TONASKET – The fifth annual Conscious Culture Festival, which blends music, art and education, will take place in the highlands above Tonasket June 20 through 22.
The festival features over 40 live acts and 40 DJs playing reggae, rock, folk, soul, hip hop, dubstep, blues and more. There will also be fire dancers, aerial performers, a kids area, live glass blowing, local crafts, great food, free camping and free workshops, say organizers.
This year Conscious Culture Festival has booked number of notable and nationally celebrated acts including popular Jamaican reggae singer Kabaka Pyramid (with his band the Bebble Rockers), the NWs favorite stringband The Blackberry Bushes, hard hitting soul stars The Staxx Brothers, Californian female hip hop sensation J Ross Parrelli, Seattle reggae-fusion stars Indigitize, and renowned Australian DJ Mr Bill. In the diverse field of roots music the festival is proud to announce Washington State locals Robin Barrett & Coyote Kings (blues/rock), Mike Love (acoustic/beatbox) hailing from Hawaii, Australian export Blake Noble(percussion/guitar), local roots reggae favorite Essential I and the top Costa Rican reggae singer Noah among the 40 live acts that will perform. In the DJ dome we will feature many EDM (Electronic Dance Music) DJs from around the world and the U.S. playing will into the night.
The CCF reaches its fifth year as the largest Roots, Rock, and Reggae festival of its kind in the Northwest. The festival has steadily gained a loyal following since its inception, for the most part because of incredible word and mouth and grassroots support, say organizers. But also because CCF is truly an inclusive event by nature. Over the last five years, festival founder and life long Tonasket area resident, BlueJay Hankins, co-owner off Sick Donkey Records, has enthusiastically embraced visual artists, teachers, speakers, DJs; just about any artist of merit that impacts his life, and is willing to work with his festival to spread a positive message.
To celebrate the festival’s fifth year and in the spirit of the CCF’s commitment to continue to embrace daring artists and their work, a number of new faces are emerging to contribute installations including renowned Bellingham artist, engineer, and physicist, David Kitts. CCF is also proud to announce they have teamed up with Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s fame to present what Ben himself humorously calls the “world’s most complex way to stamp a dollar.”
“His machine is a brilliant work of functioning art and engineering, protest and activism, that uses a Rube Goldberg style machine to send a special message to elected officials and the people they represent,” said Hankins. “Ben’s machine stamps dollar bills with a message that your money is not to used to bribe politicians.”
Free workshops include subjects ranging from Organic Farming, Non-GMO use, Energy Healing, Kirtan, T’ai Chi, Fertility Awareness, Informed Childbirth, Dynamic Breath Release, Healing with Sound and Belly Dancing to African Drumming, Hula Hooping and Hoop making. Also all sorts of yoga classes all weekend including the very popular Youth Yoga classes, Viniyoga, Qigong, Kundalini Spirit Animal, Moon Salutations, Open Heart Yoga Flow and Yoga Nidra.
The festival takes place at the Okanogan Family Faire grounds located at 76 West Cayuse Mountain Road, about 12 miles east of Tonasket. Entry is $50 pre-sale or $60 at the gate for the weekend. Tickets are available at Main Street Market in Omak, Tonasket Natural Foods Co-op in Tonasket and online at BrownPaperTickets.com. Day passes will be available at the gate for $25 a day.
Scenes from last year’s festival
