Just got back from the Raw Spirit Fest. It was fantastic. We had a great time. I kept an eye out for Dave Mason but never saw him. Happy, healthy people were everywhere, smiling and spreading the love. Our kids had a great time!!!

Ha! ha! I was there on Sat / Sun. Spent most of the time just cruzin......and hearing the speakers on the main stage. I went hiking in the hills with new friends Lesa & June....Michael & Steven. Got to see Narz & Ipharadisi. I saw Bryant. Of course, got to hear David Wolfe (He was like some kinda raw food Howie Mandel....) and Matt Monarch....I thought he was cool. Got to meditate with Hira Manek (sungazing guy) and sit next/listen to Jasmuheen! Heh..heh.....

-Had a few young coconuts......bought a couple of books....took lots of pictures (with my Mom's REALLY nice camera.....so I'll post em when she comes back next week!) It was a WAYYY.....cool time. When I go next year, I'll get a couple of rooms outside Sedona......& rent a car........so anyone that wants to meet up and hang in the same hotel......we can coordinate!

-Oooo....got to see the Grand Canyon on Friday........and what do you say about the worlds biggest obstacle course? Ha! ha! Pictures just don't do it!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

DZM wrote: When I go next year, I'll get a couple of rooms outside Sedona......& rent a car........so anyone that wants to meet up and hang in the same hotel......we can coordinate!

I want in on that!

I didn't make it this year but I am so happy to hear that it was a success and that Pakd4fun and her family and Dave Mason had a good time.

The comparison of David Wolfe with Howie Mandel made me laugh ; )

I'm looking forward to seeing pictures from both of you guys.


khale

way cool! I have made up my mind to go next year. This year didn't work out due to some other schedule but I'll make it my priority for next year. I would love to see some photos! I have read people saying that the food supply was not well worked out. But people were able to bring their own food, weren't they?

Sure. It seemed that they really tried to go 'gourmet' with the food. But what that translated to was a single kitchen.....and lines like a cold war Russian shoe-store! <chuckle>. I certainly brought my own feed bag - per usual. So no biggie. I sat, munched melon and read....and watched people in line. It's amazing that even at an event of this diversity and level......you just AREN'T going to see something as simple as a fresh-fruit table! LOL. You know.....grab your fruit and go....suggested donation .25 per apple.....ha! ha! Some folks think things just HAVE to be complicated.......(or expensive).......(or hard).......heh..heh.....nutso.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I heard the parking was kind of nuts too. Growing pains, I'm sure. They will work it all out.

I've toyed with the idea of volunteering next year for kitchen duty. There is something insane about feeding that many people good quality food...not an easy gig.

It may actually work better, and be more lucrative for the festival as a whole, if independent vendors sold food rather than the food being provided. In that way raw food restaurants could show their stuff and the attendees would have more options, such as when, where, and what to eat - thereby avoiding the "bread line" feel to things, which I personally have little tolerance for. This would also bring the price of the ticket down.

Putting on a successful festival is a mind-boggling task. I worked several years with a friend who had 4 booths at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and just organizing THAT was tremendous work. Kudos to the organizers of the RawSpiritFest! Sounds like they're doing a great job.

khale

Our friend that went with us said she heard Happy Oasis say they aren't providing food next year. Maybe that will bring the ticket price down. We didn't have to wait in line because anyone with kids got to go to the front of the line :>. The food gave everyone of us bad gas. I guess it was poor combining. The chocalates were everywhere and OH MY GOD is raw chocolate good. It is the best treat on earth. After Friday I was so chocalated out. I thought. The parking was fine. We just parked and took a shuttle to and from our car.

I wanted to see the sun gazer but I let my husband go while I helped the kids with breakfast. He loved his talk. My favs were Victoria Boutenko and Ruza Bogdanovich. I also really enjoyed an herb walk with Feather Jones. I caught the last bit of a Happy Oasis talk and it was really good too. We also enjoyed the band "Breathe" Sunday night.

I learned so much. I can't imagine trading it in for a Disneyworld vacation or something like that. We went to the Grand Canyon Monday and hiked down it with the kids on Tuesday. That was incredible. Camping was cold the entire trip and it was nice to get back to the hot and humid weather we are used to. We never thought we would say that LOL.

If we can afford it we want to make it an anual thing.

