“These four different events put cycling front and center as a vital part of the wellness of this community we live in,” said cycling enthusiast Joe Concra, co-founder and executive director of O+ Festival.
The fitness and fun kicks off at 9:30 a.m. with 18- and 28-mile rail trail rides, and a 50-mile road ride. Meet at the parking lot facing Schwenk Drive and corner of Fair Street, where one of this year’s artists, Kevin Freligh, has created a fantastic mural.
At noon, the whole family is invited to get on their bikes, trikes or Big Wheels for a guided 4.5 mile Mural-to-Mural RecO+very Ride that begins at the parking lot and stops at murals throughout Uptown Kingston as well as the YMCA in Midtown. Many O+ artists will be on hand to give talks in front of their murals. At the YMCA, riders are encouraged to stop and visit the recovering artists exhibit in the YMCA lobby.
At 1 p.m., as an optional 6-mile extension of the mural-to-mural ride, the Kingston Land Trust will lead a tour of the future Kingston Greenline. The tour route, which follows the planned system of trails, bike lanes and complete streets, will stop at the Trolley Museum of New York, on the Rondout Creek, and in Midtown near the hub of Ulster County’s once-vital railroad system. Tour guides will be on hand to share recent progress updates on the design and construction of the Kingston Greenline.
A map of the planned Mural-to-Mural and Kingston Greenline tour routes is available here. Note that these rides are guided, with volunteers serving as leaders and sweepers for the duration of the ride. Routes are subject to change.
Helmets are mandatory for all four rides.
The celebration continues with a complimentary barbecue at Keegan Ales from 1-3 p.m.
The O+ Festival is crashing on the couch of national sponsor Lagunitas Brewing Company during this fall’s CouchTrippin’ tour to New Orleans. The city-to-city party begins Friday, Sept. 19 at Doug Fir in Portland, Ore. with additional stops in Boston, San Diego, New York, Detroit and Asheville, N.C., before ending in New Orleans on Oct. 12.
Hear music from some killer local bands, enjoy some “freaktacular” entertainment from the Lagunitas Beer Circus, and sample CouchTrippin Fusion Ale, along with a lineup of Lagunitas on draft. CouchTrippin’ will also feature O+ Festival information, cO+ol merchandise and opportunities to make donations to the non-profit organization.
“We are elated that Lagunitas is helping us spread the word about our art, music and wellness celebrations that enhance entire communities,” said Joe Concra, executive director of the O+ Festival. “We will crash on their couch anytime.”
Parties are 21+ over only. First come first served. Learn more and find out how to RSVP here. See you on the road!
Friday, Sept. 19 — Doug Fir in Portland, Ore. — Music by Possessed by Paul James and Little Hurricane
Tuesday, Sept. 23 — Middle East in Cambridge, Mass. — Music by Low Cut Connie and Black Joe Lewis
Thursday, Sept. 25 — Silo in San Diego — Music by Jamestown Revival and Houndmouth
3-Day Celebration of Art, Music, Wellness Includes Mural by Renowned Street Artist Nils Westergard, Plus Classes in Yoga, Gong Sound Healing, Meditation, Dance, QiGong
New in 2014: ChronO+gram Dance Party; Reading/Drawing Correspondence SalO+n; RecO+very Ride
KINGSTON, N.Y.—The non-profit O+ Festival, which enhances community well-being by connecting musicians, artists, volunteers, local businesses and health providers in a 3-day celebration of art and wellness, returns for a fifth year in Kingston Oct. 10-12. This year’s “Correspondence”-themed festival features more than 40 bands and 20 visual artists, kickoff parade on Friday night, wellness ExpO+, children’s programming, and ExplO+re — classes in Yoga, Gong Sound Healing, Meditation, Dance and QiGong. New events for 2014 include the communityreading of published correspondence while sketching tableau culled from Outdated Cafe’s collection, Tin Roof Sessions, a dance party in collaboration with Chronogram magazine, a mural-to-mural bike ride for all ages, an 18- and 28-mile rail trail ride, and a 50-mile road ride for cycling enthusiasts.
Neo-soul sensation TK Wonder will perform with drummer Ben Perowsky at the 2014 O+ Festival in Kingston, N.Y.
