Local Oktoberfest, October 18-19

Although most of us will not be at the real Oktoberfest in Germany, downtown Campbell is putting on one of their own on the 18th and 19th. Festival hours are from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. If you can spare a few hours from studying, then I suggest attending Campbell's Oktoberfest because it's local and only happens once a year. 

Spaten Beer is the beer distributor for the weekend and look for traditional Oktoberfest food like Bratwurst. Yum. 

Free parking, but remember to have a designated driver if you will be drinking. Visit the Campbell Chamber of Commerce website for information on the event.

If you'd like to learn more about the history and origin of the Oktoberfest celebration, click here.

LoveFest this weekend in the City

What is it: a parade & dance party festival

Where's it at: 2nd & Market in San Francisco

When is it: Saturday, October 4th at 11:30am

How to get there: take public transportation. Bart. Muni. Just get there.

Still recovering from a few too many Fog Cutters (see previous posting), I am bracing myself for the upcoming weekend. This Saturday, October 4th, San Francisco is hosting their 4th annual LoveFest. The festival is to celebrate diversity, music, love, acceptance and tolerance, and peace.

The parade is not one that you want to stand on the sidelines and just watch. You want to PARTICIPATE in this festival. Everyone is encouraged to dance the streets and have a great time. The music and parade start at noon at 2nd St and Market.

If this is your first LoveFest, you may want to check out the website to see what you are getting yourself into. The outfits are crazy, the floats are colorful, the people are happy and excited to be there. Here's a video I found on YouTube from LoveFest 2006.

This year, over 100,000 people are expected to show so my tip is to stay with your buddies and keep a cell phone on you in case you get separated.

Parade Route taken from the LoveFest Website:

• Floats will stage on 2nd st between Market and Howard streets Float and press check in will be at 111 Minna beginning at 10:30am. Floats to check in no later than 11am
  
• Floats check in at 111 Minna. It is open to the public and all 21+ are encouraged to come in and start the day off with one of their famous Love laced Bloody Mary's.
  
• Music starts @ 11:30am, parade begins ~12 Noon!
  
• We are asking for a donation to enter the festival site. Please help us continue to bring the love! With your donation you will receive some goodies (to be announced). The gate donation is absolutely crucial to the survival of the event – please support!
  
• All float sound systems will face the passenger side of the vehicle (north as they go down Market St.)
  
• Please don’t litter! Let’s keep the streets clean so we can be back next year.
  
• Have some class, use a porta potty!
  

For more information about this year's LoveFest, go to www.sflovefest.org.

I missed it last year when I lived in Santa Barbara. There's no way I'm missing it this year!

If you're by the coast this weekend...

This upcoming Saturday and Sunday, Pacifica is holding the 23rd Annual Pacific Coast Fog Fest. Pacifica is a small coastal town between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay, and it is actually my hometown. 

For most of the year, Pacifica is foggy. And when I say most, I pretty much mean everyday unless you are in the BOV (Back of the Valley). That's Pacifica slang. However, if something good should come from all this fog, coast residents for 22 years have been putting on the this festival with the profit going back to the groups in the community that contributed. 

I encourage people to go if they want to enjoy a fun festival with lots of food and drinks (try the Fog Cutter, made especially for the festival), arts and crafts, live music, and many local vendors selling their merchandise. There are lots to do for everyone in the family. September in Pacifica is actually on of the warmer months of the year and the chance of sun is very likely.

The activities for the weekend are taken from the Fog Fest website:

• Sand Castle Contest
• Rock Climber
  
• Parade Saturday (at 10am)
• Marching Band Competition
• Petting Zoo
• Kids' Rides
• Sea Creature Booth
• Music on three different stages

This festival is free and open to everyone. 

Hours are 10am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 27th & 28th.

Located on Palmetto Avenue in Pacifica, California.

For more details, visit: http://www.pacificcoastfogfest.com

Power to the Peaceful 2008

When and Where

Saturday, September 6, Speedway Meadows in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park was the host of the 10th annual Power to the Peaceful Festival. This free event began at 9am with a yoga session in front of the stage and wrapped up in the early evening.

History

Power to the Peaceful is a music, yoga, and arts festival that started in 1998 by activist/filmmaker/musician Michael Franti. The festival's purpose is to educate and inform those in attendance on issues like sustainability, non violence, coexistence, and social justice, as well as support Death Row inmate Mumia Abu-Jama.

This Year

There were many non-profit tents that lined the festival grounds and there were men and women walking around with clipboards to register new voters. Many event-goers brought blankets to sit on and enjoy the music. On stage, many spoke about about issues facing the country (like the environmental sustainability), local communities (like the homicides in Oakland this year), and those facing individuals (support of Mumia Abu-Jama). Many spoke highly of the importance of voting while slipping in their support to Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama. Conscious Alliance also hosted a food drive near the entrance of the festival.

My Experience

As a participant, I felt the festival was very informative and opened my eyes to issues I had not been aware of. I am always eager to attend events which promote positive energy and a peaceful world. It feels good to know that there are people out there with good hearts and good ideas that want to bring like-minded people together. Great times, good music, wonderful weather! It was a perfect sunny Saturday in Golden Gate Park.

Performers included:

Michael Franti & Spearhead

Ziggy Marley

Warren Hayes

Kev Choice & Silk-E

Rebelution

Power to the Peaceful's Mission Statement from their website:

POWER TO THE PEACEFUL MISSION STATEMENT
MUSIC. CONSCIOUSNESS. ACTION.

Power to the Peaceful is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the promotion of cultural co-existence, non-violence and environmental sustainability through the arts and music.

By bringing people together through music and art it is our goal to highlight the similarities and celebrate the diversity of all of the world’s inhabitants.

Through our many International concerts, social forums, film festivals and fundraising efforts, we invite people of all ethnicities and faiths to strive for Personal Peace, Community Cooperation, International Co-existence and Environmental Sustainability.

We work closely with grassroots organizations, businesses and other non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) to put on events that raise consciousness about the needs of the world today and inspire action that addresses those needs.

We strive to make each of our events more energy efficient than the last by constantly finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint as well as highlighting new energy efficient technologies.

Responsibilities as a Blogger

Responsibilities as a blogger:

• I believe it is really important to use your voice to start to dialogue. Someone may have the courage to bring up ideas or opinions up in a non-threatening environment where they can remain anonymous.
• Being a blogger, you can bring issues to light that may not get much attention through other media.
• There's the possibility of someone who was a passive Internet user, become more active in speaking out.
• Bloggers do not necessarily have to be writing for a cause or to cause a change or movement. Just blogging about what interests them may lure other people in to start their own blog, thus adding to the blogging community.

Good Morning

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. 

Just to let you know, the pictures on my blog will be credited to the website I got it from, or, in most cases, as the one to the left, they are my photographs.