There is a feeling in the air, isn’t there? Whether conservative or left-leaning, we feel ourselves in the midst of a great-happening. As I sit here typing these words, multiple states have joined in a “showdown” at the Texas border in a dispute between the president and the governor. Political unrest has never been greater, economic instability is tipping toward a boiling point, and some say the country hasn’t been this divided since the civil war. And yet, as all of these things unfold, a cosmic convergence is imminent.
In almost a month from now, Texas, the seeming focal point of all the dynamics and demographics which play host to these social occurrences, will witness a solar eclipse, the last of its kind for the next 20 years, and in the sliver of space of the full totality will take place a once in a life time music festival, which seeks to not only entertain, but converge the vast multiplicities of belief into a holistic and unified experience of healing and social transformation. Yet, as I make these statements, I do not mean to make some qualification of abstraction, as many often do, that the Texas Eclipse Festival will make concrete steps toward the realization of these goals.
Taking place in Burnet, Texas from April 5 through the 9th, the four day festival will begin and end with a ceremony to bring conscious intent and awareness into the collective crowds’ energy. These ceremonies seek to not just create a hedonic experience for its thousands of attendees, but to facilitate an experience of individual and global healing, which only the energy created at events such as these can help facilitate. That will not be the only spectacle present, however, as the event grounds will abound with visual and interactive art, of which Meow Wolf, the mega successful company which has brought abstraction into the tangible will play only a part of.
Within those four days there will be nearly non-stop music as five stages host a variety of sound from jam bands to psychedelic trance to seemingly every genre of electronic music one could hope for in between. In the last year or so Subtronics and LSDream have risen to the height of popularity in the world of electronic music, and both artists will be present, bringing the sound that made them great in the process. But they won’t be the only artists attending whose names are synonymous with peak festival experiences – Tipper, Clozee, 1200 Mics, Desert Dwellers, Big Gigantic, STS9, Tycho, and a list of more than 100 artists will be lending their soundscapes in the co-creation of this massive event.
To say that Texas Eclipse seeks to bring about the maximizing of the concept of ‘transformational festivals’ through music alone would be an ignorant statement. Man cannot ‘transform’ based on live music alone. This four day event will bear host to a multitude of workshops whose subjects include consciousness, technology, mindfulness, art, space, science, and Web-3, which seeks to transform our experience of the internet from one of centralized mega-corporations, to one of unity in decentralization through the blockchain.
This diverse lineup will include such speakers as the legendary visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey and Android Jones, to Paul Stamets, the modern day mushroom prophet, to Rick Doblin, the man spear heading the ‘Psychedelic Renaissance” through his work with MAPS, and a vast list of others which to attempt to narrow down into a small list of highlights could not possibly do them justice. Over this variety of subjects, which touch on everything from the ancient to the modern, the festival will host over 50 speakers.
Although many will regard Texas Eclipse as a singular festival is misleading, and calls to mind just how unique this experience will be. Disco Donnie is a name that calls forth decades of event hosting, and one that has stood true to the cause of the rave movement. But his company is only one of many who are involved in the hosting of this event. Bachstelzen, Beloved, Rainbow Serpent, Ometotle, Symbiosis, Cosmic Convergence, Disco Perezoso, Earth Frequency, Meadows in the Mountain, Re:Birth, and Origin have all lent their names and hands, creating a collaboration of festivals hailing from Australia, Bulgaria, Japan, America, Costa Rica, South Africa, Mexico, Germany, Austria, and Guatemala, to co-create a singular, international, once in a lifetime experience, all bearing down into a single location in Texas in which the last solar eclipse for the next 20 years will reach its full totality.
Whether an eclipse was taking place during the beginning of April or not we can all feel ourselves on the precipice of a massive social transformation. Twenty years separate us from this eclipse and the next one, and who knows what sort of change will manifest itself in that time, but we all recognize that something is coming. And who knows, this may be one of the last times we can gather together in such an expression of collectivity and explosion of creativity. The Texas Eclipse Festival represents a literal and metaphorical cry for unity, for the healing of ourselves and the planet, for community, for joy, self-expression, and if nothing else the sheer escape from the world of the mundane to the marvelous and mystical. If these words are appearing on your screen, then the call for you to join us in this wondrous experience has already been made. Will you answer?
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Buckley Rue has an BA in Religious Studies from UT-Austin and has interviewed some of the greatest and progressive minds in the psychedelic movement to date. He has hosted and been a guest on podcasts, as well as spoken at conferences and festivals throughout the US. He currently has two novels out titled ‘Afterlife’ and ‘The Titan’ available now on Amazon.com.
