All festivals are not created equal. While the mainstream EDM festival scene thrives, there’s a culture of Transformational Festivals that has been evolving for many years. A Transformational Festival is a multi-layered event that espouses a community-building ethic, and a value system that celebrates life, personal growth, social responsibility, healthy living, and creative expression. While some Transformational Festivals resemble music festivals, they are usually characterized by features such as classes, seminars, installation and Visionary art, drum circles, ceremonies, performances, eco-villages, deep participation, and radical inclusion, to name a few. Given the culture’s environmental concern, Transformational Festivals also entail a Leave No Trace policy. The history and culture surrounding these festivals are explored in Andrew Johner’s ethnographic documentary film Electronic Awakening, the web series by Jeet-Kei Leung The Bloom: A Journey Through Transformational Festivals and Jamaica Stevens’s ReInhabiting the Village, featured on Fest300.
Electronic Awakening is an ethnographic documentary film that investigates the spirituality of Electronic Music dance culture and its ties to ancient shamanic rituals.
The film features dozens of experts, visionaries, and published authors who explore the premise that Electronic Music is spiritual technology that allows access to higher states of consciousness. Filmed over a period of 5 years at events such as Burning Man, Earthdance, LoveFest, Moontribe, Wicked, Shambhala and the Boom Festival in Portugal.
Featuring original music by Androcell, Bird of prey, Cosmosis, The Crystal Method, Desert Dwellers, Drew Martinez, Eastern Sun & John Kelley, Elysium, Field Rotation, Govinda, Grouch, Jason Knight, Magic & Witchcraft, Nadis Warriors, Phutureprimitive, Random Rab, Seamoon, Sheff, Shen, Shpongle, Solar Fields, Vibrasphere, Terrakroma, Xerxes.
iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.
The Bloom features episodes that showcases the emerging culture and movement of Transformational Festivals. Each episode illuminates 3 themes that create the alchemy of the Transformational Festival through potent moments, stories and interviews filmed at over 30 festivals around the world.
Keyframe is Executive Producer of Episode 3 “New Ways of the Sacred”, and Screening Director of all episodes.
Episode 1, titled Fundamental Frequencies, tackles the themes of inspiration, connection, and healing. View the episode here: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-bloom-episode-1/.
Episode 2, titled Practicing The New World, explores co-creation, participation, and modeling. View the episode here: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-bloom-episode-2/.
Episode 3, titled New Ways of the Sacred, delves into mythos, ritual and the sacred. View the episode here: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-bloom-episode-3/.
There are many festivals around the world that offer these varied, immersive experiences. These include ritual, dance parties, meditation, workshops, perma culture, eco-consciousness, and indigenous inclusions.
Some of the most influential Transformational Festivals include:
Cosmic Convergence (2024 merge with Texas Eclipse)
Cosmic Convergence is an annual gathering in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala incorporating art, music, education for conscious living, and Mayan culture & traditions. It is a convergence of past, present, and future, envisioning the new paradigm of a technological-tribal society that is becoming more tangible each day. The objective is to expose the attendees to ancestral and post-industrial ways of living in order to provoke a shift in consciousness to rethink what lifestyles are possible in post-2012 reality.
Electronic & Live Music from Around the World – Visionary Art Gallery – Permaculture & Green Technology – Tribal & Primitive Skills – Yoga & Sacred Movement – Ceremony – Conscious Cinema – Community Forum – Tea House – Mayan Traditional Medicine & Crafting
The gathering forms part of an ongoing international tribal revival. The event is 100% non-profit and all proceeds go towards supporting social projects on Lake Atitlan, where we work with indigenous communities to grow a greener future.
Rainbow Serpent (returns in 2025)
Rainbow Serpent Festival has come a long way since it started. From a small gathering in a secluded clearing, to an internationally recognized, multifaceted weekend of dance, colour, expression and celebration. No longer just an electronic music festival, these days you can expect to experience a unique combination of music, art, performance, spiritual education, relaxation and healing. The name Rainbow Serpent is distinctly Australian, coming from the Dreamtime creation story told by the traditional owners of the land. Dreamtime stories often vary between aboriginal tribes, however the story of the Rainbow Serpent is special as it is one of the few common to all.
