August Festivals & Beyond
KALEIDOSCOPE GATHERING
Dates: July 31-August 5
Cost: 160 loonies for the whole festival, day passes and sliding scale after the festival starts.
Location: Raven’s Knoll, Eganville Ontario Canada
Names: This year’s theme is “Serendipity.”
My favorite TV show right now is a Canadian comedy called Letterkenny. I have no idea if anything in Letterkenny accurately depicts life in a small Canadian town, but most TV isn’t true to life no matter what it’s about. Anyways, one of the things I like so much about Letterkenny (or to put it another way, “That’s whats I appreciates about you Letterkenny“) is that everyone in the town sticks up for each other, even when they have nothing in common or don’t really hang out together any other time. That always sort of reminds me of the Pagan Community, so while I don’t like Druid ritual very much (my Druid friends know this, it’s sort of a running gag between us) I’ll always stick up for Druids, even if I make Druid jokes while with my coven.
I’ve never been to Kaleidescope, but I’ve always liked Ontario even if the fishing in Quebec is better.
Led Zeppelin Song: If you use Apple Music, listings for many artists include an “essential album.” For Zeppelin they include five essential albums, which means it’s easier to list the ones not considered essential. Anyways, Led Zeppelin II is on there of course which includes the song WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE which just has one of the best Zeppelin grooves ever in the chorus.
PANFEST
Dates: August 2-5
Location: Near Edmonton, Alberta Canada
Cost: 100 to 150 dollars depending on when you register
Names: This is their tenth year!
Most relationships don’t last ten years, Panfest as a festival has though! I was going to make a joke about the god Pan never having a relationship last longer than ten years but that’s crap. He and I have had a bromance for over twenty years, I know other devotees with even longer tenures. Pan’s cool like that.
The Panfest website has a link for one blog post which was posted in 2017 that includes this line: “I’ve done some wild and wacky things in my day, but few things rank higher on my WTF-O-Meter than standing naked in a field with 30-50 other people. Who were also naked.” I just find that rather random and thought it was worth remarking on.
Led Zeppelin Song: The album Houses of the Holy is also known to Zeppelin fans as “The Blue Children” because it features naked kids on it who appear to be blue (cold?) climbing the Devil’s Causeway in Ireland. (The cover was inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End) Speaking of cold, Zep’s NO QUARTER always conjures up images of fog in my brain so it’s perfect here, and it’s also on Houses of the Holy.
SACRED HARVEST FESTIVAL
Dates: August 5-11
Location: Atchingtan Learning Center (90 miles North of Minneapolis)
Cost: 150 dollars for the whole week, 3 day passes and day passes also available.
Names: BRANDY WILLIAMS, Mama Gina, Grandmother Elspeth
I’ve been invited to this festival the last two years, and I can never make the dates work, which is always a shame. Minnesotta as a Pagan place gets a lot of attention, but probably not as much as it deserves. It’s a really great community of Pagans and I love visiting out there.
I just noticed on their website that you can bring “your well behaved pet” to Sacred Harvest. Obviously my cats are not going to make the cut here, because they are not well behaved, not in the least! They are sweet in their own weird ways of course, but they aren’t well behaved. Well behaved would mean letting Daddy drink his first cup of coffee in peace before jumping on him! Also, there’s no way either of my cats would want to go to a festival.
Led Zeppelin Song: Because I’d really like to visit Harvest Fest and they’ve asked before but I still can’t go, and that’s NOBODY’S FAULT BUT MINE. I like that Zeppelin has a song in the catalog about personal responsibility.
HEXFEST
Dates: August 10-12
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Cost: $350.00
Names: LAURA TEMPEST ZAKROFF, SORITA D’ESTE, Fiona Horne,The Dragon Ritual Drummers, JASON MANKEY
I’m not really a presenter at Hexfest this year, but Christian Day is going to let me sit on a panel so I can kind of pretend I am. My wife and I both really like New Orleans so we are always looking for an excuse to go back, and when some of our favorite people in the world are going to be there . . . . Sorita from England! Tempest! Fiona Horne! The DRD!, well what are we supposed to do? Of course we are going to go. I met Fiona last year at Hexfest and she was just wonderful. She was always one of those Witches I was kind of intimidated to meet.
