July Festivals
THE STARWOOD FESTIVAL
Dates: July 10-16
Location: Wisteria Campground, near Athens Ohio
Cost: 179 as I write this, but that will be going up soon. Weekend passes also available. Passes at the gate are 245 bucks.
Names: Brian Henke, Byron Ballard
Gods damn it! There’s Byron again. When Pagan historians look back on the Summer of 2018 they will probably call it the “Summer of Byron.” I’m starting to wonder if she and Henke are just riding everywhere together in North America going “whew! It’s another festival without Mankey!” In truth, they probably don’t even talk about me. Anyways, yeah Starwood. Starwood was the first festival I ever went to with any regularity, we are talking about ten years of regularity I think. For that reason I sometimes think of it as “The Granddaddy of them all,” it’s the Rose Bowl of festivals. Starwood is also always really great because there’s a lot on the program that goes far past “Pagan.” I like weird little esoteric corners of the world.
Terrible Awesome Song From 1978: SUMMER NIGHTS by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (from Grease). I’ve spent so many summer nights at Starwood that this just feels right to me. I also “dueted” several times at Starwood over the years, we were oh so much younger back then. Fun song, fun festival.
WITCHSFEST USA
Dates: July 13-15
Cost: 31 to 135 dollars to free! Depends on what you do.
Location: Broadway & Lafayette Streets, Manhattan, New York City
Names: LILITH DORSEY, Don Lewis, Christopher Penczak, Starr Ravenhawk
This is another wild-card type of festival because it’s not at a campground, it’s in the concrete jungle of New York City, it’s a street fair! The list of speakers is pretty amazing, and there’s lots of music and dancers for your entertainment pleasure too! They are also gathering food donations, which is awesome of them and of course something that’s always needed. I think there are lots of readers too! Come for just Saturday, or attend all 36 workshops for 135 bucks. (Though I think if I went to 35 workshops in three days my head would explode with all the knowledge being crammed in there.)
Terrible Awesome Song From 1978: NATIVE NEW YORKER by Odyssey. This is another one of those no-brainer type of songs since it’s about New York City citizens. While we probably don’t talk about New York City as much as we used to, it was really one of the great Pagan hubs in the 1970’s. So much of what our community has become is a direct result of what a lot of people did in the late 60’s and 1970’s in New York City.
MYSTIC SOUTH
Dates: July 13-15
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Cost: 100 bucks in advance, day passes available
Names: JOHN BECKETT, Mama Gina, Ivo Dominguez, Patti Wigington, LISA WAGONER, MORGAN DAIMLER, HERON MICHELLE, and JENYA T. BEACY
If you pay attention to websites like the Wildhunt you might have heard about Mystic South last year. Most of that coverage was positive, look there’s an indoor festival in Atlanta!, but Mystic South might most be remember for not having water for about 12 hours on its second day. The problem wasn’t the fault of the hotel or the event, and as an attendee, it’s something I’m going to remember forever because it became this huge bonding experience. As a community we handled this inconvenience with patience and grace, I was really proud to be a Pagan that day! Even with the lack of shower on the festival’s second day (and air conditioning, which was connected to the water) I had a great time in 2017 and I’ll be back in 2019!
Also, all those names in caps above are people who write at Patheos Pagan. I might have to send John my credit card so I can buy them all dinner. (Yeah, one of the perks of writing here is that I’ll buy you dinner at gatherings if we reach critical mass. This meets that criteria.) I also really like Patti.
Terrible Awesome Song From 1978: YOU’RE IN MY HEART (THE FINAL ACCLAIM) by Rod Stewart. This festival has made my heart so it gets this song. As a guy who grew up in the American South, just outside of Nashville, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for sweet tea, southern accents, big hair, and hoop ear-rings. I’m looking forward to returning next year!
SIRIUS RISING
Dates: July 16-22
Cost: 180 dollars for the week, and then sliding scale by day.