“The idea of enhancing and strengthening community through the collected donated efforts of its members is the driving force behind the O+ Festival,” said Theresa Widmann, director of operations. “Artists gift the city of Kingston with murals and installations. Musicians donate their performances. Teachers gift classes in yoga and other modalities. Business owners and donors provide in-kind and financial support. And providers donate the health & wellness services that the artists, musicians and festival volunteers might not otherwise afford.”
That care may include traditional (medical, dental, ophthalmology) as well as complementary (chiropractic, Reiki and other energy work, massage, acupuncture and psychotherapy).
Festival attendees are easy to spot. Their monetary donations, which help cover the cost of putting on the festival, entitle them to all-access red wristbands that cover entry to Friday, Saturday and Sunday concerts, Saturday’s ExplO+re classes, Tin Roof Sessions on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Saturday night dance party, Correspondence SalO+n, and Sunday bike rides. Early birds can take advantage of a special rate and be added to the donor guestlist by purchasing here.
Singer/songwriter Kevin Devine will play the 2014 O+ Festival in Kingston, N.Y. (Photo by Ninelle Efremova)
As in years past, many incredibly talented and renowned musicians have submitted to play the Festival. Some highlights include: Folk-singer Kevin Devine (New York); Xylouris White (Greece, Australia), which features frequent PJ Harvey/Nick Cave collaborator Jim White and Greek lutenist George Xylouris; electro-pop act Young Magic (Brooklyn, N.Y.); a special collaboration between drummer Ben Perowsky and neo-soul/rap sensation TK Wonder (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who has opened for everyone from Sting to Die Antwoord; SXSW ’14 standouts Landlady (Brooklyn, N.Y.); and Arc Iris, the acclaimed anti-folk collective from Providence, R.I. (See the full list below.)
The public art-making that takes place during the O+ Festival is earning the city of Kingston a reputation as a must-see destination for murals. Last year, internationally renowned street artist Gaia created “Artemis Emerging from the Quarry,” Brooklyn-based Lmnopi made “Pretty Nose and the Dakota Unity Riders” and local painter Kimberly Kae gifted “Bilancia.”
Street artist Nils Westergard, who makes murals all over the world, will paint in Kingston during the 2014 O+ Festival. (Photo by David Roots)
This year’s artists make their own mark on the community as they visually explore the theme of “Correspondence”. Kingston-based artist Keith Carollo (formerly of Fred Flare) will seal the city with a kiss (SWAK); Jack Dishel (former lead guitarist of the Moldy Peaches) returns to his graffiti roots in collaboration with Vor 138; Richmond, Va.-based street artist Nils Westergard, known for celebrating everyday people’s contributions to community, will be back in the U.S. for O+ after a number of mural commissions in Europe; and an installation that examines the needs of the Kingston community will be mounted by the artist Complete of Mass Mosaic.
For up-to-date information about the Festival lineup, profiles of this year’s participants and sponsors, and donation protocol for the wristbands, please sign up for the O+ Festival mailing list and follow the Festival on social media.
The O+ Festival, which has plans to open a year-round multi-use facility in Kingston to provide artists and musicians with complementary care services, wellness education, and other preventative care options, was recently granted 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by the IRS. It was also recognized at the 2014 Ulster County Executive’s Arts Awards for Art in Public Places.
Last November, the Festival expanded to the West Coast with a 3-day celebration in San Francisco. This year, it heads to Petaluma, Calif., Nov. 7-9.
