27th Annual Harmony Festival ~ Inspires Green Living with World Class Music and Great Fun for the Entire Family

(PRWEB) May 23, 2005 -- A vibrant eco-movement is sweeping through the summer festival season. At the forefront of this movement stands the legendary Eco-Village, part of Northern Californias long-running Harmony Festival, which takes place this year on June 11th and 12th at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. This years amazing outdoor attraction features:

- Exhibits of ecological products
- Eco-savvy businesses
- Renewable energy resources
- Permaculture displays
- Inspirational musical entertainment
- Renowned speakers, and
- Hands-on educational tools dedicated to environmental preservation and sustainable practices.

Now in its 27th year, the Harmony Festival (previously called the Health and Harmony Festival), has been sponsoring its first-rate attractionthe Eco-Villagefor eight years. Festival attendees have voted the Eco-Village the number one attraction for the past five years running!

This year, the Eco-Village is designed from the ground up on the principles of permaculturea term derived from the two words: permanent and agriculture. A permaculture approach integrates perennial agriculture for the enrichment of local ecosystems. The Eco-Village demonstrates the multi-faceted nature of permaculture with many examples of a healthier lifestyle:

- Beekeeping
- Solar panel exhibits
- Innovative water formations
- Hemp clothing
- Straw Bale constructionthe entire Eco-village is built with straw bale walls!

The entertainment and education are abundant with the Eco-Stage hosting a number of terrific speakers, including:

- David Cobb, Green Party Presidential nominee
- Dan Sheehan, legal activist in prominent cases such as Silkwood, - ran Contra, and the Pentagon Paper
- Randy Hayes of Rainforest Action Network, and
- The not-to-be-missed Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping

Musical performers include a host of local talent including Copper Wimmin, Riffat Sultana & Party, the Feisty Females, Adaawe, and Free Peoples.

Volunteers are at the heart of this villagethey work for months before the festival on the design and layout, to craft the educational program, help recruit vendors, speakers, musicians, dancers and crew, and arrange for hundreds of plants to be picked up and placed throughout the festival  all of which are for sale! The week before the event, volunteers essentially build an entire small village that will be populated by thousands of visitors for two days. It is a labor of love created by members of the North Bay community who are committed to living in harmony with the Earth, driven by a desire to share it with the world.

The five-acres of the Harmony Festival abounds with eco-consciousness:

- The Foods of the Earth Hall features ecologically oriented vendors, environmental arts and crafts, healthy body products and delicious shade grown coffee
- The Food Courts include vegetarian and vegan food booths and all food service supplies are biodegradable.
- The Festival is powered by bio-diesel and solar energy
- The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Expo, now in its 4th year, showcases dynamic local groups promoting petroleum alternatives - Sonoma County Bio-Diesel Coop, Veggie Oil Coop, the Electric Auto Association, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition and Car-Lite, the local drive-less group.
- Kids activities run the gamut from eco-art to learning about hemp production. (Kids are free and teens are only $10)

Each year the Harmony Festival has an increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability. This year, vendors, sponsors and staff are taking even greater strides to fulfill their obligations to the Earth through event Greening. There are compost stations throughout the festival and waste has been cut in half in the past two years. One-time use recyclable water bottle sales are not sold at the festival as reuse takes precedence over recycling.

The Solar Living Institute is partnering with Harmony Festival to produce "Green Living Workshops" for the second year with an exceptional lineup of speakers and workshops in the Eco-Villageeverything from biodiesel to worm composting to solar powerpractical advice on how you can take the green spirit of Harmony Festival home with you.

At the Harmony Festival, the green event of the new millennium, Rethink heads the list of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Global activation through local transformation, with music, entertainment, environmental awareness, political education and participation  this is community.

