Bhakti Fest, the first and only family-run yoga and kirtan festival will return to the beautiful and sacred Joshua Tree Retreat Center September 6-11, 2017.
This pioneering gathering, known for non-stop yoga, kirtan, meditation, sound baths, vegetarian cuisine, healing body work, spiritual study, conscious community and transformation, continues to serve as a beacon for spiritual seekers from around the world.
For the first time this year, Himalayan Yoga Master and Co-founder of Akhanda Yoga, Yogrishi Vishvketu and Maui main-stay, Nicki Doane will teach. Other all-star yoga instructors include Off the Mat founder Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Jules Febre, Bryan Kest, Saul David Raye, Mark Whitwell, Kia Miller, Janet Stone, Sianna Sherman, Tommy Rosen, Pandit Achala, and local favorite, Urban Yoga’s Kristin Olson. For those who have never stepped foot on a yoga mat, to those who don’t travel without one, all student levels are welcome and encouraged to attend.
A curator of sacred sound, Bhakti Fest will host non-stop Kirtan and chanting on two stages, across a wide of variety of musical genres including blues, rock, pop, gospel, traditional, and hip-hop. Headliners include Grammy nominees Krishna Das, and Jai Uttal, plus MC YOGI, and long-time Madonna collaborator Donna De Lory. This year’s musicians also include favorites such as The Kirtaniyas, Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band, Govind Das & Radha, Larissa Stow & The Shakti Tribe, David Newman, Gaura Vani & Vish, Girish, Fannah Fi Allah, Shantala, Fantuzzi, Nina Rao, Devadas, Sheela Bringi, Masood Ali Khan and many more.
Bhakti Fest provides participants with the unique opportunity to interact and learn from some of the greatest luminaries of our time. Speakers include author of The Journey Home Radhanath Swami, Loyola Marymount University’s Lorin Roche, acclaimed astrologer Divine Harmony, Ayurvedic expert Mas Vidal, and for the first time, celebrated Sanskrit Scholar Ira Schepetin. As always, Bhakti Fest will screen digital satsang with the legendary Ram Dass, whose book Be Here Now helped bring Eastern philosophy west in the 1970’s.