“O+ is the finest example of mutually beneficial symbiosis I’ve ever experienced. I had been on the road nearly full time for five years, without insurance. One of my teeth had gotten to the point that I could not eat solid food without pain. I had about given up on designs of a long life. Dr. Tom Cingel fixed me up in exchange for playing music. It honestly gave me a new lease on life, and made me feel as if what I did had a real value. It’s the best thing ever, and I hope the heart and soul of it becomes the central message of all good people.” — Jeff Bailey, member of Phosphorescent, 2007 -2013
CONFIRMED BANDS FOR THE 2014 O+ FESTIVAL IN KINGSTON, N.Y.:
3-Day Celebration of Art, Music, Wellness Includes Mural by Renowned Street Artist Nils Westergard, Plus Classes in Yoga, Gong Sound Healing, Meditation, Dance, QiGong
New in 2014: ChronO+gram Dance Party; Reading/Drawing Correspondence SalO+n; RecO+very Ride
KINGSTON, N.Y.—The non-profit O+ Festival, which enhances community well-being by connecting musicians, artists, volunteers, local businesses and health providers in a 3-day celebration of art and wellness, returns for a fifth year in Kingston Oct. 10-12. This year’s “Correspondence”-themed festival features more than 40 bands and 20 visual artists, kickoff parade on Friday night, wellness ExpO+, children’s programming, and ExplO+re — classes in Yoga, Gong Sound Healing, Meditation, Dance and QiGong. New events for 2014 include the communityreading of published correspondence while sketching tableau culled from Outdated Cafe’s collection, Tin Roof Sessions, a dance party in collaboration with Chronogram magazine, a mural-to-mural bike ride for all ages, an 18- and 28-mile rail trail ride, and a 50-mile road ride for cycling enthusiasts.
Neo-soul sensation TK Wonder will perform with drummer Ben Perowsky at the 2014 O+ Festival in Kingston, N.Y.
“The idea of enhancing and strengthening community through the collected donated efforts of its members is the driving force behind the O+ Festival,” said Theresa Widmann, director of operations. “Artists gift the city of Kingston with murals and installations. Musicians donate their performances. Teachers gift classes in yoga and other modalities. Business owners and donors provide in-kind and financial support. And providers donate the health & wellness services that the artists, musicians and festival volunteers might not otherwise afford.”
That care may include traditional (medical, dental, ophthalmology) as well as complementary (chiropractic, Reiki and other energy work, massage, acupuncture and psychotherapy).
Festival attendees are easy to spot. Their monetary donations, which help cover the cost of putting on the festival, entitle them to all-access red wristbands that cover entry to Friday, Saturday and Sunday concerts, Saturday’s ExplO+re classes, Tin Roof Sessions on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Saturday night dance party, Correspondence SalO+n, and Sunday bike rides. Early birds can take advantage of a special rate and be added to the donor guestlist by purchasing here.
Singer/songwriter Kevin Devine will play the 2014 O+ Festival in Kingston, N.Y. (Photo by Ninelle Efremova)
As in years past, many incredibly talented and renowned musicians have submitted to play the Festival. Some highlights include: Folk-singer Kevin Devine (New York); Xylouris White (Greece, Australia), which features frequent PJ Harvey/Nick Cave collaborator Jim White and Greek lutenist George Xylouris; electro-pop act Young Magic (Brooklyn, N.Y.); a special collaboration between drummer Ben Perowsky and neo-soul/rap sensation TK Wonder (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who has opened for everyone from Sting to Die Antwoord; SXSW ’14 standouts Landlady (Brooklyn, N.Y.); and Arc Iris, the acclaimed anti-folk collective from Providence, R.I. (See the full list below.)
The public art-making that takes place during the O+ Festival is earning the city of Kingston a reputation as a must-see destination for murals. Last year, internationally renowned street artist Gaia created “Artemis Emerging from the Quarry,” Brooklyn-based Lmnopi made “Pretty Nose and the Dakota Unity Riders” and local painter Kimberly Kae gifted “Bilancia.”
Street artist Nils Westergard, who makes murals all over the world, will paint in Kingston during the 2014 O+ Festival. (Photo by David Roots)
This year’s artists make their own mark on the community as they visually explore the theme of “Correspondence”. Kingston-based artist Keith Carollo (formerly of Fred Flare) will seal the city with a kiss (SWAK); Jack Dishel (former lead guitarist of the Moldy Peaches) returns to his graffiti roots in collaboration with Vor 138; Richmond, Va.-based street artist Nils Westergard, known for celebrating everyday people’s contributions to community, will be back in the U.S. for O+ after a number of mural commissions in Europe; and an installation that examines the needs of the Kingston community will be mounted by the artist Complete of Mass Mosaic.
For up-to-date information about the Festival lineup, profiles of this year’s participants and sponsors, and donation protocol for the wristbands, please sign up for the O+ Festival mailing list and follow the Festival on social media.
