Bhakti Fest, the first and only family run devotional music festival in the West, will be returning to the Joshua Tree Retreat Center September 4-7th.
Known internationally for hosting the largest line up of kirtan music, master yoga instructors and spiritual teachers, Bhakti Fest is excited to announce its new partnership with the philanthropic organization EarthWe. This collaboration will bring conscious world music to the Bhakti Fest Stage for the first time in its’ stellar six year history.
Joining an already incredible festival line-up, Bhakti Fest and EarthWe are excited to welcome American reggae rapper and alternative rock musician Matisyahu and “The Golden Voice of Africa” Salif Keïta to the Bhakti Fest stage. Matisyahu is well known for his Top 40 hit “King without a Crown” and #1 Billboard Digital Album Youth, which was nominated for a Best Reggae Album Grammy award. The ground breaking afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali, Salif Keïta was awarded Best World Music Grammy in 2010 for his album La Difference. Returning headliners include Grammy nominated artists Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, Mantra masters Deva Premal & Miten, revolutionary hip-hop artist MC YOGI, long-time Madonna collaborator, Donna De Lory and many, many more.
Referred to as “The Spiritual Woodstock of The Millenium”, Bhakti Fest offers non-stop kirtan performances on two stages, with chanting in a wide of variety of musical genres ranging from blues, to rock, pop, gospel, traditional, and hip-hop. This year’s chant performer’s include, Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band, Prema Hara, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe, Girish, Govind Das & Radha, DJ Drez, Fanna Fi Allah, David Newman, Amritakripa, Arjun Baba, Jaya Lakshmi & Ananda, Gina Sala, Karnamrita, Brenda McMorrow, and more.
Several thousand participants will gain access to the world’s finest teachers of spiritual knowledge, yoga, dance, and breathwork. Featuring twelve hours of daily yoga classes in 4 venues, facilitated by incomparable teachers Dharma Mittra (the founder of modern yoga), Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, Bryan Kest, Mark Whitwell, Tim Miller, Sianna Sherman, Kia Miller, Sara Ivanhoe, Raghunath, Jules Febre, Govind Das & Radha, Bhava Ram & Laura Plumb, Mas Vidal, Sean Johnson, Saraswati Markus, Felicia Tomasko, and Kristin Olson just to name a few. All levels are welcome. Beginner and advanced yogis alike are encouraged to join! There is really something for everyone.
There will be two intensives offered at the event. A pre-festival “master class” with legendary yoga master Dharma Mittra on Wednesday, September 3 and a post-festival intensive with Saul David Raye on Monday, September 8. Intensives enable participants to extend their yoga studies and further immerse into the incredible energy that is Bhakti Fest.
The Bhakti Fest workshop offerings include the top Buddhist meditation teacher in the country, InsightLA’s Trudy Goodman, The Journey Home’s author and philanthropist Radhanath Swami, and breathwork phenomenon Michael Brian Baker. MBB’s class has been said “to provide a life changing experience.” As always Bhakti Fest will bring an exclusive interview with Bhakti Elder, and conscious icon, Ram Dass, whose book “Be Here Now” brought Eastern philosophy to the West in the 1960s.
Bhakti Fest provides a complete physical, mental and spiritual health experience including a healing sanctuary with massage, bodywork, energy work, and other wellness enhancing modalities.
Bhaktas will feast on a variety of raw, vegan, vegetarian and high vibration food and beverage options. This year Bhakti Fest sponsor “Nectar of the Gods” will offer a juice cleanse option to participants, further enhancing this high vibration experience.
There is an extensive marketplace filled with eco-friendly vendors offering yoga gear, clothing, devotional art, musical instruments, CD’s, crafts, jewelry and more. Bhakti Fest’s own Bhakti Shoppe (www.thebhaktishoppe.com) features hard-to-find trinkets from the bazaars of India.
Bhakti Fest takes place in a family friendly safe environment, free of alcohol and drugs. Children 12 and under can attend for free and enjoy their own set of kid-oriented activities at the Bhakti Kid Land area.
The Joshua Tree Desert Retreat Center offers the perfect setting to foster inner reflection and spiritual reconnection with its peacefulness and natural desert beauty. Accommodations on-site include en suite rooms with baths, camping and RV parking. There are also several hotels within a few miles of the retreat center.
With a top line-up of musicians and yoga instructors, more than 60 conscious workshops, and 100 artisan vendors, Bhakti Fest offers the most heart opening, consciousness raising experience of any festival on the scene today. Attendees describe the Festival as “being immersed in the greatest conscious party you have ever experienced, filled with music, yoga, dancing, love, light, and heart centered community.”
Tickets for Bhakti Fest West 2014 are available at BhaktiFest.com. The festival donates monies to non-profit organizations including Food for Life Vrindavan, Give Back Yoga, Love Serve Remember Foundation, Ramana’s Garden, Seva Foundation, Share Your Care, and Woman’s Earth Alliance.
About Bhakti Fest
Bhakti Fest is a festival series that celebrates the devotional path that has its roots in yoga, kirtan, and meditation. It embraces ancient and modern sacred wisdom and traditional and non-traditional spiritual practices. All the artists, presenters, and vendors embody, practice, and share the spirit of Bhakti in a variety of ways, including continuous kirtan, yoga, meditations and prayer, workshops, fire ceremonies, an eco-friendly, holistic marketplace, healthy vegetarian cuisine, a wellness sanctuary including massage, bodywork, energy work, intuitive readings, and other unique life enhancing modalities. Bhakti Fest encourages the spirit of service and offers a work exchange program. The festival donates monies to a variety of non-profit organizations that provide food, education, and environmental beautification programs around the world.
Some of the many sponsorship program participants Bhakti Fest appreciates include EarthWe, Coconut Bliss, My Zen Home, Namaste Light, Aloha, Desert Essence, Health Ade Kombucha, HealthForce Nutritionals, Nectar of the Gods, Reeds Ginger Beer, Upton’s Natural, Vega, and White Swan Records.
For more information please see www.bhaktifest.com. For press information please contact Susan von Seggern at press@bhaktifest.com or 213-840-0077.
For photos check out www.facebook.com/bhaktifest
