Bhakti Fest 2012: A Personal Journal
By The Shanti Scribe

Sunday morning. Final day of Bhakti Fest - I get up early to pack up the tent so as to be ready to head home early today. But before I leave this bliss high I am on, I take in a couple Kirtan artists on the main stage. I get to hear Saul David Raye and Girish, who I worked with on the Yoga Music Union DVD. His set brought the crowd to their feet to dance, with funk sounding Kirtan songs and ending with his now fan favorite - Diamonds in the Sun - that was dedicated to the recently passed Kirtan musician, Geoffrey Gordon, that brought tears to the eyes of event MC, Shiva Baum on stage, as well as Girish and many in the audience.

Girish

I am floating and in a "sweet place" and ready to head back into the "real world" but realizing that THIS can be my REAL WORLD all the time. I get a smoothie for the road and listen to Simrit Kaur on the Hanuman stage by the food vendors. Wow! They are rocking the house and everyone is dancing! And I haven't even got into talking about Yoga and all the workshops the event offered. Next time.

Simrit Kaur

I head back onto 29 Palms Highway and back towards Palm Springs and then onto Los Angeles. I want to thank all the artists for their talents and for letting me document alot of them for my website. I want to thank the promoters of Bhakti Fest for putting on a wonderful festival that I will remember always. And I want to thank my wife for introducing me to the practice of Yoga, Sanskrit chanting and this yoga community. She has been into this for many years, and I always was a bit stand offish and had blind eyes to many new things. But she never judged me and I came around to enjoy this new path and journey. I hope I can be of service with my talents and document my experiences for others to enjoy. Till next time.

Namaste

Bhakti Fest 2012: A Personal Journal
By The Shanti Scribe

Very early Saturday morning. Still dark - I get up earlier than usual, because before I head over to the Sanctuary for the morning chant of the Hanuman Chalisa, I trek over to the Rose Labyrinth, an outdoor circular maze behind the main stage area. Yoga instructor, Shiva Rea, is hosting a get together there for a sunrise mantra mediation. We walk the labyrinth to the outer rings of the maze and sit down facing east in the dark. We are thankful for the new day, our new experiences we will have and new relationships we will make. The day breaks, the Sun has risen, and new life is welcomed into the world. It's a beautiful, simple example of gratitude and I am feeling high on life at that moment.

I head over to the Sanctuary for the chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa, and pass a huge line of new people coming into the festival for Saturday. This is the big day! People are here for the weekend and take advantage of the weekend pass to experience the Bhav!  It is later reported that the festival had around 4,500 in attendance this day. Wow!

After chanting, I'm hungry, so I grab a vegetarian slice of pizza from a local vendor in Joshua Tree called, "Pie for the People Pizza". They have some tasty pizza and even some fruit topped pizza with strawberries and other fruit. I down another smoothie and head back to the stage area. Catch the tail end of the sweet sounds from Gina Sala, the eclectic sounding Amritakripa, and relished to the sounds of The Hanumen. A group of great musicians from a few different Kirtan groups to make up one awesome ensemble. They do a Kirtan mass-up of some gospel spirituals that are quite wonderful.

Amritakripa

The Hanumen

I take a lunch break to return in time for the fan favorite, C.C. White. She literally brings the house to their feet! A large group of musicians on stage. Everyone wants to be close to C.C. on stage. The stage closes for a dinner break and everyone returns for the "Rock Star" of Kirtan, Krishna Das. He is why Saturday is at record numbers. Krishna Das is a popular artist of traditional sounding Kirtan music.

C.C. White

Krishna Das

I head back to the campground and I hear the music from there and was able to still catch the remaining acts from my tent as I drift off to sleep.

Bhakti Fest 2012: A Personal Journal
By The Shanti Scribe

September 6-9, 2012 - Joshua Tree, CA: Friday morning. Day break - The campground has grown overnight. RVs now come into the grounds and setup. I meet my camp neighbors. Lisa from Oregon is next to us. Sweet person and so excited to be there. My other neighbor Nancy from Redlands, is on the other side, and is pretty much the same. Bhakti Fest tends to do that. Brings new found energy in you and makes you come alive!

I'm up early to do some chanting. I am into chanting now and love the Hanuman Chalisa that is held early every morning at the festival. It's in the Sanctuary, and with different Kirtan artists performing it, and teaching it to others. The Hanuman Chalisa is a 40 verse poem/prayer to Hanuman. Chalisa actually means "40", and Hanuman, being the deity to the virtue of service or Seva. I relate to this because of the many charity events and work I have done lately in my life and wanting to do more service for others. It is a wonderful room full of devotees chanting this beautiful prayer together. I may not pronounce the Sanskrit correctly, but I want to learn as best as I can and I feel a unity as we do this together every morning.

I get a smoothie for breakfast from one of the vendors and head over to the main stage. I walk through all the product vendors by the stage and meet some I really like a lot! I find a cool tank shirt from Third Eye Threads. The owner is from Encinitas, CA and we have a great discussion on the event, life and more. We are in the same neck of the woods and I plan on heading down there to check out more of their wears later.

Up by the front of the stage is a cool vendor where I find the PERFECT shorts! I love these things and have been looking for something like this for awhile! The owner is Curt from Lobos Del Mar and this is one happy cool dude! I wanted a couple of pairs of shorts but didn't have enough on me at the moment, and he actually said "Here Brother, take them and pay me when you can". Wha?! Really?! Are people really that nice in the world still and trustworthy! I guess here at Bhakti Fest, they are. Now, I'm not saying he would do that for everyone, but we did get to know each other and have a great conversation, but it was really righteous of him to offer me that. A few days later, I paid him, and I am still in awe of the guy. You should see the stuff he has and it is all Eco friendly materials, such as organically grown cottons and recycled materials, whenever possible. And they work directly with the families that are descendants of the original designers from Mexico and Central America.