The O+ Festival, which has plans to open a year-round multi-use facility in Kingston to provide artists and musicians with complementary care services, wellness education, and other preventative care options, was recently granted 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by the IRS. It was also recognized at the 2014 Ulster County Executive’s Arts Awards for Art in Public Places.
Last November, the Festival expanded to the West Coast with a 3-day celebration in San Francisco. This year, it heads to Petaluma, Calif., Nov. 7-9.
“O+ is the finest example of mutually beneficial symbiosis I’ve ever experienced. I had been on the road nearly full time for five years, without insurance. One of my teeth had gotten to the point that I could not eat solid food without pain. I had about given up on designs of a long life. Dr. Tom Cingel fixed me up in exchange for playing music. It honestly gave me a new lease on life, and made me feel as if what I did had a real value. It’s the best thing ever, and I hope the heart and soul of it becomes the central message of all good people.” — Jeff Bailey, member of Phosphorescent, 2007 -2013
CONFIRMED BANDS FOR THE 2014 O+ FESTIVAL IN KINGSTON, N.Y.:
Same Amazing Festival, New Host City; plus Q & A with Dave Green from Lagunitas
With a lot of time and thought, O+ San Francisco has decided to expand out to the rest of the Bay Area with the desire to leave a solid impression of community assurance, urban renewal, and wellness celebration on a series of smaller, up-and-coming cities.
We feel that the nature of O+ is a grassroots movement designed to be grasped by the hands of its hosting community, and adopted to fit that city’s specific needs – to nurture the foundation of community while also inspiring new and ongoing relationships between care providers and the creative community. Our aims are to infuse each community with more art, music, and patronage to local businesses, and ultimately establish a year-round O+ headquarters in each hosting city to continue the innovation and community unity through the donation of wellness and art.
O+ San Francisco was an exceptionally powerful and successful event, as we raised more than $50,000 worth of impact of arts and wellness in just three days, providing dozens of artists and musicians access to free care, and gifting the city’s participants with a full weekend roster of music concerts, live art performances, healthcare events, workshops, and a community-run, volunteer-staffed pop-up clinic. We are proud of our positive effect on San Francisco, gracious of our past participants and volunteers who made it all happen, and incredibly excited to spawn a new O+ experience in this year’s chosen neighboring city.
With that being said, we are humbled and pleased to announce that this year’s festival will be O+ Petaluma, which takes place Nov. 7-9, 2014. Petaluma is a gorgeous river city and tight-knit community in Sonoma County, California, just one hour north of San Francisco. It is also the home of the Lagunitas Brewing Company, O Positive’s first national sponsor. Since coming aboard last summer, Lagunitas has demonstrated considerable support for the festival’s core mission, and has become a large part of the heart and soul behind the operation.
Now that the festival is taking place on Lagunitas’ home base, we are delighted to be working more closely with the real working, living, breathing people behind this incredible company, and wanted to get a little more insight into its connection with the festival, and its leadership’s thoughts and visions about O+ Petaluma.
Dave Green of Lagunitas Brewing Co. (Photo by Joyce Manalo)
We interviewed Dave Green, Lagunitas’ National Sponsorships and Events Director, and loved his answers so much that we decided to just post the whole interview:
O+: How did Lagunitas become involved with O Positive? You mentioned before of the founder of Lagunitas being an artist himself, and having a love for “eclectic” or “freakshow” art?
Dave Green: There is a weird, awkward, but so perfectly balanced connection that has been made. You speak of Tony, and his love for music, for the eclectic, for the oddities and for the bizarre, and truth be told, this is, in a way, how we happened across O+. We have some friends here on the West Coast, in said bizarre industry—The Vau de Vire Society—who helps in a major way to produce our infamous annual Beer Circus that we throw at the brewery here in Petaluma, and now for the first time this year out at our new facilities in Chicago. They help source the talent that Tony (Magee) loves. The contortionists, the sword swallowers, the weirdos that we all love to gawk at! Tony drives to see things that you cannot un-see, the things that push the norms. One of the people on their roster is Deb Gatiss. She was our connection. She had been working on O+SF with Joe Concra and reached out to us July 2013. The deed was done.
