Festival of Life, Red Lion Square 14th September. Again, I had been travelling around Turkey and Greece but I arranged my flight to return the day before, even booking earlier than later so that I had an afternoon cleaning and preparing my equipment, collecting apples, and organising a vehicle. Yes, I am that well organised that I turned up about 1 O'Clock (in order to miss the parking fees) with a marquee of literature, SLP products including carob pods, shrubs and trees, and Extra Virgin 'Bum' olive oil, and a lovely assistant who shared the tent with me, although I forget her name. I managed to sell a few more bottles this year, but not much. In fact, when i turned up, late as it was, there was nobody there because the rain had put everybody off. But I still have the magic to make the rain stop during my events, and a few loyal kids came to me. I was busy all afternoon, whilst the kid's yoga group decided to move indoors. There was certainly a lack of kids this year.
Mary Fee issued to me, as part payment, LETS credits and I duly indulged the the variety of wild, raw salads, raw tahini, and a host of other fabulous foods which always set me up. I gave much apple juice away to the volunteers and still made small earnings for the day. But the main event is always the after party with Jane and Ahmia providing ecstatic barefoot dance. I wish that next year I could have a volunteer who would report on the numerous workshops that happen because every year I miss them. But interestingly I checked out one of the other entertainment halls and saw a projected video show with the Bhaghavad Gita being narrated over the top. In fact it was the narrator's own images which showed pencil drawings, more symbolic than anything else, of the dialogue of Krishna with Arjuna during the great battle scene. It is one of my favourite scriptures and encapsulated me so. I uncharacteristically drifted off and awoke to the last hour of drumming in the main hall. Then, to crown the evening a nomadic funky band came called Fantuzzi, and blew the night away, although it didn't quite match my dancing abilities. For further links check out OneSpirit's website and Festival of Life.