Dave, your description of David Wolf is great. Boy is he a pumped guy.

it's funny that we say raw chocolate is so good.

because i occasionally have a raw chocolate snack, and yes they are tasty.

but raw *chocolate* doesn't really taste good to me, just bitter and nasty

it's all the other stuff in there, plus the stimulation/addiction of
the chocolate that causes us to say "chocolate is so good"

good to hear that y'all had fun.

Dave, what you are saying makes a lot of sense... Maybe a big table with lots of fruit and another table with a salad bar... then if the "gourmet" food is delayed, folks could just fill up on the simple food.

When I was first trying to go raw, I was overwhelmed by the recipes in the uncook books I have. They had so many ingredients and steps. Now, I've figured out that it is ok to eat very simply. Sometimes my breakfast and lunch are just a few pieces of fruit, no preparation necessary.

Thanks for sharing about your experience. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures.

I sure hope I can make it next year.

Lee

Great to read your stories and thoughts.

I was lucky enough to get an on-site hotel room with a balcony about halfway up the hill. I could hear EVERYTHING from the patio of the hotel room. Or even inside with the sliding doors open. There was a path up the hill right there, too, so I could smile and say "hi" to many people.

Every speaker was tremendous and the music and other events and all the vendors booths were great, too. It was so exciting to see and talk to people like Victoria Boutenko, Valya and Sergei, and so many others.

Yes, the lines were rather long, but the food was spectacular and delicious and I could feel the nutrition getting in to my body instantly (and for many hours after). I cooked in many restaurants and as a 2nd job -- but though I have been raw now for a whole year, I still haven't taken it upon myself to make dishes and organize "meals" -- the Vita-Mix and monomeals have been my way thus far. But I really wanted to see "REAL" raw food done as a whole "meal" and this was a great opportunity to see breakfasts, lunches, and dinners as they, perhaps, should be. They did a super job putting the menus together. Yum. I can't wait to throw a dinner party for friends now that I have a better idea about what a raw meal can be.

I got to see a wonderful show called "George Gershwin Alone" in Phoenix the day before the festival. Hershey Felder is the only person authorized by the Gershwin Trust to perform this onstage (as George Gershwin). He was superb and a great piano player. The show is dotted with renditions and explanations of Gershwins songs and music. The very last thing in the show was Felder (as Gershwin) playing the ENTIRE piano version all the way through of George Gershwin's "RHAPSODY IN BLUE", wowee ! After the call, he brought out a Gershwin book and explained that in Gershwin's time, you did not just see a show or performance and then go home to your home. Customarily, you went someplace, often to a private residence with others where there was a piano -- the evening continued with sing-a-longs and other music. SO -- he asked the audience to pick 3 Gershwin tunes and we had a tremendous sing-a-long, everyone in the audience sang while Hershey Felder played the stage piano. He also asked if anyone wanted to do some solo's and a woman sang a beautiful rendition of "The Man I Love". I was tired and had a little congestion, but I was dying to stand and sing "Swanee" or "They All Laughed" or any other Gershwin piece. He is touring, don't miss this serious music theater piece if it comes near you.

Also, I saw the Cirque du Soleil show done in conjunction with Sir George Martin and his son about the Beatles called "LOVE". Traveling west, I mentioned my plans to see this to a number of people in conversation. Everyone I told brightened up instantly and said their version of a rousing "WTG !". It made me wonder and got me pumped to see "LOVE". I thought that maybe I was in for a let down since everyone made a special point to say how lucky I was to be going to see it, etc.

Let me tell you -- it was very high tech, very well designed and executed, extreme, severe, astounding, the best thing ever ! There were actually real moments of "beatlemania", too ! LOL

One measure of a good show is to be found watching the people mill out after the performance. EVERYONE was smiling themselves into a stupor -- it was the most friendly and exciting bunch of human beings that were walking out through the lobby. I was extremely glad for them all. We ALL loved "LOVE".

I'm not a Las Vegas person (I was in that town only for a few hours to see the show) but if you do get to the area, don't miss the Beatles in "LOVE" by Cirque du Soleil. I'm serious. It is a way out great thing to see. You'll be on a cloud for quite some time afterwards.

Too bad for next year that there won't be food on the ticket. Maybe they could do "both" -- I mean, have SOME "Festival" stuff and also rely on vendors and other independent providers (coupons system, maybe ?). Well, tables of apples and salads would keep us going, whoever does it. They went full tilt with the menus this year. I can see that it is a lot of work. Plus the chefs and volunteers are taken away from hearing the stage goings on. Boo hoo hoo.

I didn't get to go on the herb walk, I'm glad someone posted that they did it and enjoyed it.