I’ve been to New Orleans four times (this will be five) in the last two and a half years and I just love it. Certainly the amazing food helps, and the drinks, but mostly it’s the magick. It’s one of the most magickal places in America and has such a magickal history. If I ever win the lottery and can use it to open an American Museum of Magick and Witchcraft I’d probably put it in New Orleans.
This is the priciest festival on my list, but it’s worth every penny. The amount of magickal presenters is simply staggering, and they all have their airfare and accommodations paid for. Presenting is work, so it’s nice that people are being compensated for their work.
Led Zeppelin Song: There’s really only one choice here and that’s ROYAL ORLEANS from 1976’s Presence. This is the only Zeppelin song named after a hotel that I’m aware of.
HARVEST GATHERING
Dates: August 22-25
Location: Camp Cedarcrest, Orange Connecticut
Cost: 150-300 depending on meal plans and how one camps (tent or cabin), Day passes are usually available though I don’t see them listed, but it’s early.
Names: MORGAN DAIMLER, Lora O’Brien
So this is another festival I’ve been too, and I love it. I loved the campground, I loved the people I met, I even loved the meal plan and I’m a horribly picky eater. Love love love! And the year I went it was 110 degrees every day and I still loved every minute of it, even though I lost ten pounds due to sweating. That trip to Connecticut was actually hotter than last year’s trip to New Orleans in August! My weather experience was not typical though, it’ll be 75 with light breezes this year.
Paganism is nominally about enjoying nature, right? But if you read reviews of festivals a lot of the people who leave reviews don’t seem to like nature very much. Nature means cold, hot, sunburns, mosquitos and lots of other bugs . . . but it also means glorious sunsets, skies full of stars, campfires (not completely natural, but you mostly can’t do that at home), creeks, ponds, etc. It’s all worth the other stuff in other words.
Led Zeppelin Song: You know your festival is pretty awesome when I give it STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN as a theme song. That’s mostly because the theme of this year’s Harvest Fest is “Greeting the Fair Folk” and Stairway contains the line “it’s just a sprinkling for the May Queen.” Stairway has probably been overplayed, but that guitar solo still gets me at the end.
TEMPLEFEST
Dates: August 22-25
Location: Hancock, New Hampshire
Cost: 175 dollars, dorm room options available too. Price includes meals.
Names: ELIZABETH GRAHAM, MAT AURYN, Christopher Penczak, Katrina Messenger, Wendy Rule, Tara-Love Maguire, Christopher Orapello
It’s weird to list people in front of Christopher Penczak (or as we know call him at my house, C-Pen-thanks Thorn!), but Elizabeth and Mat write here at Patheos Pagan and those are the rules. Speaking of those two they talk about Templefest constantly and I really like them, so it must be pretty good. Heron Michelle talks about Templefest a lot too, so I’m obviously missing something by not being there.
I was surprised that the keynote presentation is at 10:00 AM. I hope I’m never the keynote at Templefest because that room would just have a bunch of people standing around until about 11:00 AM when I finally got up. I’d also be slurping coffee the entire time, with the key word being slurp because I do drink it that way. (In my defense, I get up at 7:30 AM Pacific Time most days, but 10:00 AM Eastern is 7:00 Pacific, get what I’m saying?)
I have never been to New Hampshire but just thinking about it reminds me of Pepperidge Farms, and I wonder if locals sit around on their porches saying things like “lots of Witches coming in this weekend” while nodding and whittling things out of wood. I’m sure that doesn’t happen, but what if it did! Also Wendy Rule is great, so this whole things sounds like fun, unless you plan to be at Trout Lake Abbey to see me at Beyond the Gates. (I have to pump the ones I’m at, right?)
Led Zeppelin Song: C-Pen is one of my favorite people in Paganism. He is just so beyond nice, and he’s always been that way, especially to me, when he has no real reason for doing so other than being a good guy. Also a terrific writer obviously, and someone I’d never quit on, which is why the song for Templefest is I CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY.
