Raw Spirit Food Festival

I was excited to include the Raw Spirit Festival in my plans. The festival was held at the Live Oak Campground in the Santa Ynez Valley 15 miles NW of Santa Barbara June 5-7. Wow, what a weekend of meeting new friends, hearing interesting speakers, eating yummy food, yoga, great music, and camping!!

Kevin & Annmarie Gianni (on the right) on a run overlooking the Santa Ynez Valley

There is so much information out there on raw foods. I respected each speaker that strongly held their viewpoint despite the conflicting views with other raw food speakers. It comes down to everyone has their own path to figure out what works best for them. I came away with bits of info from everyone I heard.

Workshop with David Wolfe

Many synchronistic happenings went on during the weekend. Early one morning with all campers still sleeping, I am putting on my running shoes for a run. A woman walking by my tent joined in with me and we ran the hills together. We bumped into a group of runners which included health speaker Kevin Gianni and his partner Annmarie as well as a few runners from the RawRunners.org group.

Marg with RawRunners and Annmarie & Kevin

Camping was roughing it with the lumpy dusty ground hoping no poison oak was hovering near any of the oak trees. Loved seeing this guy meditate in the hub bub of the campground and expo.

One late night, I helped a woman put up her tent in the dark. It was a confusing set of poles and I struggled with this one. Surprise surprise when it all came together to be a lovely pink princess castle! Apparently, it was the only tent available at the Second hand store.

The next day I found out the woman I helped was Dr. Flora Van Orden who had been assistant to wheatgrass guru Ann Wigmore. It was pretty mesmorizing to get to meet her and listen to the wealth of information she offered... she had stories upon stories. Hope to meet her again someday. BTW she was around 72 years old, travelled alone and was up for sleeping in a child's Princess tent... no doubt I was impressed!

Marg & Kriya checking out Dr. Flora's princess castle tent!

The people at this festival were very open and welcoming. I loved all the new friendships made and how we all bumped into each other.

There are two more festivals on the schedule this year and I highly recommend them for anyone interested in a great experience and a wealth of information for healthy living.