The 28th Annual Harmony Festival

From Top-40Charts.com:

The 28th Annual Harmony Festival: with the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and RatDog, Cake, Michael Franti, Plus Much More

Santa Rosa, California (Harmony Festival) - What: The 28th Annual Harmony Festival
Where: The Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California
When: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday June 9th, 10th, 11th

Who:
Friday- North Bay Music awards showcase featuring Bob Weir & Ratdog, Hot Buttered Rum, Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9), The Velvet Teen and others

Saturday-Cake, Ozomatli, Zero, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Hot Buttered Rum, DJ Logic, Uberzone

Sunday- Michael Franti & Spearhead, New Monsoon + Steve Kimock, Vernon Bush Gospel Brunch, plus dozens of other bands, performers and speakers all weekend long!

How Much:
Friday night $10-$50.
Saturday & Sunday day tickets start @ $25 advance $30 gate.
Camping $10-$15 per night. Kids $5.00 / Teens $15.00 per day.
Special weekend and night show packages available online at www.harmonyfestival.com.

The 28th Harmony Festival - June 9, 10, and 11, 2006, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds - will enhance its reputation as the leading progressive lifestyle festival by introducing a dramatically expanded musical lineup, late night showcases and for the first time in its 28-year history, convenient, on-site venue-wide camping.

Since its inception in 1978, the award winning Harmony Festival has served the West Coast as 'The Festival of the Future Now' by creatively synergizing a colorful mix of music and performance art with the latest trends in alternative health, spirituality and ecological lifestyles and technologies. This family-friendly event features a wealth of educational and entertainment experiences provided by more than 400 exhibitors and world-class entertainers. Tickets go on sale April 9 at www.harmonyfestival.com.

The Festival features a stellar musical lineup headlined by Bob Weir and RatDog making their fist ever Sonoma County performance. A founding member of the iconic Grateful Dead, Bob Weir has focused much of his musical energy in the past 10 years on RatDog, which has become a jam-band fan favorite across the country - it turns out that Dead songs combined with rock-jazz grooves create an irresistible combination.

The Festival will be dancing with the music of Bay Area hit-makers Cake, the Latin groove / hip hop masters Ozomatli, legendary musician-activist Michael Franti & Spearhead, trance groove jammers Sound Tribe Sector 9, legendary Jam Band guitarist Steve Kimock featured with the fast rising New Monsoon, afro beat stylist Aphrodesia, and the pioneers of high altitude bluegrass, Marin's own Hot Buttered Rum. Many more bands will be added to the lineup and announced soon. Festival attendees will be able to dance all day and well into the night, then enjoy an easy stroll to their tents in the nearby themed camping zones, ready to rock next day.
Alongside the multiple music stages, the Festival will feature a grand, artistically designed layout with major themed areas, each with its own visual identity appropriate to its content.

The Eco-Village: (50 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge green products, workshops in sustainable living, and engaging speakers all day in the 60-foot Earthdance Dome) The Well-Being Pavilion: (what's current in holistic medicine, nutrition, and fitness)

The Culinary Showcase: (hosted by Bauman College, the Culinary Showcase will feature cooking demonstrations and food sampling from over 30 restaurateurs and organic and natural food exhibitors) The Global Bazaar & Crafters Village: (125 vendors selling high-quality hand crafted products from around the world)

The Healing Sanctuary (offers a variety of healing modalities where instructors lead hands-on workshops and spiritual practices such as yoga, tai chi, meditation and kirtan) The Goddess Temple: (showcases entertainment, products and teachings that promote women's health, spirituality and consciousness)

The Magical Playground Kids Zone: (sponsored by UNESCO The Kids Zone presents workshops, puppet shows, and fun and safe activities all day long for kids of all ages.

The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Expo: (highlights the latest developments in alternative energy & transportation, including work shops on biodiesel, hybrids vehicles and more) The Vaudeville Stage: (burlesque sideshows and creative circus acts from Burning Man to Venice Beach)
The Transformational Art Show: (a community-based art project centering on the Nouveau Tarot - life sized canvas panels illustrating visual poetry) Harmony Altar: (Located at the heart of the Festival, the 50-foot star-shaped Altar creates sacred space to inspire harmony and create peace within)

Beer and Wine Gardens: (comfortable socializing area featuring the best local wines and micro-brews) Harmony Parade: (joyous celebratory mayhem - a grand Saturday afternoon celebration where our performance artists strut their stuff and everyone's invited)

Camping Area: (includes reserved theme camps and general admission areas with bathroom and shower facilities plus a limited number of RV hookups; see website for details)

On top of the extraordinary daytime fun, with the new Harmony After Dark there's something special happening every night. On Friday, the Festival will partner with the North Bay Bohemian newspaper to host the 2nd Annual North Bay Music Awards (Norbay's), a Bammies-style music awards show in which Bohemian readers will vote on their favorite North Bay bands in 14 musical categories. Lifetime achievement awards will be presented to Doobie Brothers manager Bruce Cohn and Bob Weir. Winners will be announced and many of the nominees will be playing at various venues on the Festival grounds. (Confirmed performers include, Bob Weir & Ratdog, STS9, Steve Kimock, Hot Buttered Rum, The Velvet Teen, Stiff Dead Cat, Plum Crazy, and The Coma Lilies, with many more TBA.)

On Saturday the Festival will be pulsating late into the night with the spectacular Techno-Tribal Dance at the Grace Pavilion, featuring cutting-edge DJs and live musicians, aerialists, and circus performers, plus state-of-the-art multimedia and laser light shows. In addition, there will a variety of entertainment outside on the festival grounds under the evening stars and full moonlight.

This year, with an expanded musical lineup and on-site camping, the Harmony Festival will become the 3-day home to a vibrant community that is all about cultivating 'What's Next,' from cutting-edge environmental technologies, to the newest health breakthroughs, to the latest sustainable business models, to rising political and social justice movements, to up-and-coming performing artists. The Festival theme this year, 'Creating Sustainable Communities,' represents the spirit and attitude of the Harmony Festival, which is to embody right here, right now, the world we want to create. We're talking about highly conscious fun.

The readers of the Bohemian recently voted the Harmony Festival the 'Best Music Festival in Sonoma County,' a new title that goes along with the Festival's 13th consecutive title of 'Best Festival in Sonoma County.' Our 28th version will only be better.

In creating the next generation of Festival experience, Harmony productions has teamed up with a number of new production partners including Peak Experience Productions, Earthdance, The North Bay Bohemian, Anon Salon, Bauman College, Mystic Beat Lounge, Solar Living Institute, Pour la Terre / UNESCO, and other leading-edge production and educational organizations. Major Festival sponsors include Organic Valley, New Belgium Brewery, Toyota, Lonely Planet and KPFA Radio.

Tickets on sale, April 9, 2006 at http://www.harmonyfestival.com
For additional information: Harmony Events Office 707-861-2035
Further information & 300 DPI photos: www.harmonyfestival.com
Media contact and interviews: Michael Coats (707 935 6203)
Dennis McNally (415 896 2198)

picture from Rolling Stone