Location: Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman New York
Names: LILITH DORSEY, JENYA T. BEACHY, Brian Henke, Frenchy and the Punk, Billy Woods, Burning Sage
It’s sort of unfair to only list Sirius Rising in this space, because Brushwood hosts the Sankofa Festival the week before, giving you two weeks of Pagan festivaling at my absolute favorite Pagan camp ground in the world. I haven’t been able to get to Sirius in several years now, and it’s one of the ones I miss the most. I was going to head back this year, but got invited to another festival instead and my brother-in-law decided to visit that week too, so I was sort of locked out. Brushwood (and by extension Sirius) is home to some of the absolute best drum circles in the world, my favorite outdoor showers and hot-tub, and some truly excellent individuals. She’s not on the schedule but you almost just sort of assume Byron Ballard is going to magickally show up at least for a day. Also, did you know that there is no one named “Frenchy” in Frenchy and the Punk? I was surprised too!
Terrible Awesome Song From 1978: FEELS SO GOOD by Chuck Mangione. I think this is the only instrumental to make my list, which makes this entry unique just like Sirius Rising. In a different life I probably would have ended up as a seasonal camper at Brushwood, but instead Ari and I moved out to California. We talk about Brushwood in this really sad, reminiscing sort of way every summer, and having been born in the 1970’s this song conjures up those same sort of memories.
EIGHT WINDS
Dates: July 19-22
Location: Lagunitas, CA, Samuel P. Taylor State Park
NAMES: JASON MANKEY, DRUM PAGANO, JoHanna Hill, Pipin Hot Smokers
Pipin’ Hot Smokers is not really an entertainment option, it’s the caterer! When Sean Harbaugh asks me to do his events and says “I’ll feed you Jason” I immediately sign up and flush the rest of my plans down the toilet for the summer. Yeah, the food is that good! There had better be brisket! More than the food though, I love doing events sponsored by ADF. I’m not a Druid and I often joke about how much I don’t get their ritual structure, but I love Druids. These are more brothers and sisters in the extended Craft and I mean that. We Wiccan-Witches share so much with Druid orders that I’ve written blog posts about it. This will be my third year in a row at a Druid event and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Also this is going to be great because it’s only two hours from my house! The last couple of Druid events were 4 and 12 hour drives respectively.
Terrible Awesome Song From 1978: IT’S SO EASY by Linda Ronstadt. Since there was no song called “Get in My Belly” this is what I came up with, because when Sean says “Hey Jason come to my event” it’s so easy to say yes! Also Linda is a Californian and once dated our governor, who has your governor dated?
LAURELIN’S LUGHNASADH
Dates: July 25-July 29
Location: Bethel, Vermont
Cost: 80 dollars for all five days (less if you register early), sliding scale for less days, meal plans available
Names: Laurelin?
Lughnasadh!?!? Where does the time go!? We don’t know that much about the ancient celebration of Lughnasadh and there’s some debate over whether or not it’s actually tied to the holiday of Lammas, but it might be. One of the things about Lammas, is that it was a time for feasts and gatherings, like fairs, and yet Midsummer is the big Pagan gathering sabbat and not Lughnasadh, though historically late July/early August was a time for such things. So I’m really happy to see a festival here with Lughnasadh so proudly in its name. Also, it’s quite possible that late July is the first time it’s warm enough in Vermont for an outdoor festival.
Neither here nor there, but I clicked on the link to last year’s Lauerlin’s Lughnasadh festival and it brought up a page that said “event ended” and suggested alternatives. One of those was this year’s festival, and another one was the Practical Church Conference. I just found it amusing that church events were right next to Pagan ones.
Terrible Awesome Song From 1978: MAGNET AND STEEL by Walter Egan. I’ve always liked this song, probably because Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks (of Fleetwood Mac) provide the backing vocals and because of that, for many years I just assumed this was a Fleetwood Mac song. I’m kind of attracted to Lughnasadh rituals like a magnet is to steel.
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