What happened next was typical of a brewery like ours during that time of year. It was brushed aside, to be handled after our “bigger fish” were fried. After a series of upward bounds I found myself with the O Positive connection dumped on me, and I was just learning the ropes of Lagunitas. I had started in June! We arranged a call with Joe and Liz Harrington, who coordinates their sponsorships … by this point, it was early October. But I was sold! I made quick work of getting a pallet of beer out to Kingston, and booked my flights. The local brewery, and O Positive sponsor, Keegan Ales, was kind enough to let us use some of his cold storage space to store our beer. Tommy Keegan, the owner, actually has some history in the Bay Area, and told me a great story of a visit to our brewery in the ’90s that made me laugh! I will let him tell that story though… So the whole weekend I ran around meeting all of the wonderful people behind this operation, getting that pallet of beer everywhere, and doing what we do! The entire community was so welcoming. I actually stayed at one of the care provider’s house, John McKinney. This house is probably one of the most beautiful, and one of the oldest houses I had ever been in, and damn does he keep it nice. I felt like I was sleeping in a museum, short of the red velvet ropes. At the end of the festival, I had been bitten. I knew that this was going to turn into something more than what it already was, and really had no ceiling to its success! From that weekend forth, I have spread the gospel that is O Positive.
O+: Do you have a special or personal story in connection to O Positive and/or what is the reason that you are personally involved?
Dave: Benevolence. There is nothing like this—that is so true to the roots of why humanity exists. To see the love that the community of Kingston glows with in person was seriously a life-altering occasion. It is hard to put into words what this means to me personally without getting a little emotional. Two of our biggest drivers for a company are community and music. O Positive is just that. Understanding it over the phone when I first talked with Joe and Liz was one thing, but seeing it in action was a whole new thing entirely. O Positive is so much more than just being about the music and the giving back to the community and the artists. It perfectly demonstrates things that have been in many ways forgotten in our modern society. No money, no greed, no “dog and pony” show—just benevolence. Just kindness. Just doing what is right. Something not religious unless you want it to be, but something that draws spirit. Like a cosmic infrastructure of altruistic ideals. Something more than just surface. Something deeper. Something that to some may be the unconscious.
One of my favorite memories is that of the first night I was in town. It hit me in two stages. We had set up a promotion at the Santa Fe restaurant in Kingston, where we would have a view of the opening celebration parade from the patio. The first was that the folks at the establishment were nothing but welcoming. Just gave and gave and gave, and asked nothing in return, all for the “greater good” that O Positive influences.
The second was something else. A gentleman showed up, searched me out, and handed me a large cardboard box full of T-shirts. The T-shirts were custom-printed with our logo, the logo of the restaurant, and of course the O Positive logo. He just gave them to me, and said that hopefully these would help! This man was having dinner at the restaurant just the night before the event, which is where he learned about O Positive, and the party we were having. This man also owned a print shop, and he told me that he was so touched by the story, that he went to his shop and worked throughout the night to create those T-shirts so that he could deliver them to us in time for the gathering.
I don’t cry at movies, I don’t cry when I am in pain, I don’t cry at funerals, but this—this made me shed a tear or two. Corny, maybe, that a man with my crying reputation was brought down by a box of T-shirts. Cardboard, cotton, ink. But what else was in that box was this man’s selflessness. Was his passion. Was his kindness. Was benevolence.
O+: What are your intentions for O+ Petaluma? And what are your hopes for the effects of O+ on the town of Petaluma? How do you think that O+ Petaluma will differ from O+ San Francisco and O+ Kingston?
Dave: Our intentions are simply to see this be successful. The beauty of the O+ Festival structure is that it tightens the bonds within the community. This is proven in the success of Kingston. The once barren, “wastelandish” town surrounding the hollow IBM building is now, a bustling, artsy community that has desire. I want to live there! Petaluma is a great West Coast counterpart to Kingston. An artsy, almost bedroom community to the SF metropolis, as Kingston reflects to NYC. Born from farmland, grown with music and once again, desire. Packed full of great food, great music, and great people. O+ will have the same effect here. There is a good web here, good bones, and the festival will serve as the glue, the fastener. O Positive will leave an impression by design that will strengthen this Petaluma web, and project beyond into further reaches of the West Coast, and/or further.
