Luminate Festival Booklet 2013

Luminate ~ Taste it!

With an expanding menu of summer festivals, why choose Luminate? What makes it unique from the other fabulous feasts of events on offer?

For starters, Luminate has its own sense of timing, positioned to be energetically in sync with seasonal rhythms; the beginning of February is the halfway point between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. This was traditionally honored by Celtic communities as Lughnasadh (Lunasa), a time to gather, share and celebrate in grateful awareness for the nourishing gifts from Mother Earth. It marks the beginnings of the bounty of the summer harvest, a much-anticipated transition in the seasonal food available, and is also acknowledged by Maori and other cultures living closely with nature.

Indeed it seems the whole festival is powered by the paradigm-shifting qualities of yin; co-operation, supportive well-being and intuitive holistic connections, with women in many of the key roles. Assisted by the ‘yang’ structures, technology and outward energy, the festival brings mindfulness to the balance and unity of these equal polarities within us.

The guiding principles of Luminate provide an environment where we can be the very best of ourselves; vision and action towards ecological sustainability, zero-waste, non-alcohol and family-friendly, within an expressive array of cooperative creativity.

The essence of Luminate is also inspired by the potential of co-creative consciousness. Or in other words...“Now that we found love, what are we going to do with it?”…For the first time, 2012’s Luminate facilitated ‘Activate’, a powerful gathering circle to set intent and visualize, unifying abundant heart energy with holistic physics to experiment/experience the inseparable relationship between spirit and matter.

The site layout of Luminate has been designed on a sacred geometric universal blueprint, the ‘template of compassion’, utilizing the golden phi ratio and the rhombic tricontahedron, which accentuates our interconnectedness throughout the macro to micro-cosmic levels; this contributes to the cohesive ambiance while providing a pivotal portal for ceremony and future-thinking dynamics.

On top of this profound foundation, with reverence to the ‘crystal mountain’ and its native beech forest, there are simply oodles of fun to be had! Fantastic music and dancing, inspiration and learning, and time for self and others with friends past, present and future (it’s all one!).

Are you tempted to taste diverse new flavors? And maybe add your own... vanilla is nice, but for a bit more spice, I recommend savoring the delights of Luminate!

Written by marsha jones, golden bay, 2012 36