A List of Raw Food Festivals in Summer 2010...

Wow, it seems like it's gradually starting to warm up all over the northern hemisphere now...time to plant seeds, get ready for yummy stone fruits and berries galore aaaaand maybe think about which raw food festivals *you* might love to attend this summer...???

Here is a little summary of all the raw-friendly festivals we've heard about so far for this year - do let us know if there are others you'd love to recommend... :)


* Ongoing, Monthly * LA Raw Bazaar * Los Angeles, California *
Monthly ongoing eclectic raw gatherings in LA with booths, food demos, speakers, live music and more... http://www.larawbazaar.com

* Apr 30th-May 2nd * Space of Love Harvest Festival * Greyton, South Africa *
A weekend of song, dance, harvesting, gardening, learning, visioning, prayer, thanksgiving and celebration. http://spaceoflove.co.za

* May 1st-14th * Raw Food Gathering * Vilcabamba, Ecuador *
This is a 'free' gathering, no entrance fee, no 'structure' - just turn up, meet the tribe, enjoy ;)
http://rawinecuador.ning.com

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on April the 9th I enjoyed:

1 quart water
mug of apple/cinnamon tea
3 cups coconut water with phytoplankton and chocolate extract drops
chunk of watermelon
2 cups greeeeeeen mango smoothie from Mr. M with a little spirulina on top
mug of reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups water
1 cup intense green juice
2 cups greeeeeen smoothie
mug of reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
bowl of yummmmy broccoli salad: broccoli, dulse, tomatoes, avo sauce (avo, oregano, cilantro, lime, salt) with flax crackers, followed by a couple of sapote 'dry-ies'
2 cups water

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*May 9th-16th * Eco-Skills Celebration * Hampshire, England *
Eco-skills workshops, music, yurts and tipis, community gathering and fun ;) http://www.ecoskillscelebration.co.uk

* June 11th-13th * Yoga and Raw Food Expo * New York, New York *
Held at the "New Yorker" hotel in NYC, this is an action-packed urban raw event with speakers, yoga classes, booths and more: http://www.nyyogaexpo.com

* June 19th * Simply Raw Festival * Ottawa, Canada *
This fabulous free festivals is one of our favourites ;) An all-day park-based event with talks, booths and lots of love... http://www.simplyraw.ca

* July 2nd-4th * Fresh Food Festival * Lolland, Denmark
Fresh fruits and greens, exercise outside in the sun, talks, food demos and more :)
http://freshfoodfestival.com


* July 24th-25th * Raw Food Health Expo * Santa Rosa, California *
This will be the second year or this vibrant little festie hosted by John Kohler. Speakers, booths, farmers' market and more... http://www.rawhealthexpo.com


* July 30th - August 1st * RåkostFestivalen * Jarna, Sweden
Speakers, workshops, food demos, live music and more in the beautiful Swedish summer ;)
http://råkostfestivalen.se

* July 31st * Bliss Fest * Parkville, Missouri *
A celebration of conscious living, music, food, vendors, speakers in a beautiful park setting :) http://www.blissfestkc.com

* August 16th-22nd * Ronora Juice Feast and Raw Fest * Watervliet, Michigan *
A fresh and juicy raw celebration in the mid-west: a 4-day Juice Feast followed by a 3 day raw festival - fun :) http://www.RonoraLodge.com


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on April the 10th I loved:

1 quart water
2 cups greeeen juice mixed with pineapple juice
chunk of watermelon
2 cups greeeeeeen mango smoothie from Mr. M with a little spirulina on top
mug of reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups water
2 cups greeeen juice mixed with pineapple juice
2 cups greeeeeen smoothie
2 cups water


on April the 11th I was blissed with:

1 quart water
1 cup greeeeeen juice at the market
water of 2 young coconuts
2 cups greeeeeen juice mixed with pineapple juice
½ a papaya, 2 cups greeeeen mango smoothie from Mr. M
2 cups water
water of 2 young coconuts with marine phytoplantkon and chocolate extract drops
3 cups green smoothie
chunk of pineapple
2 mugs reishi/shilajit/ormus tea
2 cups water

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* August 26th-29th * Raw and Living Spirit Retreat * Molalla, Oregon *
Raw food talks, camping, food demos, community, drum circle, wild food walks, live music, reiki, laughter yoga and more... http://www.rawandlivingspirit.org

* August 27th-29th * Vibrant Living Expo * Fort Bragg, California *
The 6th annual celebration of all things raw and beautiful at the Living Light Culinary School in N. Cal... http://www.rawfoodchef.com

* Sept 24th-26th * Raw Spirit Festival * Prescott, Arizona *
The 6th Annual Raw Spirit Fest is centred back in AZ this year and will surely be a raw mixture of talks, demos, food, music and fun... http://www.RawSpiritFest.com

* Sept 25th * Festival Of Life * London, England *
The 7th annual Festie of Life in London - vendors, live music, amazing food, talks, packed house, lots of love :) http://www.festivaloflife.net


WOW - I hope there's smthg in there for everyone to enjoy...we're not sure if we'll be at any of these gatherings yet, other than the one here in Vilcabamba - we'll see how it unfolds ;)

Please note that some of these festivals were so recently announced that they may not have (m)any details available yet - check their sites for more info as it becomes available... ;)
Also please feel free to share this list with friends...and remember, if you know of any other raw-friendly festivals that aren't listed here, do let us know on angela@rawreform.com and we can do a second round-up - enjoy... :)

All love,
Ms. Stokes-Monarch. xxx

Spreadin' the Word... ;)