This is first and foremost about O+ and not about Lagunitas—down to the branding, the advertisement, everything. We are not in the spotlight. We work with a lot of great music and art festivals, and they all ask us what we want to do as far as Internet logo placement, radio ads, banner space. My answer is always, “Is this a festival about music, or is this a festival about banners?” I’ll sometimes hang my banners upside down to prove that it doesn’t matter. The feeling we get from watching the festival succeed is all we need to stay involved.
O+: Do you see a volunteer-run exchange service/clinic as a system that could work in the long run in the town of Petaluma?
Dave: I think Petaluma is the perfect place to establish a year round O Positive system. With the influx of great art, food, music, and some of the best holistic medicine within a stone’s throw, the community of Petaluma and the surrounding communities will have that soul, that passion, and that benevolence.
O+: What is Lagunitas as a company most excited about in terms of the festival?
Dave: To show our hometown of Petaluma what we have been doing on the East Coast! To introduce them to this new structure, to guide, to give insight, and to improve the community.
O+: Are there any other comments that you have?
Dave: The people that are involved with and have curated O Positive are of a special breed—not like the Westminster Kennel Club. I compare it a lot to the likes of the people I work with here at the brewery. We aren’t for show; we are for do. There are certain things that just should be. I leave you with a quote from Einstein…yes, I’m quoting Einstein:
“Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.”
O Positive is what should be.
O+: Thank you Dave.
The 2014 Petaluma website will be available soon and we will be starting the art and music submissions then. We are also looking for interested Healthcare and Wellness Practitioners, as well as festival Volunteers. For more information on how you can get involved please contactaimee@opositivefestival.org.
From left to right. Gaia, Simone Felice, Tom Cingel & Jason Russo.
We are pleased to release a short video featuring three “story bites” from the O+ community, shot by incredible documentarians, Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, two of the leading chroniclers of post-9/11 America, and internationally accredited most recently for their latest documentary, Flag.
In this micro-documentary you will go on a trip to the local dentist with Jason Russo of Common Prayer, hear Simone Felice’s harrowing tale of emergency open-heart surgery, and talk community development with the insurmountable street artist, Gaia. You will hear first-hand stories of O+’s national movement beyond each individual festival, and its impact on urban renewal in developing cities and communities.
“Over the last four years, it’s been incredible to see the impact of O+ on a community,” said Michael Tucker. “What started as a simple idea among friends—bartering art and music for care—has completely transformed Kingston and established a model for other communities to heal themselves.” Michael, Petra, and their daughter Matilda participated as artists in the first O+, and have been attending the festival in Kingston ever since, before working together to film last year’s event. Both filmmakers are thrilled to see the seed of O+ spread across the country to new cities like San Francisco last year.
In a combined celebration of the release Simon Felice’s new full-length album, Strangers, Jason Russo’s recent return from recording his next album, as well as Gaia’s return from creating new art in Australia, O+ 2014 invites YOU to join us in uniting our mission of cultivating cO+mmunity assurance, resilience, and downright lO+ve in people and cities across the continent.
Always wanted to have one of your original designs on the much sought after O+ Merch Collection? Wait no further, we’re having a Design CO+ntest! Channel that O+ energy and LO+VE and send us what you come up with. First Prize will include a visit to the Festival Clinic and TWO+ weekend Festival passes. Any and all chosen runners-up will get a Festival Weekend pass. Of course, you will also be able to enjoy the festival in pride seeing your design sitting below all the happy Festival-goer faces.
Email designs to info@opositivefestival.org. We prefer to receive them in vector format, Illustrator ideally. If that’s not possible, please send high resolution (600DPI) Photoshop files or JPEGs.
National Charity Revitalizes Communities Through Weekend-Long Wellness, Music & Art Events.
Kingston, N.Y.–O+ Festival, which is dedicated to the exchange of health and wellness services for works of art and musical performances, is now a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The new tax-exempt status, granted by the IRS, is vital to the Festival’s future impact, says Joe Concra, executive director of O+.
