How Was The Harmony Festival?

[Tars]

How did it compare to previous years?

I planned to go this year. I was looking forward to seeing some of the performers and speakers. Then I found out that the walk-in ticket price had gone up from the $20 of just a few years ago, to $37 - almost doubled. It's also ceased being the "Health & Harmony" festival, to only the "Harmony" festival. Now it just seems like one of the myriad festivals that take place in Northern CA each summer.

If you went, was it worth the new higher admission? Did it have new features that made the higher price worth it to you?

[vbergeron24]

I thought it was great. I wasn't impressed with the booths (mostly overpriced clothes and multiple henna booths) but the music was awesome in my opinion. Erykah Badu was amazing and the other headliners made it worth the price of admission.

[margi]

I was there this year too....and with a booth. This was my fourth year at Harmony and third year with a jewelry booth. I thought the music line up and entertainment this year was fabulous--much better this year then last 2 years. As for booths....I have to agree with you that there was a shift in what was being sold. There were however about 70-80 fewer booths this year then previous years to make room for more dance and green space.

I personally wish there was more "health" with the harmony. I missed the booths and vendors who were there to promote health and healing. I saw very few of those booths and didn't seem to get that vibe as much this year.

The new event production team did a stellar job. Everything ran very smoothly. I was impressed with that part of it. It is a heafty price tag to pay to see one act or two. I would say next year buy the tickets early adn plan to make an entire day of it. See the different music and other acts on all the stages, walk around, eat food, nap under a tree and enjoy the day.

here is a link to some of the photos I took:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/74052419@N00/4VhMci

[SageOwl]

Erykah Badu was worth the price of admission all by herself! She was incredible. It was so fabulous to have a performer of her caliber in Sonoma County and at this particular festival. There's way too much country and rock & roll here for my taste, but that's just me! I like funk and hiphop and jazz and Badu is all about that.

This was the first time in about 6 years that I had attended the festival. Amazing how much something can change after being so similar for so many years.

I too missed the health and ecological booths and the handcrafted goods. I saw a lot of imported, over-priced tacky stuff. And even though there was some beautiful clothing there, it was all priced way out of my budget. I don't know anyone who can afford $120 scarves and $650 jackets.

But what I mainly missed was the spirit of the old festival. It was sad for me to walk around and see so many young men glassy eyed and staggering with beers sloshing in their hands. Everywhere I looked I saw people yakking away on their cell phones; I even encountered them close to the stage while Badu was on. Damn, that's just rude.

I saw the same thing happen to Reggae on the River a little over 12 years ago. Once the beer tents went up & the beer companies took over producing the show, the whole vibe shifted, and in a negative way. The addition of alcohol pretty much ruined it for me. There were too many fights and people puking all over themselves. I saw a little of that at Harmony too, but whoever was working security and clean-up moved on it pretty fast.

Since I'm an old fogie in my 50s, I can recall the H&H festivals from 22 years ago and the vibe was so sweet, relaxed, friendly, open-hearted. It wasn't so commercialized and there wasn't an underlying tone of people competing to see who could dress the most outrageously and say F**k every chance they got. There was a mean-spiritedness I kept seeing & feeling that was disconcerting. The energy just wasn't flowing lovingly like it used to. Health & Harmony used to be very child & family friendly. It's not anymore. Too bad. Now it's just another excuse for people to get drunk and stoned and act a fool.

I was surprised about the prices going up so much. I wanted to see Common & The Roots too, but couldn't see spending over a $100 just for three acts.

I'm not sure I'll attend again.

[mckindly]

I found it amazing, and I'm not ever really into music or "stuff". It was just crammed packed. I could have spent 3 days there and not seen or heard it all. I would think $37 (or 32 in advance) would be well worth the price for so much.

The health stuff was in the wellness pavillion, and there seemed to be lots of it.

The ecology was in the ecology area, and the children stuff was in the Fantasy Forest etc. etc. etc. It was so well organized! I again, could not begin to see it all and hear it all! I didn't even get to my favorite area, the meditation center. Every time I turned around there was another something I had to stop and see or hear.

In my humble opinion, it was the most amazing thing I have been to in a long long time.

[tomcat]

I have been going on and off since 1980 and I have always found it enjoyable. I did a trade for tickets for my family for Saturday this year. Had I paid the going price, I would have been disappointed. It has gotten to big for me to really enjoy. I did not like the hip-hop stuff at all! Puffed up ego crap, in my opinion. Ricki Lee Jones was great though as was Taj Mahal. I probably won't be going to the Harmony Festival again, if I have to pay full price... unless the headliner makes it worth the price.
Last years night show with Zero was over the top fantastic! I would have paid for a full day ticket just to see them... in fact, I did!
Tom S.