East Bay SongFest: A New Community Singing Event

This is 's inaugural year. Join us! Community Singing is a uniquely powerful and restorative force, and it's high time we had a weekend-long retreat event in the Bay Area. Living Room Choir founders and facilitators are banding together with other local and visiting songleaders to create this new multi-day community singing deep dive right in our neighborhood.

Songleaders and facilitators for this event are listed below.
The Weavers:
Amanda West
Heather Houston
Kaitie Ty Warren
Sara Stutz
Sheniqua Trotman
Vadan Theresa Ritter
The Support Team:
Aditya Rajkarne
Antonina Beyea
Deborah Leeds
Eileen Hazel
Elizabeth Mullin
Hot Summer
Jay McCarrick
Marv Zauderer
mo washburn
Trevor Justice

Some important things to know:

• This event is by sliding scale. Please give generously, according to your means. Every dollar goes collectively toward making this happen, so that we all may participate. If the low end of the sliding scale is a financial barrier, please reach out to us: we want you to be there. If you can give more, we welcome it; it supports working artists and financial aid. There is an EARLY BIRD SPECIAL going on right now; suggested sliding scale is currently $250-65. Each attendee needs one ticket (except babes in arms).
• We are gathering and singing on Ohlone land, and support Sogorea Te’s work of rematriation.
• Children are welcome and there will always be a crafting activity available adjacent to the singing for those it appeals to. We ask that anyone attending be of the mindset that babies and children are a valuable part of our community.
• All genders are welcome to sing together, in whatever parts suit their personal voices, without worry about being in the "correct" octave or being gender-assigned a certain part to sing (eg, folks who identify as men often get told to sing low parts. In this event, we leave it to each singer to decide what parts they want to sing).
• We believe that community requires care, especially for those most vulnerable. We will likely be asking all attendees to take COVID tests before arrival and be mindful of choices that will help us minimize risk and maximize a safe experience for all. If you'd like to know more about our approach, visit Living Room Choir's Wellness Safety Agreements. There will be ventilation.
• Meals will not be provided but there will be a kitchen on site with a refrigerator and microwave we can use. We will also be located less than a block from Solano Ave, which features many restaurants and grocery stores.

GENERAL SCHEDULE:
Friday:
5:00 PM attendees arrive
5:30 PM drop-in ritual together
5:45 PM opening song circle
8:30 PM go home for the night

Saturday:
9:00 AM arrival
9:30 AM opening ritual
10:00 AM song circle
12:00 PM lunch break
1:00 PM song circle
3:00 PM song circle
5:30 PM dinner break
7:00 PM evening circle
9:00 PM close for the night

Sunday:
9:00 AM arrival at park venue (outdoor portion)
10:00 AM Round robins
12:30 PM lunch break
2:00 PM opening ritual at church
2:20 closing circle
4:00 PM closing ritual and wrap up
5:00 PM be outta there

Mission Statement:
To nurture the community singing movement and each of us within it.

Values:

• We believe that community singing is about singing together and having fun, and creating a more sustainable, just world.
• We recognize we are building the community we want to see, and live in.
• We do our best to make this a space of integrity, intention, and maximizing safety to the best of our ability.
• We celebrate nourishment on an individual and collective level: we encourage everyone, including the song leaders and volunteers, to give and receive nourishment, support and nervous-system-gentleness leading up to, during, and after the event.
• We believe that, by singing together, we are practicing microcosms of what it takes to disrupt colonialism and live more gently in the world. For example, while singing a multi-part song, you have to be with yourself and with the other people at the same time. This is something many of us growing up in colonial culture haven’t grown up experiencing.
• We know that this event (just as people, gardens and cultures do), will evolve, grow, and clarify over time. We will commit to guide its growth in the direction of being an ever-increasingly welcoming and inclusive environment.
• We honor the pace of nature and recognize that we are a part of nature.
• We may bring in nature-based practices and rituals from the songleaders’ backgrounds; we recognize that over the years EBSF may develop its own community practices and rituals.
• We understand that missteps happen; when conflict arises we are committed to showing up for repair.
• Children are always welcome and there will always be a crafting activity available adjacent to the singing for those it appeals to. We ask that anyone attending be of the mindset that babies and children are a valuable part of our community.
• All genders are welcome to sing together, in whatever parts suit their personal voices, without worry about being in the "correct" octave or being gender-assigned a certain part to sing (eg, folks who identify as men often get told to sing low parts. In this event, we leave it to each singer to decide what parts they want to sing).
• We believe that community requires care, especially for those most vulnerable. We will be asking all attendees to take COVID tests before arrival and be mindful of choices that will help us minimize risk and maximize a safe experience for all.

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Host or Publisher Kaitie Ty Warren