“O+ would like to thank every Artist, Musician, Wellness Provider, Business Owner, Festival Goer and the hundreds of volunteers who make it happen,” Concra says. “Achieving our 501(c)(3) means that your donation is now tax deductible and will provide the foundation for O+ to grow from New York’s Hudson Valley to California and beyond.”
Chapters of O+, which was founded in Kingston, N.Y. in 2010, host weekend-long annual art and music events during which participating artists and musicians exhibit their talents in exchange for access to health and wellness services from art-loving, health care professionals.
The Festival has plans to open a year-round multi-use facility to provide artists and musicians with complementary care services, wellness education, and other preventative care options. In addition, the new space will function as a location for ongoing support of art and music activities.
“The goal here is wellness. Not only the physical, mental and emotional wellness of artists and musicians, but the overall wellness of community,” says Theresa Widmann, director of operations for the Festival. “We want to continue to be a part of the growth of the communities we serve by developing employment opportunities both internally and externally. There is a very clear shift taking place, where local and sustainable are becoming the priority. This is how we can make meaningful change in the lives of our neighbors.”
The first O+ Festival brought together 100 artists and musicians, 48 healthcare providers, 30 volunteers and one amazing dentist. O+ attendees who paid $25 received a red hospital wristband good for three days of art and music. Those that couldn’t afford the admission were asked to make some kind of donation. Organizers were amazed at response from the crowds, which numbered more than 1,000. Everyone had a great time and a lot of uninsured or under-insured artists and musicians got the health and wellness care they needed and deserved, and were appreciated for the cultural contribution they were making to the area. The providers, who cared for the members of the creative community during the festival, told organizers about the satisfaction they felt knowing they had changed lives. And as a bonus they got to experience performances and view artworks.
In 2013, the festival launched O+ San Francisco. In the two cities combined the non-profit has provided more than 1,470 clinic visits and hosted 195 artists, including internationally renowned street artist/muralist, Gaia, and performance artist Linda Montano, and 210 bands, including Lucius and Spiritualized. O+ has attracted 350 volunteers and more than 250 wellness and health providers, not to mention 271 dental appointments by six dentists. Of course, all of the musicians call out the providers at every festival and say they are the real rockstars. Thousands of people have attended O+ Festivals, donating what they can to the cause.
The next O+ Festival in Kingston takes place Oct. 10, 11 and 12, 2014.
Mural by LMNOPi for Kingston O+ 2013 on an exterior wall of Keegan Ales, Kingston, NY
During the three day, fourth-annual, O+ Festival, 40 bands & 40 artists received 99 dental appointments & 350 hours of health & wellness exams in exchange for sharing their performances & artworks with over 2000 festival attendees. Steeped in dozens of wellness offerings of all kinds, uptown Kingston thrived & businesses had their busiest weekend of the year. < h6 >By the end of the weekend well over $100,000 worth of Art, Music and Health were exchanged to strengthen and enrich the Uptown Kingston community and the entire Hudson Valley.
O+ writer Paul Austin brings us up to speed on O+’s flagship event, now entering its fifth year..
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If Joe Concra could go back in time to 2010 and give himself one piece of advice as the first O+ festival started, what would it be?
“…now I know that it is a rising sun.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Enjoy the ride. Hang on; this is going to be amazing. You never know, day to day, what’s going to come at O+ and what O+ is going to do,” says the co-founder and executive director of the O+ Festival in Kingston.
It has been an amazing ride: 1470 wellness clinic visits, 210 bands, 195 artists, 250 health care providers, 15 days of festival time and two cities later, O+ is poised to keep on expanding. 2013 was the first year O+ branched out into another city – San Francisco witnessed their first O+ festival in November, a month after Kingston held its fourth – and this only the beginning.
As all this happened, O+ distinguished itself among festivals. It is not about just wellness, music, or art; it’s about all three. Together, those three parts make a whole greater than their sum: O+ is about building and revitalizing community.
In expanding to its second home city, the O+ festival provided a whole new group of people a chance to take the ride of which Joe speaks. Misty Rushing, Clinic Director for the festival in San Francisco, heard about and was hired on to do the job a mere two months prior to the festival taking place. “There was an element of magic, it seemed, how things just kind of came together at the right time,” says Misty. “There were a lot of balls in the air and moving parts that made it very stressful but equally exciting.”
