Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Bonfires for Peace is Back at Pritchard Park this Summer



"BONFIRES for Peace," the Traveling Bonfires' movable feast of family fun and community connectedness through music, arts and dancing, are back at Pritchard Park this summer—on Aug 19, Sept 9 and Sept 15, 4 to 9 in the evening.
     The events are free to the public. Pritchard Park is located right in the heart of downtown Asheville. Touch Samadhi, featuring Kri, Goadream and Sensoma provide music on Aug 19. Touch Samadhi, with a new set of DJ's, will be back on Sept 9.
     Touch Samadhi is a community of “trance Goa” DJ's that takes its spiritual root in Goa, a small state in India. Mythology says Goa is associated with “spiritually cleansing touch,” a peacefulness or consciousness that Traveling Bonfires believes fit well with its vision-mission of global peace and community harmony through diversity.
     “We see the need to effect a vibe of peace and joy in Asheville in the light of a record increase in crime and violence in the last few years,” says TBonfires founding executive director Pasckie Pascua. “We don't have to launch speeches, we just play music and enjoin the community to come out, dance and be together.”
     The Traveling Bonfires produced an unprecedented 16 weekend events here in 2004, and more through ensuing years. The organization has also produced similar outdoor and indoor events in New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Manila and Baguio in the Philippines where it originated, “instigating arts and music events and bringing people together in celebration of peace and multicultural connectedness. “
     The local band Zealots headline the Sept 15 event, which also features other local acts, poets and performers. Meantime, Traveling Bonfires holds parallel shows in choice venues in downtown.
     On Sept 11, visiting poet from England, James McKay reads with Pascua and Caleb Beissert at Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar, 1 Page Avenue. The group also holds another poetry and music event at Vanuatu Kava Bar on Eagle Street on Sept 22. TBonfires will serve “mung beans soup” (with kava-kava), a dinner staple in the Pacific Islands, especially during typhoon seasons. Both programs are part of the organization's “Love is a Flower” summer series.
     The Traveling Bonfires' events enjoyed the support of a number of local Asheville businesses, organizations, and individuals. Projects have benefitted non-profit organizations that work with at-risk youths, families of the disappeared, orphans, and disaster victims.
     For more info, http://ashevilletravelingbonfires.blogspot.com/ or call Marta Osborne at 828 280 1555 or email pasckie@yahoo.com


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