OTHER OFFERINGS
CONVERSATIONS ON ACTIVISM
Join Julia Butterfly Hill, Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts, and Katherina Audley of Noyo Center for Marine Science for a conversation on environmental activism and how to make a difference. Facilitated by Julia Butterfly, who is best known for her courageous act of civil disobedience in Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County, Julia Butterfly lived in the canopy of an ancient redwood tree she called Luna for 738 days. Her heroic act brought global attention to the plight of ancient forests. In 1999, Julia, then 26, came down from Luna to a world that recognized her as a heroine and a powerful voice for the environment. Her commitment and profound clarity in articulating a message of hope, empowerment, love, and respect for all life, has inspired millions of people worldwide.
Julia continues to be a strong advocate for the environment and social justice, working as a speaker, author, and organizer, focusing on community-led conservation, regenerative projects, and mentoring youth, while also navigating personal health challenges and deep grief, using her art and voice to inspire healing and connection to nature. Learn more.
COMMUNITY DRUMMING
Join us for the 2nd Annual Sonoma Wild Community Drum Circle! Facilitated by Petaluma percussionist Brian Lemesh. All levels of drummers are welcome to participate in this exploration of drum rhythms and grooves. Let’s build the energy and have some fun with the spirit and magic of a village drum circle. Please bring your own drum and one to share if you can. A limited number of drums/percussion instruments will be available on site. Community Drumming will be held from 11:30-1PM in the grassy area in front of the main festival entrance.
Brian Lemesh is a multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, bass and a variety of percussion and sound healing instruments in multiple genres. In addition to having performed with many Bay Area bands and musicians, Brian plays for spiritual retreats, ceremonies and yoga classes and facilitates local drum circles. Learn more.
COMMUNITY DRUMMING
Join us for the 2nd Annual Sonoma Wild Community Drum Circle! Facilitated by Petaluma percussionist Brian Lemesh. All levels of drummers are welcome to participate in this exploration of drum rhythms and grooves. Let’s build the energy and have some fun with the spirit and magic of a village drum circle. Please bring your own drum and one to share if you can. A limited number of drums/percussion instruments will be available on site. Community Drumming will be held from 11:30-1PM in the grassy area in front of the main festival entrance.
Brian Lemesh is a multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, bass and a variety of percussion and sound healing instruments in multiple genres. In addition to having performed with many Bay Area bands and musicians, Brian plays for spiritual retreats, ceremonies and yoga classes and facilitates local drum circles. Learn more.
BASIC HUMAN NEEDS
Watch Wavy Gravy’s music video “Basic Human Needs”, recorded by Denise Kaufman and her band Ace of Cups, with some wonderful gospel singers; a testament to Wavy’s legacy of service to those in need around the world. Followed by Wavy leading us in singing Basic Human Needs together.
Wavy Gravy is not your ordinary clown. He certainly has had a long run since his earlier days as a poet and stand-up comic, improvisational theater artist, psychedelic bus caravan luminary, and rock concert MC, and often jokes: “if you don’t have a sense of humor, it just isn’t funny anymore.” Yet his reach extends far beyond the comic. He is devoted to “do something good for a change,” and his creative activism on behalf of peace, justice, and good humor is legendary. Along with Jahanara, his wife of over fifty years, he has brought joy and helped to relieve suffering for countless people around the globe, largely through his favorite projects, Seva Foundation and Camp Winnarainbow. Learn more.
TEACHER TREES OF SONOMA COUNTY
There is wisdom and peace that comes from Teacher Trees. Native people in the North Bay have always known how to find them. Do you? This short presentation will illuminate this ancient Native way of knowing that is infused with some surprises and joy. Benjamin Benson of Pepperwood Preserve will share from the heart some precious gifts from beloved Native Elders.
Benjamin Benson has been part of Pepperwood Preserve for over fifteen years. From his earliest days at Pepperwood, Ben has facilitated connection to nature through art and predominantly Native American philosophy. The way he sees it, we will be able to meet our environmental challenges only when we begin to see nature as truly sacred
Ben identifies as part Native American and part Jewish, and he grew up with a very clear sense of Native American culture. He saw in California Indigenous culture an incredible stability and integration with nature, so much so that those cultures could have endured in perpetuity in balance with their habitat. Much of his career as a cultural anthropologist, archaeologist, and professor, has focused on how Native Americans achieved harmony with the ecology of California. Ben’s enthusiasm for art and the natural world, his optimism for humanity, his expertise in Indigenous arts and traditions, and his passion for connecting people with, in his words, the majesty of Nature is enlivening. Learn more.
