Next year promises to be jam-packed for Winston Farm, thanks to a number of events in the works for the burgeoning outdoor festival site. According to Winston Farm and Schaller family rep Jeremy Schaller, if all goes according to plan, the farm will not only play host to the Hudson Project Music and Arts Festival, a three-day music and arts festival scheduled for the second weekend of July 2014, it will also be the site of a three-day yoga and music event called the One Love Festival, set for Aug. 15-17.
Brainchild of Kenneth Schwenker, creator of the popular Bhakti Fest in California, One Love will feature yoga teaching superstars from all over the East Coast providing a multitude of classes throughout the weekend, as well as food, music and workshops. Schwenker and Schaller presented the One Love Festival proposal to the Saugerties Town Board at its Nov. 20 meeting. The board unanimously approved a resolution that would allow festival plans to proceed and named itself lead agent for the review process.
During his presentation, Schwenker said that he felt that Winston Farm would be the perfect location for the One Love Fest because of the “Woodstock nostalgia” of the site, which hosted Woodstock ’94. He said the event will include a “Love Hub, where people can pop in and work on Distinctions of Love. Everyone talks about love, but love is a very practical word. It’s being accepted, it’s learning how to acknowledge other people, it’s about making people feel safe and secure, [and] that’s the principle of the One Love Fest.”
As for music, Schwenker said that it would be centered on Kirtan, a type of call-and-response chanting originally from India accompanied by guitar, drums and harmonia. And, of course, where there’s music, there’s dancing.
Schwenker went on to describe One Love as a family-friendly event where no alcohol will be sold and drug use strictly frowned-upon, focusing on mental clarity over chemical-induced highs.
This isn’t the first One Love Fest that Schwenker has put together. He’s organized two other One Love Fests, both in California. Like those two festivals, One Love at Winston Farm will offer attendees onsite camping. While the event team is still working out the finer details, they did reveal that fest-goers will most likely park in lots separate from the camping area. Attendees can buy a three-day pass that includes classes and camping or a day pass. “We’ll pretty much have yoga every hour,” said Schwenker. “Depending on the arrangement, we’ll probably have two classes going on at the same time.”
The teacher roster will include teachers from the area, and the event aims to encourage local vendors. “That’s important to us: Local talent, vendors and food,” said Schwenker.
While there’s plenty of work left to be done, Schaller said the event plan is beginning to take shape, similar to the Hudson Project, “and the parking plan especially will be following suit.”
Schwenker was pleased that the Hudson Project Festival was going first. “It’s paving the way for us,” he said.
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