BEYOND THE GATES
Dates: August 22-25
Location: Trout Lake Abbey, Trout Lake, Washington
Cost: 55 bucks in advance, 65 at the door, meal plans too
Names: JASON MANKEY, Kirk Thomas, Tom Hatsis
I don’t know Tom Hatsis but I really enjoyed his The Witches’ Ointment book when it came out a few years ago. I think chatting with him will be fun, that is if he wants to chat with me. (I never assume anyone really wants to talk to me, cause you never know.) And this is at Trout Lake Abbey one of the most holy and amazing Pagan spaces in North America. It’s got to be experienced to be believed and understood. It’s so amazing.
Trout Lake Abbey has an energy all its own and it stays with you while you are there. So back in 2017 when I was there, I was staying in a big dorm style room full of lots of people. It was about 2:00 AM and all of us had climbed into (our separate) beds, but I couldn’t sleep yet so Gwion Raven and I started texting each other like we were 12 years old, and one of us sent a text that just had us dying of laughter. We couldn’t hold in the noise and our laughter spilled throughout the room and everyone who was not yet asleep just couldn’t help but also uncontrollably laugh. I can’t remember the joke but the pure joy of that moment sticks with me. I think that’s what going Beyond the Gates is all about.
Led Zeppelin Song: KASHMIR is the most epic driving song ever written, and as I’m driving to Beyond the Gates (about a 12 to 14 hour jaunt) it feels right to include here. The lyrics are all about the drive too “Oh let the sun beat down upon my left arm, hanging out the car window . . .” (Those aren’t the real lyrics.)
HEXENFEST
Dates: September 12-15
Location: Saratoga Springs CA
Cost: 135 dollars to 300 dollars depending on if you leave for the night, camp, or stay in a cabin. Considering the amount of music you are going to get, this is a great deal.
Names: Sharon Knight, Frenchy & the Punk, lots of music, JENYA T. BEACHY, ANGUS MCMAHAN
I was here last year and had a grand time. I like Pagan festivals so much I went during football season! That says something. Anyways, it was really fun, and everyone there was really fantastic. It was among the best three or four days I’ve ever spent at a Pagan festival in California. It really was that great.
In the past Hexenfest has mostly focused on the music, but this year there’s a bigger emphasis on Witchy workshops and other magickal stuff during the day. So even if Pagan music is not your bag, there’s still a lot to do. Hexenfest is in a new spot this year because it’s been growing year to year, but they are only selling 300 tickets to this year’s event, so if you are interested in going, you should buy tickets soon! Most all the people I love the most in California go to Hexenfest, so if you are interested in a kick-ass weekend give this a shot.
Led Zeppelin Song: In honor of Sharon Knight and Winter, my favorite Pagan musical couple, I’m giving the two of you THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE, the only Zeppelin song to ever feature an outside vocalist, the late, great, Sandy Denny.
PAGAN FIRES
Dates: Sept. 27-29
Location: 4H Camp Graham, Clarksville, Ohio
Cost: 200 dollars, meal plans available, day passes too
Names: LAURA TEMPEST ZAKROFF, Frenchy & The Punk, Jacki Smith, Nathaniel Johnstone (release the kraken!)
This festival was previously known as Earth Warriors, and let me tell you, it’s probably for the best the festival got re-named because you really do need a fire to sit around after the sun sets at the end of September. The days are always glorious, often crisp and clear, but the nights are a bit chilly. (Don’t forget to bring a coat!)
I always have a really great time though, and the programming, facilities, and presenters are always top notch. I know taht Tempest and I wrote a book together so I’m obviously biased, but she really is awesome.
I also love that this event is at a 4-H camp, but without the awkwardness of 4-H Camp. When I was a kid I went to 4-H camp and I’d mostly stand around looking at the girls during the nightly dances, unsure of how to ask one of them to dance. And when I did dance with one I’d stand about a foot away from them for reasons you might be able to figure out, and if you can’t figure it out, you don’t want to know anyways. I would never want to relive my junior high/middle school years.
Led Zeppelin Song: ACHILLES LAST STAND, mostly because this is the last entry in my list! Don’t like Achilles Last Stand? (It is a little long and plodding.) Just fire up the single version of the song by Heart called Barracuda.
8000 words here! This is a small book! Help a guy out by sharing this on social media.
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