M. A. Y. Fest!
~ by Chrissy Alspaugh
weekend of yoga styles, art, live
A music, drum circles and more are a few of the highlights planned for Brown Count’ s inaugural M. A. Y. Fest!: A celebration of Music, Art, and Yoga. The festival is planned from 4 p. m. May 13 until noon May 15 at the Needmore Community Field, about four miles north of Nashville on Indiana 45 at 4600 Plum Creek Road.
Attendees can enjoy daily yoga sessions led by local and regional instructors, nature walks, music based on yoga and meditation by local and touring musicians, art, vendors, reiki workshops, fireside drum circles, a tamale dinner, and spiritual guides.
Festival organizer Thom Pallozola, a musician and vendor experienced with yoga festivals, sought to create an event that matched the serenity and peace that yoga enthusiasts seek.
“ When you look at most yoga festivals over the period of any given day, there might be 30 activities going on but folks can only attend five,” he said.“ At M. A. Y. Fest!, the pace is slower, and you’ ll be able to do everything going on.”
The festival’ s yoga facilitators will include Mervyn Alphonse, who
Unplug with a Good Book
May 13 – 15, 2022
has taught and practiced Hatha, Vinyasa, and Kundalini Yoga, is a certified Reiki Master, and utilizes a 34-inch gong in his Sound Healing practice; Trish Rieke, who received her first formal yoga training in India in 2005, and whose teaching style can be described as yoga therapeutics; Heidi Kline, with Yoga Nidra sessions; Debby Siegel, known as The Yoga Evangelist, leading three different hybrid yoga experiences; and Erica Weddle, Yoga instructor and owner of Brown County’ s Simply Fitness.
The featured musical artist at M. A. Y. Fest! will be Shruti Nadis, performing improvisational music soundscapes during many of the weekend’ s sessions, with special accompaniment by vocalist Heidi Kline. The group uses instruments including the ukulele, shruti box, djembe, bongos, wind chimes, cowbells, wood blocks, shakers, ektar, wooden hand drums, go-
gos, cymbals, and more to explore the depth of yoga and meditation.
Also performing will be singer and songwriter Trish Savage; Stella Lumina, a touring artist from the Pacific Northwest; Mandy Allen, from Rushville; St. Louis-based touring artist Flea Bitten Dawgs; and drum circle facilitator Lee Kram.
M. A. Y. Fest! attendees also can participate in a Reiki session led by Jordan Serpentini, a tea ceremony with facilitator Debby Siegel, or a paddleboard session with instructor Erica Weddle.
Vendors will include metal artist Denise Martin, of Femme Metale; pastry chef Lauren Bickel; tie-dye artist Jodi Damon Williams; Derik Gratz showing live demonstrations on the art of knapping chert into arrowheads; and wooden instruments and boxes by Thom Pallozola, of Thomdawg’ s Music.
Primitive camping will be allowed beginning on May 12. The festival will have no water source, so campers should bring their own food and drinks. Dogs will not be permitted.
Festival updates will be available at the M. A. Y. Fest! Facebook page.
Advance tickets can be purchased at < https:// tinyurl. com / ytackz4y >. Tickets at the festival will be cashonly, because of the lack of cell and Internet service at the field. •
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