Earth Frequency (May 2 – 5, 2025)
Earth Frequency Festival is a 4 day outdoor festival, based in South-East Queensland, Australia. While fitting in to many cultural niches or pigeon holes such as music concert, Transformational festival, tribal gathering, doof, workshop conference etc, the aim of Earth Frequency Festival is to go beyond these traditional tags and exist as a multi-faceted gathering focused broadly on creativity, community, connection, intention and inspiration, with an evolving re-invention of itself in response to the evolution of its supporting communities. Our focus is on creating a meaningful space, where we can gather, celebrate life with music and art and other creative forms, educate, connect, heal and inspire.
Envision (March 3rd – 10, 2025)
Through the collaboration of myriad talented allies, both local and international, the Envision Presents team aims to co-create events inspired by and inspiring the positive collective consciousness of all who are involved for the betterment of ourselves and of the planet. By bringing people together through music, art and sacred movement Envision Presents opportunities to celebrate our spirits, heal our bodies and minds, and revitalize our souls to face the challenges and realize the opportunities of our rapidly changing world. Festival location is Costa Rica.
CoLab Campout (pending 2025 dates)
Held in Wheatland, California, CoLab Campout is a collaborative experience where participants have the opportunity to learn new skills, dive deep into themselves, transform their lives, and celebrate together.
CoLab Campout is a curated experience designed to evoke hope for our future. The journey takes participants through a 4 pillar adventure of OuterWork, InnerWork, Transformation, and Celebration.
Bhakti Festival (September 27th – 29th, 2024)
Bhakti Fest is a Yoga | Dance | Music Festival which celebrates the devotional path that has its roots in yoga, kirtan, and meditation. It embraces ancient and modern sacred wisdom and traditional and non-traditional spiritual practices. The festival is a vehicle for the evolution of human consciousness through a heart-centered revolution. Bhakti Fest builds a community of people drawn to follow the path of the heart – a devotional, prayerful, loving, healthful, respectful family.
Lightning In A Bottle (LIB) (May 21 – 25, 2025)
LIB strives to be a greater expression each year. We take pride in curating local up and coming music talent and international world renowned artists. We paved the way for live painting at our events with Lightning in a Paintcan, which is headed up by our very own non-profit The Do Art Foundation, who’s efforts fund initiatives that are far reaching in the art world. We host speakers and workshops on topics of sustainability, spirituality and child-friendly entertainment. Behind everything we do at LIB is a deep commitment to our environment and our sustainability practices which we continually strive to improve every year. LIB was the winner of the Outstanding Greener Festival Award, 3-years in a row! Festival location is Temecula, California.
Anthropos (returns in 2025)
Arts, Music and Meditation: Anthropos is a new kind of festival with stunning visual art, diverse electronic beats and live acts held in Baldok, UK. Workshops, lectures, discussions, healing area, welfare, live painting, artistic involvement, spa & sauna spaces!
Anthropos invites you to the forest and the fields, out into nature: to re-wire yourself to the source. From an ancient seed an unforgettable and unique tribal celebration is growing. Stunning visual art, collective diverse electronic beats and live acts. Human connection, ceremonies and deep meditation. Teaching and learning.
Sonic Bloom (pending 2024 dates)
Sonic Bloom is a 4-day camping festival that brings electronic music, dance, art and human performance together in an atmosphere that inspires open channels of creativity for everyone involved, especially the audience… We have the ability to create a resonant field in which to unify all forms of human creative expression. Come participate with some of the highest quality live electronic artists and most cutting-edge producers to create what is an incredibly intimate boutique festival experience… a unified field. Festival location is Colorado.
