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WHAT IS EUPHORIA MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL?

FESTIVAL INITIATIVES- Ecophoria Green by Euphoria Festival

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HIGHLIGHTED SCHEDULE FOR ENVISION FESTIVAL 2017

WHAT IS EUPHORIA MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL?

Euphoria is a music, learning, arts and yoga festival in the setting of ‘Keep Austin Weird’ Texas!

WHO	Around 15,000 seekers of mirth, adventure and inspiration! From trendy hipster, to experienced festie, to curious kandi raver.
WHAT	A 4-day festival will offer world-class visuals, unique stage designs, artist workshops featuring a diverse range of mediums, and interactive experiential installations. Features include: early access to the venue, morning yoga, workshops, and special music performances. Permaculture, Eco Building, Movement, Yoga, Art, Music, and Health.
WHY	To learn, connect, dance, make new friends and impart lasting memories on ourselves and others.
WHEN	April 6^th –9th, 2017 (early entry passes for the 5th available)
WHERE	Carson Creek Ranch, one of the oldest existing ranches in Texas, comprising 20 acres separated by Carson Creek on the banks of the Colorado River. Conveniently located just minutes from Downtown Austin, the grounds provide a picturesque camping setting while still being close to the comforts of the city. 9507 Sherman Road- Austin, TX 78742
HOW	Buy a ticket, read the FAQ, pack light, get a sitter for your pet, fly into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, hop into an taxi and 5min later you are here!

Last year Sparked Magazine traveled to 18 camping music festivals all over the Americas. We were determined to identify the best ones out there. Maybe not to our surprise, the independent, privately run festivals moved us the most. We will now champion our favorites for you going into the new year, and this is certainly one of them!

‘Keep Austin Weird’, ‘Hippie Haven’, ‘Blueberry in the Red State’, ‘Live Music Capital of the World’ are just some of the slogans used to describe Austin. Vibrant, youthful, innovative, health conscious, small business supportive and environmentally conscious: Austin, Texas is one of our favorite cities to visit. And the Euphoria Music Festival is one of our favorite music festivals to attend.

Nestled in the outskirts of Austin, Texas, is the Carson Creek Ranch, formally known as the MacArthur-Sneed Ranch, established as a Spanish land grant in 1851 and one of the oldest existing ranches in Texas. This is where Euphoria Festival has found its home, and where thousands of festival-goers find out why this festival is one of the best that Texas has to offer.

With a diverse lineup that continues to impress year after year, bonding tastes and styles on 3 separate stages, phenomenal local Austin food, a fashion market supporting local ethical fashion designers, and inspiring live art installations, it’s hard to argue with their hashtag #FindYourEuphoria. It might actually be the most aptly named festival to date. Happiness and excitement know no bounds when surrounded by acceptance, worldclass music and a synergized festival environment. And Euphoria meets that bill.

At Sparked Magazine, we champion the worth of the ‘transformational music festival’: that being one which does not just entertain you, but one that offers the intangibles that change your life. In future articles, we will go in-depth to explain the differences between the festivals on offer out there, from the purely commercial festival to transformational, so that you are better able to distinguish them. For now, imagine a transformational festival as a well-rounded experience of learning from workshops and speakers, with sound tracks of music ranging in styles and genres both live and electronic, and with the exploration of ideas and insights into a better way to live through eating organic/quality food, caring for your environment, caring where things come from, eschewing that which is processed, and the discovery of your body through movement, dance and yoga.

With their partnership to the Austin Permaculture Guild, a local Austin organization that teaches permaculture and sustainability practices throughout Central Texas, connecting the eco-community; to Sanctuary Yoga, a nonprofit yoga studio in Austin, Texas, that benefits the Amala Foundation; to collaborating with the producers of Art Outside, in creating the very first Art Outside Village, it is safe to say that the Euphoria Music & Arts Festival has matured in front of our eyes.

It has evolved into a ‘transformational festival’ without going so fast that it lost its ability to keep drawing the younger audience. And frankly, if a festival doesn’t have a young audience, we would not trust it. The youth in our world are the ones that can mark a festival with a ‘truth’ stamp. They may not always understand the nuts and bolts of how a festival is put together, but they can certainly feel and connect to its spirit in ways most of can only strive to match.

In the last few years, Euphoria has grown from a small gathering of Texans and musically passionate humans to providing an amazing 4-day festival for thousands of like-minded individuals looking for a weekend of dancing, connections, adventure, and self-discovery. Not to mention the best Silent Disco we’ve ever had the pleasure of attending. We believe festivals are an amazing place for understanding, bonding and growth, and Euphoria certainly provides the grounds for all of those experiences.

