But there’s so much more than what meets the eye when casually walking through the Quad, so much more than endless aisles of vendors selling crafts and delicious food. Via workshops and demonstrations run by peers and special guests, festival attendees can learn about things that resonate with the overarching emphasis of the festival: sustainability, creativity and spiritual wellness. Here’s a rundown on what can be learned and experienced at a handful of the sites this weekend.
Experiential Space
According to the directors, the Experiential Space welcomes everybody to learn, inspire and integrate fresh ideas into their lives. On the schedule for this area are events such as yoga workshops, a session on how to discover “supernatural love and ecstatic bliss,” composting demonstrations and ideas on how to incorporate more vegetarian meals into a regular diet.
“There’s a professor, Kathryn Dillard, running a poetry workshop on Friday at 4 p.m., where people can write something they’ll be able to take home,” said Joy Wei, junior international relations and statistics major. “A girl named Cassie will be talking about different types of herbs on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. We have all types of people speaking; anyone with experience in holding a workshop can do one. We do have some students putting on workshops.”
Through a series of short workshops and lectures running from a half hour to an hour and a half, Whole Earthers can raise their awareness in the areas of well-being, social justice and environment.
Participatory Art Space
This space will provide the opportunities for people to learn and engage with each other through hands-on exhibits and activities. One such activity will be a scavenger hunt with the aim of collecting intuitive answers rather than items.
“I’m looking forward to it mostly just because I know how amazing the artist is, and I can’t wait to bring his work to everyone,” said Art Space director Chloe Jones. “It’ll be really exciting because it allows us to use everyday materials and see them in a different light by making them into artwork.”
“It’ll be more of a lecture format, and the workshops will take place for two hours or longer,” Wei said. “Learning is a big part of this part of Whole Earth — people who come definitely come to learn.”
The day starts with yoga sessions that run for an hour every morning during the festival starting at 10 a.m., and finishes with acoustic jam sessions every night. Other events include body painting on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., a medicinal herb workshop on Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m. and a raw chocolate workshop on Sunday from 11 a.m. to noon.
View the complete Whole Earth Festival program at wef.ucdavis.edu/?p=463.
LANI CHAN can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