I get to my seat on the grounds and relax on my sleeping bag to enjoy a day of Kirtan. I hear Prema Hara, the totally cool Joey Lugassy, (who did a Kirtan "mash up" of Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic" that I'm still blissing over) my favorite local Kirtan artists: Deepak & The Breath of Life Tribe, and later, Durga Das & Mira.

There is a dinner break between groups, so I decide to visit the Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss booth. They are a sponsor of the event and are offering Coconut Bliss bars to snack on and also these huge Coconut Bliss “ice cream” cookie sandwiches. The cookies are made with hemp seeds and are so filling, this "snack" is actually a meal! I head back to my sleeping bag on the "lawn" to visit with my neighbors, Jory & Maria from back East. I find out they are from my family state of Wisconsin and they said they missed Kirtan artist, Girish, at Bhakti Fest Midwest in June, that they were excited to come hear him at this festival. That's some loyal fans! We enjoyed each other's conversations and company all during the festival. Looking forward to seeing and spending more time with them, years to come.

Friday at the festival starts to show new crowds attending now. Coming in from LA and other areas since they are now getting off work and the weekend is about to begin. The evening's performers are: Deva Premal & Miten with Manose, one of my personal favorites at the festival. Next up to perform is Dave Stringer. He has a cool background (was once a film editor/filmmaker like myself) and also has a great sense of humor on stage. His music is so energetic and I am now a new fan. Next is the always wonderful Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe. Wynne Paris, Surya Chandra and Daniel Stewart end out the evening for me. I head back to camp, and sit on my chair I brought and look up into the stars. I see a meteorite streak across the clear sky. I not only see it but I hear it, as it sizzles into the atmosphere. Do I make a wish? Do I really have to?

Not necessary this evening. It was a blissful day!

Bhakti Fest 2012: A Personal Journal
By The Shanti Scribe

September 6-9, 2012 - Joshua Tree, CA: How should I start off with a first entry in my Blog area...hhhmmm...why not with the details of the biggest Yoga/Kirtan festival on the West Coast!

I had the pleasure of first attending the Bhaktifest last September in 2011. I had just finished working on a Yoga DVD titled, "Yoga Music Union" for Julie Jackson, and through the Yogis involved in the project, I heard about the upcoming festival. It sounded like a fun event, so I got my ticket and headed off to Joshua Tree, California to attend. Since I had to return home every night, then return back in the morning and only attending late Thursday and most of Friday and Saturday, I couldn’t really enjoy the whole experience. I wanted this year to be the real deal. All 4 days complete and also to be able to camp in the beautiful Joshua Tree desert!

My highlights from the year before where hearing some of the most beautiful Kirtan music ever! I was totally new to this form of devotional music and I just sat down in the main stage area and soaked it in. I totally fell in love with artists like, Donna De Lory, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, C.C. White, Deepak & the Breath of Life Tribe and the dreamlike sounds of Deva Premal & Miten with Manose. I was just checking my cell phone and still have a couple of cell phone pictures from last year's event on it. Here they are.

Dancing under the big tent! - 2011

Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe - 2011

And the one memory of last year that is still with me, was the spectacular light show of lightning in the sky! Just before a downpour of rain, the sky looked like a choreographed firework show to the fantastic music on the main stage at Bhakti Fest!

So this year, I wanted the experience to last longer. I arrived early Thursday morning to setup in the camping area.

I walk on over to the compound/yoga halls and stage areas. My wife decides to go the Yoga Halls were she will end up staying most of the time, attending various Yoga classes and workshops. The Joshua Tree Retreat Center really is a beautiful and sacred place to visit. Walking around you really do feel at peace and it puts you in a "sweet place" in your mind before anything really starts to happen at the event.  (Want to find out more about the location, workshops and events, visit www.jtrcc.org for details)

I pass through the food vendors, who are preparing up some delicious, healthy vegetarian, vegan and even raw food dishes for the crowds to enjoy. I have to remember to come back after listening to some of the Kirtans to get me some yummy Indian food being prepared at the Krishna Kitchen, or maybe a refreshing smoothie from one of the many different vendors…so many great delicacies and choices at the "food court".  ;-)

Next to the "food court" is the Hanuman Stage for some more Kirtans and also the area for the electronica acts late in the evening and early morning hours. Bhakti Ravers would love! Product vendors line the stage, like a Moroccan trading post from ancient times, you find most anything here to remember the event. From clothes, jewelry, mandalas, incense, crystals, music, instruments, yoga studio supplies....you name it.

I head over to the main stage to get my spot on the grounds. I want to attend the opening Puja, a blessing for the start of the event. It’s by a huge fire-pit in the center of the concert area. I decide this is the place, where I will sit for the Kirtans. I've learned that Kirtan singing is not a performance; it is a sacred worship of the Divine. So I try to remember that this is not my youth and I'm not attending the US Festival in '82 with Van Halen about to take stage. People in attendance, didn’t clap after each song, but stayed in the silence and reflected.

I hear Ena Vie, Prajna Vieira (wearing a beautiful long white dress from Sri Lalita Clothing...plug, plug) and Ben Leinbach, the uplifting Sri Kirtan, awesome duo Jaya Lakshmi & Ananda, and the wonderful Marti Walker.

I missed Donna De Lory and Jai Uttal, cause the long hot day has taken it's toll on me. But I loved every minute thus far, and plan on another exciting day first thing in the morning. I head back to the campgrounds, shower and sleep. The night cools down and is very comfortable. The beauty of the sun sets. I look up to the stars, and reflect on my day's experience.

Fade out.