Category: Festivals

Murphy’s Midnight Rounders – Interview and New CD

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Attendees at Sacred Harvest Festival had multiple opportunities to listen to local favorite Murphy’s Midnight Rounders. Shortly before they performed at Ken Ra’s Grandfathering ritual on Saturday, band members Brad Murphy, Teresa Frank, and Bonnie Hanna-Powers sat down with the PNC. A few of the highlights of this almost 30 minute interview are:

You can listen to the interview here using Windows Media Player.   If your browser does not support that link or you do not have Windows Media Player – you can go here.

You can catch Murphy’s Midnight Rounders this Friday at 10:30pm at the Eagles Club in St Paul as they celebrate the release of their new CD,  “Running On Empty.”

Magic and Art Combine in SHF Merchants’ Wares

Part of the Sacred Harvest Festival experience is spending a leisurely afternoon shopping along Merchant Row. You can find ritual robes, comfortable sarongs, jewelry, drums, and hand thrown pottery. I purchased a beautiful libation cup from Hawkdancing Studio. Some offer services such as energy work or body painting and henna. The merchants are willing to let you shop in silence or strike up a conversation. Some are willing to fill you in on their particular craft while you watch them work.

Skywolf SingingHeart prepares to embed a stone into a broom staff

That is the case with Earnest Stevens, known by his craft name Skywolf SingingHeart. He makes brooms and he makes them only while he is at festivals or on other high energy occasions such as a full moon.

If you see Skywolf at a festival and you want one of his brooms, I suggest you talk to him the very first day or you may not be able to get one. The reason his brooms are so sought after is apparent once you watch him work and listen to how they are made. Continue reading →

Dates, Theme Picked for Next Year’s SHF

During Sacred Harvest Festival there is a tradition of asking a question of the day at the daily morning meeting, which all attendees are encouraged to attend. Festival goers then have all day to think of a response, write it down, and hand it in. The next day a response is picked at random to be read during the morning meeting and the winner receives a prize. Questions this year ranged from “What is your favorite Sacred Harvest Festival memory” to “What are your constructive criticisms of the festival?”

The question on the second to last day of the festival was, “What should next year’s festival theme be?” Unlike previous questions of the day the winning answer wasn’t chosen at random. Instead, the Harmony Tribe Council looked through all the suggestions and voted on the selection that would become the theme for next year.  The selection was announced at the last morning meeting.

Dreaming the Fae is the theme for the 2011 Sacred Harvest Festival, which will be held August 6-14.

Other information given out at the final morning meeting was this year’s total attendance at 299 attendees, 45 of them were children age 16 and under.