance-like passages over heavy rock rhythms, and poured forth with cannons of confetti, exploding super balloons, laser beams, and the famed transparent crowd-surfing ball, with front man Wayne Coyne inside. Flanked by a couple of dozen female dancers, The Lips’ Coyne, Steven Drozd, Michael Ivins, Kliph Scurlock, and Derek Brown offered an epic version of “Do You Realize?” “She Don’t Use Jelly,” “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” and a big chunk of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album.
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| The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne fires confetti into the crowd |
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| The Flaming Lips |
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| Grace Potter of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals |
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| Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - LtoR: Scott Tournet, Grace Potter, Cat Popper |
The main stage on Saturday also featured Jamaica’s Rootz Underground, who performed a powerful and energizing set of reggae – with a hint of hip-hop – that included a cover of Bob Marley’s “Soul Shakedown Party.” The José Neto Band played early in the day, with Steve Kimock offering guitar accompaniment through a large portion of the set. Neto played with Harry Belafonte for 20 years, Steve Winwood for 10, and offered a pleasing set of Latin jazz and flamenco-flavored tunes. Opening Saturday’s main stage performances was Jesse McReynolds, this time joined by surprise guest and mandolin legend, David Grisman.
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| Jose Neto, right, (Harry Belafonte, Steve Winwood), and Steve Komock |
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| Rootz Underground's Stephen Newland |
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| Main stage at noon - David Grisman, left, joins Jesse McReynolds, Garrett McReynolds, and Steve Thomas |
Breaking free of the main stage and all of its complements, Harmony’s diverse destinations really opened up. The Goddess Grove and accompanying Oasis Stage, the second largest venue of the festival, was its own lovely intimate, treetop-covered show and pleasure setting. Friday’s performances at The Goddess Grove and Oasis Stage included the L.A.-based Fishtank Ensemble and their fusion of gypsy music, along with San Francisco’s Audiopharmacy’s “indigenous urban hip-hop.” On Saturday, the Oasis Stage hosted local harmonic folk trio Three-Legged Sister; old-timey Americana/roots band Old Jaw Bone; another set by the José Neto Band with Steve Kimock; a set of alt-pop with powerful female vocals and soaring strings by the Bay Area’s Audiafauna; and once they conquered an hour’s worth of sound problems, a mysterious yet whimsical performance by the eight-piece El Radio Fantastique.
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| Three-Legged Sister, Oasis Stage |
Actress, writer and activist Mariel Hemingway also appeared at the Oasis Stage, and spoke to the crowd about practical yoga. “Yoga is more than yoga postures,” Hemingway said. “It’s about what your body tells you about yourself. And being aware of doing what you’re doing while we’re doing it. … To take a deep breath, and slowly inhale and exhale, that grounds you, changes you. It shifts and raises your consciousness and that’s all yoga.”
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| Mariel Hemingway talks about practical ways to add yoga to our lives. |
A bit down the avenue from the Oasis Stage was the self-contained Harmony Teahouse and Café. Completely off the rest of the festival’s grid, this lovely spot featured a variety of salads, rolls and other raw foods; an impressive menu of coffees and teas; a silk and pillow area for relaxing to the ambient sounds of scaled-down audio from musicians, which included Classical Revolution.
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| The serenity of the Harmony Tea House |
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| Kids Zone - Ukalady |
Across the way at the Eco-Grove, the Wisdom Stage hosted profound speakers all weekend. James Twyman offered “Music is My Religion,” John and Ocean Robbins spoke of “When Hope Takes a Stand: Living With Purpose and Passion in Challenging Times,” and a panel of diverse speakers participated in a round table called, “Today’s Activism: What We can Do Now.” Hemingway, with partner Bobby Williams, appeared again at the Wisdom Stage for a lecture titled, “Be the Best YOU Now,” which promoted caring “for the health of our bodies, minds, and spirits.”
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| Eco-activist at a panel on "Today's Activism: What You Can Do Now" on the Wisdom Stage |
The Eco-Village, which housed its own stage, pavilion, and sideshows, provided a whole other Harmony experience. Kids and their families admired the bigger-than-life Compost Contraption, Living Earth Structures, Toss Out Fossil Fuels game, and the bicycle-powered Conscious Carnival stage. In addition, a constant stream of eco-designers in attendance helped construct the Earth Peace Mandala Project out of provided stones, flowers, twigs, pinecones and sand. The nearby Whole Foods Experience and Well-Being Pavilion offered additional speaker platforms as well as samples, demos, and socially- and earth-conscious products that one won’t likely find at a typical county fair.
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| Mosaics on Soil |
Harmony also offered an outdoor Deep Green Pavilion, dedicated to “an integrated approach to cannabis hemp in the context of health and ecology.” The area included DJs who alternated with speakers devoted to such topics as organic farming, medical cannabis policies and the so-called drug war. In addition, several marijuana-related product exhibitors were on-hand as well as 10 dispensaries, who had products on display and available to documented cannabis patients.
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| docGreen's Healing Collective booth |
After 33 years, the Harmony Festival is still one of the leaders in the vastly growing field of summer festivals. It remains a well-produced, well-managed event that other planners should look up to when combining music, self-expression, positive social change and the celebration of life.
1 comments:
Well covered and beautiful photos...felt the Harmony. :)
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