September 6, 2008, will mark the 10th anniversary of famed musician, filmmaker and activist for peace Michael Franti’s free 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival (PTTP) in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Beginning in 1998, this music, arts and yoga festival, dedicated to educating attendees on issues of social justice, non violence, coexistence and environmental sustainability, has become a staple of San Francisco. Growing from a crowd of 6,000 ten years ago to an estimated 60,000+ for this year’s weekend event, PTTP is one of the nation’s largest free annual music, art and action festivals with a variety of international musicians and artists, renowned keynote speakers and over 200 exhibitors/vendors.
The weekend-long festival begins on Saturday, September 6, with appearances by such musicians as Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ziggy Marley, Warren Haynes, King Britt, Cheb i Sabbah, and a variety of renowned DJ’s and other international acts. Throughout the event, various speakers including Namkha Rinpoche Lama, will address these various issues on the main festival stage and participate in the Amnesty International Sponsored Social Forum Speaker Tent. The Mezzanine in San Francisco will host the Festival AFTERPARTY, featuring an Allstar Jam Session and DJ dance party. Sunday, September 7 will offer a day of yoga at Yoga Flow Castro hosted by Power to the Peaceful Yoga. PTTP is committed to working with the best teachers available to provide free yoga to those in need and to bring yoga to people and places around the world (prisons, schools, developing nations) who have never had the opportunity to experience its many benefits. Visit www.powertothepeaceful.org/yoga for class schedule and other details. Again this year, Conscious Alliance will host a Food Drive. PTTP attendees are encouraged to bring ten non-perishable food items to redeem for an exclusive PTTP Food Drive Poster. All donations will go to benefit the San Francisco Food Bank (www.SFfoodbank.com).
Past artists and speakers of the event include: Indigo Girls, The String Cheese Incident, John Butler Trio, KRS-1, Digital Underground, Woody Harrelson, Angela Davis, Saul Williams, Dennis Kucinich, Ram Das, Blackalicious, Alice Walker, Talib Kweli, The Coup, Keller Williams, DJ Spooky, Lyrics Born, graffiti artist Vulcan, Youth Speaks Poets, Julia Butterfly Hill, and many more.
