Festival Time is upon us! Time to be checking in for early bird ticket prices. Some of you already know that the first two tiers of burning man tickets have already been SOLD OUT!

We highly recommend festivals, they are a great energetic outlet, where you can meet amazing people, enjoy spectacular music, revitalize your soul, and learn new things about yourself. We think it’s incredibly essential to align yourselves with the appropriate festivals. Spend some time researching, look at photos, watch videos, read anything you can find on them. This greatly enhances your experience! Keep in mind, they put a lot of love and effort to make your experience the best it can be. Consider taking time to read the do’s and the don’t, and show up prepared.

Festivals strip us down and away from some of our conditioning……..our habits. Wether they serve us well or not, it’s realistic to face that we all have habits in aspects of our lives that cause resistance or stagnation. Without having the opportunity to EAT, PRAY, LOVE, festivals provide nurturing lifestyle reflections and break throughs!

Regardless of what event you are at: It’s really cool to always be in the habit of LEAVING NO TRACE. Seriously it’s always a kind courtesy to provide for these events. Clean up after yourself, recycle, and help be a personal part of the events success! There is some serious JOY in taking pride in your participations and your activations.

We are huge supporters of festivals, and they reach all over the world. We’ve had the opportunity to attend many on the west coast. The ones particularly in california need your love and support. Wether you are in california or not, we hope you will read through this post and discover magical elements about these festivals, then please consider signing this petition so that you can share your support. Then please, please, please, share the link with your friends and your community.

Quality gatherings that nurture and stimulate movement and ideas, thought, and connection, are an essential part of our journey as humans. A place to often find ourselves away from the corporate tides of often less than fulfilling legacies. We can make our dollars count and have a voice. Consider being a part of the growth and the sustainability of these events, and please consider adding to the solutions.

1.

Lightning in a bottle

photo by daniel jung

♥ LIB receives the OUTSTANDING greener Festival Award 2010

Dates: May 27th-30th 2011
Location: Irvine, Ca (although when you are there, it’s hard to imagine where you are)
Size: I believe last year around 6,000, and last I heard they were able to get permits to increase the size for this year. They are on their game this year, and full promotion has already undertaken. It’s going to grow in size, however its not at the 50,000 plus capacity, and is still more of an intimate gathering. There is still NO SWIMMING in the lake! Here is some location info from last years event.
Camping: Tenting, sleeping in cars (not tenting and having your car) and RV’s.
Vendors: on site food available, oh my goodness it’s amazing! Many raw, vegan, and vegetarian offerings. One thing to note, last year there was no meat that was served. So for you meat eaters, plan on preparing your own. There are lots of grocery stores in the area if you do not want to road trip with all of your groceries.
Heads Up: There are recycling/composting containers available

I would have to say that LIB is on the top of our list. We have attended this festival thrown by The Do Lab for 3 years now, and we can’t say enough how much we love and support this amazing adventure. They’ve been up and running for more than 10 . Read more about our adventure LIB 2010 Make sure you sign up for their newsletter, (you can do so here) they share extensive valuable information. For instance early bird tickets go on sale Feb 28th! And vendor and volunteer applications are underway!

♥ I wrote this before the festival last year and it seemed to be quite beneficial, and might I add we met so many amazing people because of it! Thank you Do Lab for linking to this post!

2.

The Bounce (formerly known as the big bounce)

photo by lisa sunde artwork by martin goicoechea

Dates: June 17-20th 2011
Location: Beldentown, Ca
Size: around 1500
Camping: Tents, motorhomes, and a few cabins that you can rent if you get in touch early enough. We stayed in one of these cabins last year and we LOVED it!
Vendors: on site food is available. Last year we ate the most amazing vegan curries. There is a bar and restaurant on site too

This will be the third annual The Bounce Festival, we have attended both previous years. A beautifully growing festival that continues to improve and grow with every heart and soul that adds to it! A beautiful location on the river, with trees, hikes, a bar/restaurant, (we were able to watch the world cup last year), an intimate gathering of artists and friends. Three stages that host a variety of music, and I have heard that this year is going to continually expand on the diversity. We love this intimate gathering, and are so thankful that it is so close to home! It’s a great way to dip your toes into a festival. Try it, I know you are going to love it.

♥ Read more of our boho love about the big bounce here!

3.

EmergNsee

photo by daniel zetterstrom

Dates: July 15th-18th
Location: Oregon
Size: @ 1500
Camping: Tents, Cars, Motorhomes
Vendors: on site food is available, last year the options were spectacular! Everything from raw vegan to bacon! Juices, teas, chocolate, deserts, incredible!
Heads Up: There are recycling/composting containers available

UPDATE: THE LOCATION HAS BEEN CHANGED! and the event has been altered

Last year was our first attendance. We truly appreciated the beautiful road trip on up. Driving by Mt. Shasta fills us up with tingling sensations. All of the trees, the green, the beautiful trees that northern california and oregon have to offer! It’s simply spectacular.

Camping and frolicking in the oregon rain forest is magical! The forest up there is full of beautiful forest fairies! We were very nurtured by the environment, and the gathering of the participants. This festival is considered a boutique festival, in that it cuts off the limit of participants, they wish to maintain the quality of sound, the environment, and experience. It’s seriously amazing. If you are looking to dive deep into the forest, consider this one!

♥ Here is our boho love from our experiences last year at EmrgNsee

These first 3 festivals are a great trial run for preparing oneself for burning man.

Attending anyone of these will have you in great spirits and will give you some insights of what works well, and what you need to improve on for the extreme conditions of the playa.

4.

Burning Man:

Dates: August 29th-Sept 5th 2011
Location: Black Rock City, NV (gerlach)
Size: 50 k + (yes I mean that)
Camping: people get very creative! however most commonly: rv’s, tents, cars
Vendors: You can buy ice and coffee and that is IT!
Heads Up: You pack it in, you pack it out. You are responsible for every single item, be kind to the playa

We’ve got MAD love for this festival. I’m an 8 year burner, and shone well, let’s just say it’s in the high teens. We’ve been going to burning man together as long as we’ve been together. (6 years) and it has been an incredible adventure. It’s provided a lot of opportunity for fantastic conversations, bonding, getting to know one another, and meeting TONS of AMAZING people!

In fact it’s where we started doing our photo shoots. Shone would chase me all over the playa! We LEARNED A LOT about how minimal & sustainable we wanted to remain, so that we could enjoy our environment and journey and be present with the happenings, while we created! We carry the lessons learned here to all of our photo shoots.

We recommend Using your mad skills with this festival. Read up on it, be thorough, and be alert. Life on the playa is greatly enhanced when you put your love into it. Remember the less you bring, the less you have to haul back after you have been rocking your energy all week long. Be efficient, and be optimal.

♥ survival guide, a great place to start!

There is another planet waiting for you out there! A world where people come together in harmony, support one another, and celebrate one another.

We have really connected with 4 festivals and that is why we recommend them in such confidence. Amazing adventures await you. There are many other festivals that still deserve mentioning. We have had our eyes on these festivals for some time and look forward to attending in the future. If you have any festivals that you recommend, please do so in the comments.

The following festivals are in no particular order or date. Explore, read, research. Listen to the music, discover new artists, watch videos, have fun!

to the pursuit!

bohocrush

p.s. for all bohocrush members, if you want to start dialogues and discussions about these festivals, let’s create one in the forum. It helps keep communications organized, and available for all to see and learn from.