For more information, please contact the Harmony Green Team at 707-861-2035, or email: info@harmonyfestival.com. Website www.harmonyfestival.com

The 27th Annual Harmony Festival returns with a new name, new look and a world-class musical lineup to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds the weekend of June 11-12, 2005. Featuring the newly expanded Harmony After Dark hours (the music goes on until 2:00am on Saturday night) the Harmony Festival showcases an outstanding musical lineup of over 40 bands on 10 stages including Rock n Roll Hall of Fame members George Clinton, The Family Stone, plus Grammy Award Winner Kitaro and rock legend Jon Anderson (lead singer of Yes).

The Harmony Festival is recognized as the West Coast's premier community celebrationpromoting Music, Arts, Ecology and Healthful Living. Voted the "Best Music Festival in Sonoma County" for the first time this year, and the Best Festival in Sonoma County for the past 12 years, the Harmony Festival is many events in one; a world-class music festival, a vibrant health expo, a sustainable business and technology foruma dynamic marketplace for the exchange of ideas, services and products that promote art and creativity supported by a natural and healthy lifestyle. Produced largely by community brainstorming and group energy, utilizing more than 500 volunteers and calling on the talents of hundreds of musicians, artists and performers, the event is supported by progressive business leaders including: Toyota, Whole Foods, Organic Valley, New Belgium Brewery and over 400 independent vendors and exhibitors.

This years theme Global transformation, local activation encapsulates the mission and vision of the events creatorsworking together in harmony, we can positively transform the worldthe future is now, come and join the celebration!

For the first time ever we will be presenting Harmony After Dark extended Saturday night programming that will keep the festival going full swing until 2:00am. This evening music festival hosts world-class musicians and performances in three unique venues:

Japanese world music pioneer Kitaro and singer / songwriter Jon Anderson of YES will perform a rare concert together, in the Hall of Moons an intimate 500-seat theater.

The Eco Village Eco-Theater will host a program entitled Voices of The World with a diverse collection of artists performing in an acoustic-based format. Featured performers include Nigerian afro-beat legend Majek Fashek; Bay Area blues sensation David Jacobs Strain, Joe Craven from the David Grissman Quintet; Austin, Texas based rocker Patrice Pike and Sonomas own Markus James and Wassonrai (Mali), PLUS The amazing Techno-Tribal Community Dance Party returns to the Grace Pavilion on the festival grounds with a music and performing arts extravaganza featuring live performers, International DJs, circus acts and headlined by The Mutaytor the Los Angeles based music and performing collective of Burning Man fame.

This years festival also features a new layout of each of the five major field attractions: Eco-Village, Healing Sanctuary, Goddess Temple, Global Bazaar, and Crafters Village. The vending rows have been transformed into unique village themed attractions featuring distinct entranceways and natural curves and turns. The Global Bazaar has now become a circular Moroccan-style market, with a Bizarre Bazaar sideshow stage in the center. The Eco-Village has become a flourishing permaculture playground with flowing water, planted area capped by a magnificent canopy covered Eco-Theater. In an indoor expo hall, the Foods of the Earth Expo features over 30 organic and natural food vendors in a farmers market setting; in addition to exhibits showcasing the latest advancements in natural health, green business and self-improvement products and services.

The Harmony Festival is dedicated to being one of most youth friendly festivals around. Our enhanced Kids Zone features engaging activities for kids of all ages, with a live performance stage, interactive art and music activities, fun and games. Kids 12 and under are free, and teens are just ten dollars, providing economical entertainment for the whole family.

We invite everyone to experience the best festival in the North Bay. In addition to the affordable $20 per day advance ticket price and $25 Harmony After Dark pass, for a limited time the Harmony Festival is offering a special online discount ticket that gets attendees into both days of the Harmony Festival plus Harmony After Dark for only $55. With a full day and night of stellar world class music on ten stages, along with dozens of free workshops and lectures with nationally known, leading-edge speakersit is overall the best value of any event of its kind on the west coast!

For the latest information visit our website at www.harmonyfestival.com or call 707-861-2035.

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