I talked to many vendors. Loved each conversation. Everyone had a "hello" and a genuine smile to go with it. Wonderful people. I could go every year. I suspect it will work out to every other year for me, depending on the circumstances.

I heard someone say that over 2,000 people registered this year. Lotta meals 3 times a day. But lotta smiles, too.

Thx Happy and all the presenters, volunteers. and participants.

Thx all of you who posted your comments here, too. The Raw Spirit Festival site is still up and you can click on any presenter photo for info and links about that person. I'll be spending a lot of online time reviewing all I learned and "visiting" with the people I talked to over the weekend.

PLEASE IF YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOS, COULD YOU SEND ME SOME AT MY EMAIL OR PERHAPS USE A SITE ONLINE TO MAKE THEM VIEWABLE. I ask this because I go to a monthly pot luck near Philadelphia (with a speaker during dinner) and they want me to give a talk on the Raw Spirit Festival and pass pics around. But I didn't get to take any pictures, myself. The site for my potluck is www.livingdynamically.com if you would like to take a look. We had some great speakers this year : Doug Graham, Matt Monarch, Roe Gallo, etc. and a whole day in the city park with state senators and the mayor, a variety of vendors and speakers including supermodel (and raw foodist) Carol Alt. Check out the Carol Alt site, too. Her new book is a very good selection of recipes and shows a little of every different kind of dish you can get into with raw foods. It is called "The Raw 50". Her site is www.rawnutrition.com -- too bad she wasn't at the festival, nice lovely person.

Best wishes everyone, see you next year, I hope.

Jerry

Ooops. Forgot to say my email addy.

PLEASE SEND ME ANY PHOTOS ANYONE TOOK (and let me know if photos have been posted anywhere online). Thanks a million if you would send me your pics.

Jertoons@aol.com

Thx again, keep smilin'

Jerry

I only went on Saturday and because I decided at the last minute to go I had to stay in Cottonwood 17 miles away. Not so bad. We just parked on the outskirts and rode the van in. At first I thought the van ride would be an issue but I went with the flow and even thogh we waited for 45 minutes for the van there were about 8 of us (from all over the country) and we all had interesting stories to share and it was fun meeting new people. The time flew. Then the driver was adorable. He kept go to the other stops even when were full hoping we could squeeze in one more. Needless to say we were a close group (with some on the laps of others). Ha!

Its was a bummer not to see many of the speakers (missed Victoria Boutenko and Patricia Bragg) for many reasons: late arrival, only being there on Sat and wanting to see so many people that were talking at the same time on different stages. David Wolf cracked me up. My mother had never heard of him and she was rolling. It was a great experience to share with mom. She did make an impulse buy with the cacao before really researching her buy. (He's a good salesman.) It was a little bit too much in the area of vendors.

As for the food, it was interesting but I am beyond the complex meals and very much into the simple fruit or salad. I was a little bummed that the fruit was only available to the kids. I think the idea of a salad bar with various raw dressings and a fruit bar is great (I see that they do that at Raw Passion which I haven't been to but will definitely go next year). The food was good but not necessary for us. I didn't do good with the water thing either. For some reason I didn't figure out the system for water but I didn't get dehydrated so all was good.

I thought they were going to show "Raw for 30 Days" but they couldn't. Apparently they are waiting to debut it with Sundance and can't show it before or they get disqualified from Sundance. I did by "Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw" and loved that.

I sound like I am complaining but I am simply commenting on the things I hope to see improved for next year. I am hoping that the raw spirit festival people will hear these comments. It was a great time and I will definitely go again.

Anyway, next year I will go for the whole weekend and stay at the Radisson. Does anyone know next year's date? I lost the flier.

Gina

I think next years date is the weekend of Sept 14.

[www.youtube.com]

Here is a video of the Festival. My husband is in it with our little blonde boy in his tie dye shirt!!!

Here is another video from the festival.

[www.markusrothkranz.com]

Here's some updated photos from my trip!

[flickr.com]

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Hey!!!

I was supposed to be doing a couple of boot camps over there but I cancelled, so tell me what was the fitness stuff like over there?

F1

Hmmm....I know they had quite a few things going on in the exercise/outdoor area. I'm pretty sure there were guided nature hikes as well. I did the sungazing/morning meditation - of course - but none of the other fun yoga stuff. I did my own hiking on the nature trails with a local. Hopefully some one else will chime in FO...with the low down. If not, I've got the list of all the outdoor activities that went on. Just let me know.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com