Proudly existing for its ninth consecutive year is Beloved Festival, an annual live music and transformational event that will take place the weekend of August 12th-15th in the serene coastal forest of Tidewater, Oregon. The lineup includes a vast range of artists including Tipper, Clozee, Rising Appalachia, Trevor Hall, Fatoumata Diawara, King Sunny Ade, Nicola Cruz, and cultural icon Bhagavan Das. There will also be a memorable array of sacred art, installations, guided ritual, workshops, presentations, food vendors, movement classes, yoga, and much more, all with the intent of nourishing the mind, body and soul. While these are the keystones of the majority of transformational music festivals, check out these five aspects that make Beloved Festival special.
1. One Stage
The one-stage-formula changes the entire flow of a music festival and very few choose to utilize it. While the multi-stage setup is ideal for larger festivals because it allows organizers to put several more artists on the lineup, one of Beloved's linchpins is its 2,500 person cap. Turning the stage into a centerpiece allows patrons to focus all of their attention on one artist instead of most of their attention on multiple artists. Though not ideal for all festivals, this paradigm is part of what creates Beloved's unified vibe. "Most music festivals keep you flitting from place to place, which can be pleasant," Elliot Rasenick, Beloved's producer, notes. "We want to help participants learn to fully engage every single moment."
2. Sunday Dancefloor Sets
Four years ago, a new tradition was forged when Ott moved to the middle of the dancefloor and performed completely engulfed by the faces of his fans. The tradition continued with artists such as Opiuo and The Polish Ambassador who experienced their music on the same level as the attendees. "I beamed unlimited gratitude right back at the people surrounding me, flooding me with love, and it all erupted in tears of joy," reflected The Polish Ambassador. This simple concept of moving a performer from an elevated platform to the ground allows fans and artists to truly feel connected.
3. A Storyline Lineup
Because there is only one stage, each artist is meticulously curated. There is nothing haphazard about the performer's set times as each artist's place in this story is intentional. From start to finish, the stage's programming tells a narrative of ancient to modern traditions about the human experience. With no conflicting shows at other stages, the music is allowed to slowly unfold itself, taking its participants on a rolling journey through humanity's inherent love of sound. "This year, the Beloved stage will feature performers from over 17 different countries," explains Rasenick. "I don't think there's anywhere else you can see legends like King Sunny Ade of Nigeria, DakhaBrakha of The Ukraine and Fatoumata Diawara of Mali elegantly woven onto the same stage as extreme cutting edge dance music producers, Tipper, CloZee, AtyYa and Ott."
4. Reusable Dishware And Sustainability
While sustainability is a huge motif throughout the transformational music festival scene, it is not always put into effect. Single use items like cups, bottles, plates and napkins still litter the grounds and overflow the trash and recycle bins of many of these events. Though there are a few events out there who are actively changing this flaw, Beloved is one of the first in the U.S. to offer compostable toilets as well as offering reusable dishes. Bamboo dishware can be rented for a small fee which greatly minimizes the waste of single-use items.
5. Cultural Conversations
Music festivals have always been a place for radical mindfulness and awareness. What Beloved is doing, however, is changing the discourse of these conversations. While permaculture, holistic lifestyles, and environmental issues will still be addressed, they will not stray from some of the more difficult topics such as social injustice, sexual power, privilege, violence, consent, and many more. The goal is to actively engage these subjects allowing participants to face and bridge many of these issues and hopefully move all of us as a whole towards real decisive and constructive change. "Engaging social justice and understanding power and privilege and the reality of sexual violence in our world is not separate from learning about love and being connected to spirit, it's actually a required course," states Rasenick. "Every big feature and every little detail of the event is designed to provoke this realization: there's really only one of us here."