Preparations for the O+ kick-off parade
Come together it did. Amy Gardner, one of Misty’s two co-producers in helming the festival out west, came to the Kingston festival the month before San Francisco kicked off. She said she knew things were good in San Francisco when she, “saw the same vibe and energy and great buzz that [she] saw in Kingston.”
Deb Gatiss, the third of the festival co-producers in SF, agrees. “I look at the festival as a huge success, despite the exhaustion, despite all of the things I wish we could have done,” adding, “I absolutely would recommend to anyone else to do it, and I’ll help in any way that I can.”
The trio is far from Pollyanna-ish about the experience, however. They know the difficulties they faced this year and are keen to correct and make it better next year – so that means yes, there will be another O+ Festival in the bay area next year. “It seems that the town [of Kingston] is really behind the idea/festival and willing to help. Our city of SF has elements of that, but also some big barriers, primarily legal and monetary in nature. The difference between having town support and having big city red flags is something to be addressed,” says Deb. So, Deb keeps two lists: “O+SF things that worked” and “O+SF things to work on.” Chief among the changes for next year are more fundraising and getting started earlier.
The Felice Brothers perform at the Old Dutch Church, O+ Kingston, 2013
The same is true for Kingston. Brandy Walters, a member of the Kingston O+ team that visited O+ San Francisco, said, “I think it went great for the first time out! There is room for improvement, but after four years we in Kingston have room for growth as well. It’s never a finished product and that’s part of the beauty. This festival will continue to grow and evolve to meet the current climate’s needs.”
Joe hints that the submission process for bands and artists will start much earlier and, among other things, says he needs to grow his staff and give them more responsibilities so he can move on to finding more big sponsors, like Lagunitas, Keegan Ales, and Topricin. Joe had special praise for Lagunitas: “They made all the T-shirts for San Francisco and did not put their name on them. They get it.”
O+ revelers passing the O+ Pop-Up Clinic
In addition to beefing up staff, schedule and fundraising, O+ seeks to spread to more cities in 2014. What town will be next will be influenced by how O+ feels they can make a difference in the community. “It’s about neighborhoods, it’s about community,” says Joe. “Artists and musicians have decentralized from the [large] cities because of how expensive it is.” Regarding San Francisco, for example, Misty and others pointed out that being a bigger place that is used to many festivals, the town’s venues are often booked and it is hard to convince owners to offer their places to the festival if something more lucrative for them exists. In a town like Kingston, people are more apt to help out from their sense of community and desire to make a difference.
There are also plans to install a permanent clinic in cities that participate, and make the festivals celebrate the clinic. The health care providers and others in Kingston are behind it.
The desire to make a difference and build a community is at the heart of O+. “Building a community around O+ speaks to the simple idea of…compassion and being part of a community,” says Joe. Because we’ve become accustomed for so long on huge companies to provide everything we need, “on a health care and community level we’ve forgotten this. We forget to look at our neighbors to see what they can offer.”
Artist Kimberly Kay beautifies one of Kingston’s walls with a beautiful hand-painted mural.
In addition to the fourth annual festival in Kingston on the record books, 2013 also added a fifth in a city on the other side of the country. The experiences of both teams will inform future endeavors for O+ as a whole. The biggest thing to learn about San Francisco, says Joe, is that the idea took root there and they grew it the way they wanted to grow it for their community. That lesson, in addition to numerous logistical insights, will be added to a growing playbook for new cities to learn from. It has been a long but fulfilling ride for all involved. O+ has taken Joe, Misty, Amy, Deb, Brandy and many others to places they never expected – but for all, it feels right. It will be exciting to see what’s going to come at O+ and what O+ is going to do in 2014.
O+ Festival’s acting executive director Joe Concra took the stage on June 7, 2013 for O+’s third TEDx speaking engagement — TEDx Longdock in Beacon, New York. The theme of the day was Community, Collaboration and Sustainability – three of the core tenants of O+.
Thanks to Scott Tillitt for inviting O+ and to Rob Penner for editing the below video of Joe’s presentation.