TEACHER TREES OF SONOMA COUNTY
There is wisdom and peace that comes from Teacher Trees. Native people in the North Bay have always known how to find them. Do you? This short presentation will illuminate this ancient Native way of knowing that is infused with some surprises and joy. Benjamin Benson of Pepperwood Preserve will share from the heart some precious gifts from beloved Native Elders.
Benjamin Benson has been part of Pepperwood Preserve for over fifteen years. From his earliest days at Pepperwood, Ben has facilitated connection to nature through art and predominantly Native American philosophy. The way he sees it, we will be able to meet our environmental challenges only when we begin to see nature as truly sacred
Ben identifies as part Native American and part Jewish, and he grew up with a very clear sense of Native American culture. He saw in California Indigenous culture an incredible stability and integration with nature, so much so that those cultures could have endured in perpetuity in balance with their habitat. Much of his career as a cultural anthropologist, archaeologist, and professor, has focused on how Native Americans achieved harmony with the ecology of California. Ben’s enthusiasm for art and the natural world, his optimism for humanity, his expertise in Indigenous arts and traditions, and his passion for connecting people with, in his words, the majesty of Nature is enlivening. Learn more.
Placemaking, Shared Ritual, and Joyful Belonging
In these modern times, many of us share a feeling of disconnection. We have fewer shared spaces, fewer chances to gather across differences, and more life unfolding behind doors and in front of screens. Formed in response to this moment, ReVillage builds common spaces, shared culture, and thriving local economies.
This session offers a grounded, hopeful look at how simple acts of gathering can shift the story. Rooted in the work at the Graton Town Square and across the Green Valley Atascadero watershed, panelists will share how youth arts, ecological restoration, civic design, community festivals, and locally rooted food initiatives are cultivating connection and care for place. Together, we will explore what makes a place feel alive and collectively held, and how everyday rituals like meals, festivals, art, and shared stewardship help renew our connection with one another and the land. Format: 25-minute panel conversation followed by 15 minutes of audience Q and A. Learn more.
Weaving Earth & Compassion in Crises
Inspired by the forthcoming book Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities, this session explores community disaster preparedness through the lens of Weaving Earth’s educational program, Attune. Drawing on relational and land-based approaches as practiced by Weaving Earth, this conversation explores earth intimacy, enchantment, mutual aid, and somatic practice as pathways to collective resilience. Learn more
Weaving Earth’s Attune program seeks to regenerate the wisdom of intuition alongside the development of tangible skills for living in and responding to the climate emergency, weaving disaster preparedness skills with ecological and spiritual technologies that invite us into emergent and prayerful response. Through immersive study centered in ecological tracking, wild tending, somatics, fire ecology, bird language, auspicious attention, community care, craft, radical astrology, ritual storytelling, and eco-social co-liberation. we can learn to attune our bodies with the earth’s rhythms and languages in remembrance, prayer and action as responsible members of earth’s ecosystems. Learn more.
Weaving Earth & Compassion in Crises
Inspired by the forthcoming book Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities, this session explores community disaster preparedness through the lens of Weaving Earth’s educational program, Attune. Drawing on relational and land-based approaches as practiced by Weaving Earth, this conversation explores earth intimacy, enchantment, mutual aid, and somatic practice as pathways to collective resilience. Learn more
Weaving Earth’s Attune program seeks to regenerate the wisdom of intuition alongside the development of tangible skills for living in and responding to the climate emergency, weaving disaster preparedness skills with ecological and spiritual technologies that invite us into emergent and prayerful response. Through immersive study centered in ecological tracking, wild tending, somatics, fire ecology, bird language, auspicious attention, community care, craft, radical astrology, ritual storytelling, and eco-social co-liberation. we can learn to attune our bodies with the earth’s rhythms and languages in remembrance, prayer and action as responsible members of earth’s ecosystems. Learn more.
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