~*...harvest festival...sept17-18...*~

let's start this entry off with the most recent happennings, harvest festival this past weekend. if there is a single one night party to attend in ontario all year, it is harvest. celebrating the autumn equinox, harvest brings the best people together for an evening of dancing and celebration. put on by alieninflux and promise, the celebration has been held at aldida farms about an hour north of toronto. two years ago, harvest changed venues to the wholearth farmstudio two hours east of toronto in hastings, ontario just north of coburg. it is a celebration of self-expression and community, and an event not to be missed.

seeing as my camera is still hosed from burning man, all of the pix i am including in this blog entry have been taken by other photographers. i will give credit to each photographer as i post the picture, however if you are the owner of the pikcha and would like for me to have it removed from my blog entry, please send me an email with your request.

my friend pat came in from london to pick my ass up in the tee dot early saturday afternoon. after packing up the car with camping gear and my mountain bike, we headed out of the big smoke around 3pm and headed east towards coburg. i love celebrating with patrick. i met him first year at university, and that guy is still there! he's finishing his final year for his phd in genetics. yah, he's a smart cookie...which is why i love partying with him. he presents such a scientist's view of thingz....he's a good balance to my dredi point of view.

we arrived in coburg and stopped to pick up booze and some food, then headed north towards hastings. my goodness, ontario sure is beautiful. autumn is just beginning and the leaves are starting to change colour. fall in ontario is simply breathtaking.

each year there is a large game of capture the flag played at harvest festival around 5:30pm. we arrived just after 5:30, so i missed the game...which is probably a good thing. last year i played capture the flag and had a blast, but after i was so tired from running (and combined with booze) that i passed out at 1:30am. i woke up at 6:30pm and began my social interaction. i was throwing a frisbee around and had so much energy people were asking me what i was on. my response was "5hours of sleep". not this year.

photograph by OTIS

we set up our camp and i got on my bike to czech out the venue. i was the only one with a bicycle this year, and i'm sure i've inspired people to bring one for next year. going from the camping area to the barn, pyramid, and party area is a pretty big trek. the bike made going back and forth so much easier. and i totally decorated my bike with flashing glow sticks and some lightning wire that i bought earlier that day. yup, you can tell i've been to burning man. hey, how else are you supposed to see me at night time? the lightning wire on my front tire only lasted so long. i lent my bike to someone, they rode it around, and brought it back with the battery pack for the lightning wire gone :(

photo by alex d

don't let my actions fool you. the shirt says so, so believe it!
photo by the watcher

the farm was set up so beautifully. such a gorgeous place to celebrate. the lighting was incredible, and it was made even more breathtaking by the extremely bright full moon. it was so bright that it created shadows! daam that sun is such a big burning ball of gas that it lights up a piece of rock so brightly that it casts shadows on us at night. and to think that our sun is small in comparison to its other cousins in our own galaxy.

photo by ektoplasm

there is something incredible about canada, and about the electronic dance community in toronto that is unmatched throughout the world. from the diversity to the freedom, it may not be perfect but no one does it better. as much as burning man was a life changing experience for me, there is nothing like dancing and celebrating with a few hundred of your friends...people who know you, who love you, who trust you. being able to be yourself without fear is a freedom so many of us take for granted. sure, i was able to radically express myself on the playa, but at least here in canada we can radically express ourselves with a joint in our hands and not be afraid of being treated like a terrorist by the authorities. there were no police at harvest, just open minded and responsible individuals celebrating together.

photograph by OTIS

i picked up these flashing glow sticks for $1.50 each in chinatown. they are about six inches long, battery operated, and have multiple light settings from solid to flashing. i brought them with me to harvest and attached them to my poi. nighttime poi without the possibility of setting myself on fire, schweet.

photo by ektoplasm

the music was as diverse as the people dancing. from techno, to psytrance, to house music, and down tempo in the morning, there was always something for everyone to enjoy. i spent most of my time in the pyramid enjoying more down tempo beats.

photos by chubbs

there was free food provided by the kind kitchen all night, including a wonderful vegan soup and corn on the cob. its like om for a night.

the light of the moon combined with a gorgeous mist created a very eerie and trippy atmosphere all night.

photo by alex d

photo by chubbs

but the highlight of the evening is always the lighting of the fire. this thing is huge! it was prefaced by some incredible fireworks. you could feel the heat emanating from the fire from far away. beautiful. it was like the burning of the man. people cheered, danced, fire spinners gracefully wielded their poi and fire staffs.

photo by chubbs

photo by alex d

it is so good to be back home. its parties like harvest that remind me how blessed we are to live in canada, and more importantly how diverse toronto is. the electronic dance community is top notch here.

we partied into the early morning, dancing together, tossing around frisbees, and enjoying all dat jah has blessed us with *puff* *puff* kudos to the alieninflux krew and promise for the best harvest yet. it may very well be my last for a while as i leave for the west coast in just over three months. thank you to everyone who made the vibe what it was. thank you to patrick for being my partner in crime. and thank you to a very special someone who continues to make me feel perfekt about myself when i am in her presence.

photo by kife

you can czech out the reviews on tribe and the om messageboard.

it seems as though i've lost a pair of poi at harvest. they are black rubber with red, white, and silver ribbon on a long silver chain. i lent them to a girl named tamara to spin with by the pyramid in the morning. i do not remember getting them back, and in my haste to leave i forgot about my poi.

i miss them. if anyone saw them, or has them, or knows someone who found them, please send me an email.
gracias

photo by the watcher

this city and this community kicks ass. i'm glad to be a part of it. i will truly miss you guys when i leave. there's nothing like riding around and having so many people yell out my name. it reminds me that they have been influenced by me as much as i have been by them, by you.

namaste
- that proud to be canadian guy