Mystic Mountain (June 17th – 23rd, 2024)
Hosted in Rudopolje, Croatia, Mystic Mountain is a small, cozy and intimate gathering, special in many ways. It’s not a non-stop party site, but a magical place where things are balanced and where we really open our ways to our true Self, where we enjoy and celebrate life in a healthy way. And dive ourselves into carefully handpicked beautiful music at the same time. The concept is different than most festivals. Accepting no more than 700 people, it is very cozy, without long distances to cross inside the venue. The festival lasts for a whole week which is not common for small festivals. All this creates a very unique intimate vibe where people get really connected. Days are filled with music, workshops and hiking tours and evenings get longer as the week progresses.
Unifier (returns in 2025)
We were born to live creatively. Let’s come together and dare to be inspiring. Let’s create culture together. Through sharing wisdom, ideas, dancing, singing, painting, sharing story, poem and song, balancing our minds, our hearts and our bodies, and honoring nature, ourselves and one another, we come together without excuse to share our beauty. Unifier Festival will bring together an amazing group of inspirational artists and educators. This is a sacred celebration of all that we are and all that we can be. Honoring and bringing together different sub-cultures this gathering is a yoga festival, it is a tribal belly dance festival. It is a world and sacred music festival, and dance party, a live art show, a place for ceremony, for permaculture, for sculptural works and circus arts. It is a place to care for the land and to eat organic food, and to be inspired and inspire our kids and our elders. Festival location is Tolland, MA.
Stilldream Festival (June 8th – 12th, 2023)
Located in Belden, CA, Stilldream was formed in June of 2000, by a group of like minded individuals from the Sierra Foothills, and Sacramento, interested in the preservation of events of an earthy, intimate nature, which were becoming more and more scarce at the time. A common love for music, community, nature, culture, and consciousness has encouraged us all to unite and give back to the community that has always given us love, inspiration and provided growth. In the short years of our existence, Stilldream has gone from throwing intimate parties for our friends in a barn, to inviting thousands to take a part in our events in venues with decades of rich musical history. We continue to look forward to the evolution of our events, as well as the many new faces who believe in the dream and help us push it forward every year. We hope you enjoy your stay!
Shankra Festival – Switzerland (July 12th – 16th, 2023)
Located in Lostallo, Switzerland, Shankra Festival offers a six-day experience in an uplifting natural ambient below the summer sky, to celebrate life connecting with people from all over the world. Shankra Festival offers a beautiful camping area in the middle of a valley which is crossed by river Moesa and surrounded by the mountains.
During the years, our musical mission shaped itself to become a loud Message: we believe in pure music, bare from the influences of success and popularity, freely expressed by whoever really commits in its creation. Our line-up, gradually growing, is a well-thought program that differs from other major events, consciously including more and more emergent artists, uprooting the “headliners” system, presenting to the audience innovative acts: you will have the chance to be part of one-of-a-kind shows, driven by enthusiasm and energy.
Oregon Country Fair (July 7 – 9th, 2023)
The annual Oregon Country Fair near Veneta, Oregon, has hundreds of world class entertainers and performers, hand craft artisans and gourmet food creators lining up to provide, once again, an experience unequaled in the festival world. Absorb other-worldly path ambiance, parades and surprises around every bend. Dress up and come ready to participate in a time-of-your-life cultural immersion. The Oregon Country Fair creates a world unlike any other in a magical wooded setting embracing the meandering banks of the Long Tom River. The Oregon Country Fair creates events and experiences that nourish the spirit, explore living artfully and authentically on Earth, and transform culture in magical, joyous and healthy ways.
Bass Coast (July 7th – 10th, 2023)
Bass Coast‘s mission is to contemplate, to educate, to innovate and to CREATE! This is our festival. This is our coast. This is our Culture. Bass Coast’s primary vision is to contribute to the West Coast electronic arts community, by building a festival with international recognition. We are very proud to be west-coaster’s with the name BASS COAST; having the initials of the land and environment we are deeply connected to. The love of electronic music, community, and creative innovation in all forms, is at the core of the experience we are passionate about providing. The rich culture that surrounds our music is a creative community of artists, scientists, designers, yogi’s, environmentalists, freedom fighters, business minds, intellectuals, party-goers, poets and dancers. We believe the Bass Coast community is a supportive environment where we hope to inspire each participant to find deeper layers of themselves. Festival location is Merritt, BC.