Pause to reflect in a hammock or find your balance at a yoga class, there will be no shortage of rest and recovery areas helping to energize you for the next dance floor appearance. Local artists will have their booths setup left, right, and center across the festival grounds where you can absorb their craft and take a respite from the sun under shaded tenting. Mobile art installations and exhibits will further create visual pleasure all weekend long. A fashion market will provide you with choices of clothing, accessories, and personal mementos from a variety of local and out-of-state ethical merchants. Water stations will abound for your refreshment during the hot days, and ample mini bars will serve anything from soda to cider to your preferred cocktail, quenching your thirst at a reasonable price. And numerous food trucks will offer you a true testament to the quality of Austin’s food scene, try as many as you can, it will be worth it.

Some additional notes:

YOGA

Daily yoga morning classes are exclusively for festival campers and afternoon classes will be open to all festival attendees, including those just visiting for the day. Learn more about the other exciting components of the Art Outside Village at Euphoria.
CAMPING

You have the choice to camp at Euphoria for a small extra charge or find accommodations offsite in the city of Austin. In our opinion, camping is one of the must have experiences of any festival, where you can immerse yourself in the culture, the vibe and the relationships you build; so if you are daring enough for that adventure, join us!

If you want to 1up your tenting experience, set yourself above the rest with an awesome hanging tent by Tentsile. Tentsile Camping Packages include purchase of a Tentsile Stingray tree tent + rain fly, which will be set up and hanging in the trees for your arrival. You get to keep the Tentsile tent + rain fly at the end of the weekend — it’s all yours! Purchase the “Trillium Upgrade” option if you want a Trillium hammock base as an extra level your setup

For the glampers, you have the EnlighTENTment tent rental choices, brought to Euphoria by Contentment Camping! Enjoy a European-style Bell tent in a reserved luxury camping area. EnlighTENTment camping packages include tent setup and breakdown, bedding, pillows, a lock, light, floor, rug, cooler and amenities. Choose from four cot and bed sizing options. Depending on the bed selection you make, the package comes with 2 or 4 festival passes. Note: Unlike the Tentsile package, you are not purchasing this tent to keep – it’s just a rental!

All EnlighTENTment & Tensile Camping packages include 2 VIP Festival Fly Life + Camping Passes ($800 Value):

Thursday Pre-Party Access
Preferred Viewing Areas
Private Bars
Luggage Drop Off Services
VIP Restrooms & Showers

VIP offers express entrance, private viewing areas (perfect for getting close and didn’t seem to get overcrowded), private bars and food vendors, private restrooms with A/C toilets and showers, and increased shaded areas (the lounge by Euphoria stage as an example).

WHAT IS PERMACULTURE? From the Austin Permaculture Guild website …

“It’s a way of thinking that you can use to make major improvements in your quality of life: your home, your community, your work situation, and other areas of your life. It offers human beings a way to get our needs met without trashing the planet or harming other people (or other species).

Many people first hear of permaculture in a gardening or farming context. But the terrain of permaculture extends far and wide, to include all other areas of human activity as well. Transportation, energy, building, manufacturing, business and finance, social organizations — you name it.

Permaculture is a set of design principles for anyone to use. These design principles are based on how nature operates. Nature has a highly efficient and flexible way of getting things done. By imitating nature’s approach and applying it to the design of human stuff (homes, buildings, products, organizations, landscapes, and so on), we can make things much better, AND quit wrecking the planet that we depend on for life. And we don’t have to sacrifice the economy to do it! Though this may sound like some utopian fantasy, too good to be true, it’s actually very realistic and practical. And you can participate!”

Design that works against nature is all around us: in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities. It wastes a lot of time, energy, and money. It’s costing the planet, and it’s costing us personally. And it turns out that we, everyday people, are the ones in the best position to fix things.

And finally here is Euphoria Festival’s manifesto …

“We’re curious creatures, constantly seeking better ways to connect with people; constantly seeking better ways to add value to their lives and give back. We think about how people devour music, information, and new ideas and then go out into the world and plant the seeds of change. We are fans. Pure and simple. We’re deeply enriched by the transformative effects of music and community. We belong to and live in the musical moment. We belong to a community who, through music, seek a deeper, richer, more inspired experience. We belong to Austin, to its freedom and vibe. We belong to those who doubt the conventional and create the exceptional. We belong to each other, one family camping and laughing and loving and sharing in the joy of music. We belong here, in this place, which is far more than a music venue; far more than a festival, it’s a completely immersive experience, a place where you listen, create, feel and literally — live in the moment. #FindYourEuphoria”

We hope to see you at Carson Creek Ranch!