BOOM Festival (July 20 – 27, 2023)
Located in Portugal, BOOM is not a festival only, it is a state of mind. The Boom mirror the changes that evolve in the universe by developing a unique experience that includes enjoying nature, neo-tribalism, some of the best contemporary music, mind-stimulating lectures by global activists, and inspiration of the finest art and performing arts. The idea is to create a space in this time continuum in which people from across the world can converge to experience an alternative reality – thus inspiring us to collectively channel the universal truth.
Heart Nectar Gathering (July 20th – 24th, 2023)
Hosted in Crestone, CO, Heart Nectar Gathering was founded for the love of the magic of intimate festivals and the incredible community connections that are formed. All we need is Love. Heart Nectar is home to the tribe of people that are here to make change through our own inner transformation. The love for transformation, awakening and liberation for a New Earth through cultivating frequencies of love and healing through sound, movement and sacred connection to ourselves and each other. Music is medicine. We are the nectar. We each have a unique flavor of honey- our soul essence. The blossoming of this gift is like what it feels like when a butterfly lands on your shoulder softly echoing the beauty of this sacred moment. Let’s soak in the nectar of creative juice into our hearts and bodies, expand and fly!
Cascadia (July 14th – 16th, 2023)
Cascadia Festival (formerly Photosynthesis) is a Multimedia Arts and Music Festival epically located in Granite Falls, WA. Our goal is to create an Arts and Music Festival where people from all walks in life, and all tastes in music are welcome and feel at home. We seek a sustainable community, fueled by inspiration, creativity, intimacy and ingenuity. We hope to provide a platform where everyone can learn, share, participate, create and grow. We know how strong we are together, and we wish to use that strength to cultivate unconditional love, compassion, acceptance, community and creativity. We wish to expose the beauty in all things and all dreams. Together we create intent from desire, deed from intent, and destiny from deed.
OZORA (July 31- Aug 6, 2023)
Reaching out into the deepest realms of your imagination and displaying, sharing that glorious, that grotesque, that unparalleled treasure you find within is one of the pillars of the Ozora experience. The experience of a parallel existence created by our diversely colored dreams and visions of the same pure unblemished space, paradise on earth, our fairy tale. A universe of openness, togetherness, where we can evolve towards becoming one with cosmic energies, with nature, with consciousness, with wholeness through dance, trance, creation, invention, transformation and peace. A playground where we learn to share and care, to express and connect, to create and heal, to unify and beautify the world around us and in us. Festival location is in Hungary.
Beloved (postponed)
Through the ages, we have called upon the One for Whom we yearn in countless ways, through myriad names. The term “The Beloved” embraces all of these names and forms of the Divine, affirming their Unity. Beloved is also a 4 day camping, art, and music festival on the Oregon Coast. We intend to present sacred music to help eradicate the illusion of separation from each other, from the earth and from The Beloved. We believe that the presentation of diverse expressions of sacred music at a single venue demonstrates their common Origin and our shared relationship as a global community of contemporary devotees. Through spiritual practices, we listen to the Divine communicate in the language of the Divine; through art and music, we express to humanity in the language of humanity. Each tradition communicates the Mystery and Love of the Divine in the language of a people, place and time. The current emergence of electronic dance music is for millions the language of their people, place and time.
Inshala (no 2023 dates announced)
Inshala is a transformational festival, held in the great outdoors of Southern Alberta, Canada. Inshala is a co-created gathering of people from many communities. People come from near and far to share their insights, talents and passions with each other. The Conference offers a variety of experiences from Speakers, to Movement Workshops, and Art Explorations; held within a chill space named The Desa.
This is a Multi-Generational event where all ages are welcome. Through collaborations and co-existing at Inshala, may we truly inspire each other to live our dreams awake.
Psy-Fi – Guardians of Gaia (returns in 2025)
Hosted at Leeuwarden, Netherlands, Psy-Fi festival is about a lot more than music. It’s about connecting people from all over the world. No matter gender, race, religion or color we come together as one. We offer extensive learning programs on our sacred island covering topics such as Psychedelics, Psychology, society, religion, permaculture, sustainability, ancient cultures, Shamanism and dance. It offers the experience of 5 days and 4 nights of Psychedelic culture: 6 beaches, 5 stages, 2 islands, and swim lakes.
Burning Man (returns 2024)
Burning Man is an annual event and a thriving year-round culture. The event takes place the week leading up to and including Labor Day, in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. The Burning Man organization (Black Rock City LLC) creates the infrastructure of Black Rock City, wherein attendees (or “participants”) dedicate themselves to the spirit of community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, leaving no trace. What started out as a small event on San Francisco’s Baker Beach and then migrated to the Black Rock Desert has now morphed into a vibrant global year-round culture of like-minded individuals who seek to live their lives in a more meaningful, powerful and self-expressed way.
Resonance Festival (pending 2024 dates)
The law of Resonance provides the answers as to how the law of attraction operates and creates the events, conditions and circumstances in your life. A gathering of like minded, motivated, music loving individuals.
Festival location is Slippery Rock, PA.
Patagonia 2020 Festival (pending future dates announced)
Global Eclipse is comprised of event producers, artists, and creators from all over the world. The core of the group is Symbiosis who have produced Symbiosis Gathering in California since 2005, an annular eclipse gathering in Nevada in 2012, co-produced the Total Solar Eclipse in north Queensland, Australia in 2012, and Oregon Eclipse in 2017.
The 2017 event brought together 12 festivals from around the world in a collaboration to celebrate a solar eclipse. The 2020 event will change the game again.
Art Outside (no 2022 or future dates announced)
Art Outside is a unique three day festival combining visual and interactive art, performance, film, as well as a wide range of music bridging genres, from bluegrass to experimental, hip-hop to dance music. Art Outside started with the idea to bring art out of the gallery and into a unique setting where different forms of art can connect and be enjoyed by all. The festival takes place at Apache Pass in Rockdale, Texas. This site features hundreds of acres of grassy camping areas and lush pecan trees scattered throughout.
Every year, artists from all over the world bring their works and their presence to Art Outside. From dancers to painters to new media makers – Art Outside is teeming with creativity of all forms. You are sure to meet some of the most talented and amazing artists here.
For a list of festivals, including Flow Arts and fire dancing, please visit Festival Fire.
Festival Fire is a blog & website that offers Festival news, calendars, early ticket dates, photos, videos, and fashion.
Check out Everfest, your guide to the world’s best festivals, curated by hospitality guru Chip Conley and his team of travel experts. We’re starting a movement and invite you to become more culturally curious through the transformative territory of festivals. From celebrations of music, film and food to rituals of the sacred, silly and profane, step outside your comfort zone and reconnect with humanity.
Visit the Festivals Directory for a list of some of the world’s top festivals.
Ever since his 2011 Coachella experience, Tucker Gumber has made it his mission to unite the Festival Community and work together to improve festivals. Check out his documented festival experience via his site The Festival Guy. He’s also the creator of the FestEvo app, now called Showmigo, a mobile app & website created for users to connect with friends and festivals across the USA.
For a list of Transformational Festival survival guides, please see links below:
Envision Festival (Rancho La Merced, Uvita, Costa Rica)
Burning Man (Black Rock Desert, Nevada)
TEDxVancouver – Jeet Kei Leung – Transformational Festivals
At TEDxVancouver 2010, Jeet Kei Leung takes the crowd on a journey through the world and experiences of transformational festivals! Watch his TEDx talk here.