OOooOooooo lalalalaaa…well, the epic CNN adventure continues ;) LOL – the RawReform main site is actually still down after being completely deluged with traffic the last few days (BIG thanks out to Kevin Gianni for helping us to get smthg back up online while the site is restored :). According to CNN, their piece on my weight loss was actually THE most viewed story on CNN yesterday, with over 1.3 million viewers :O
One of my old university friends, who now lives in the US, wrote to celebrate with me that this story “clearly surpasses even US politics during election year! GO GIRL!!!” LOL – FUN :) I LOVE seeing the simple concept of humans eating raw food going ‘mainstream’ like this...yeeeeeeeeeeee-HAH...
Amidst this media mayhem, the Monarch and I were also fortuitous enough this weekend to attend and speak at the uber-vibrant Festival of Life in London. YUMMINESS. Thanks to ALL of you who packed yourselves into our talks and came to say hello – hope you all enjoyed the day as much as we did... :) The venue was pulsating with raw energy, love and the pungent smell of durian ;) AMAZING to have SO many tuned-in, beautiful, conscious, loving individuals in the same space at once...add in outrageous amounts of raw chocolate to the equation and you’ve got an all-day, off-the-scale party of vibrancy and joy – how blessed we are ;)

on September the 26th I had:

1 quart water
2 cups ‘wild power’ tea
2 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, carrots & carrot greens, ginger, spinach
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers on the side, followed by a square of durian ice cream and a little raw chocolate
1 quart water
2 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, carrots & carrot greens, ginger, spinach
2 cups orange juice
2 cups water

While we’re on the subject of yummy raw events, here are some more upcoming choice places to jingle your raw jangles:

October 3rd: Manna Café, Brighton, England.
The Monarch and I will be speaking on raw food yumminess from 7pm – details HERE.

October 5th: Manna Café, Brighton, England.
‘Raw Winter Warmers’ workshop with those gorgeous gals Shell and Lara. Details HERE.

October 20th-23rd: Dorset, England.
David Wolfe ‘Metamorphosis’ annual retreat. Get a generous £50 off the ticket price with the code ‘METRET(RRF)’. Read more HERE.

December 16th- 22nd: Costa Rica.
‘Winter Solstice Reactivation Retreat’ with Philip McCluskey and Daniel Vitalis. WOW – winter sun magic...and currently $100 off at THIS LINK.

For MASSES more amazing raw food events, worldwide, check out the super-spangly Events Calendar on GITMR HERE.

on September the 27th I had:

1 quart water
water of 2 young coconuts
glass of green juice
2 cups water
¾ of a fresh durian, followed by a few different raw chocolate yummables and 2 fresh figs – WOW ;)
2 cups water
2 cups ‘wild power’ tea


on September the 28th I had:

1.5 quarts water
2 cups veggie juice: celery, cucumber, carrots with greens, spinach, lettuce, ginger
2 cups energy soup with flax crackers, followed by tastings of lime/coconut cheesecake and chocolate cheesecake, left over from the Festie of Life
1 quart water
2 cups 'wild power' tea

I’d love to share another amazing ‘healthy eating’ story that our friend Paul Nison recently posted to his blog. I think this is SO cool and encourage you to go and check it out in full HERE on Paul’s blog ‘The Raw Life’…
The story is about a friend of Paul’s called Bernando LaPallo, who is 107 YEARS OLD and looks...about 60-smthg, never gets ill and according to Paul:

“...eats only organic fruits and vegetables, fish and a homemade juice he makes fresh everyday for himself and his wife of 47 years, Georgette.
LaPallo’s dark face has hardly any wrinkles and his black hair has just specks of gray.
He still drives, has his original teeth and doesn’t wear a hearing aid.
LaPallo rises at 5 a.m. daily to walk several times around a nearby park, taking off his shoes to walk in the grass.”

WOW – check out that picture of him – a living testimony to eating simple foods, straight from Mama Earth... :) The energy of Bernando reminds me of the description of Anastasia’s Grandfathers in the Ringing Cedars series of books...so inspiring :)

All love,
Angela. xxx

Saturn and Cracao Controversies...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK....Saturn moved out of Leo and into Virgo today…and so begin-eth my personal Saturn Return...hooooold on... ;)
Saturn moves into a new sign about every two and a half years and starts to turn its spotlight onto a different part of our being…so, we’re heading now from a focus on ‘personal’/leadership/creative issues to ‘transpersonal’/service/healing…
Master Astrologer Julian Venables says about Saturn:
“It’s the planet that shows us where through effort, hard work and responsibility we gain personal or worldly success. Saturn’s central function is that of making us adults (whatever actual age you are) by assigning us with emotional responsibilities that bring about maturation. Virgo is the sign of analysis and perfection, as well as being linked to health, work and service.”
He makes this exciting prediction for the coming years:
“Alternative and holistic health may be given more form and structure. Personal health issues will also feature big with further critical research into the quality of food products available to consumers. The concept behind ‘dieting’ fads may start to be replaced with learning about nutrition and balanced diets.”
To read more about how Saturn is likely to affect YOUR path, see HERE...

On September the 1st I had:

1.5 litres water
600ml warm water with lemon
400ml orange/grapefruit juice
500ml green juice
slice of watermelon
little bowl of avocado blended with banana, swirled with sprouts, maca and pumpkin seeds
500ml water
water of a young coconut
300ml hemp/mango/peach smoothie
plate of marvellous Raw Greek creations
slice of exquisite lemon/cinnamon cheesecake
cracao bliss balls from Conscious Chocolate
1 litre water

I spoke yesterday at the wonderful Festival of Life in London – FUN :) WOW…it feels like a huge family gathering to me – reconnecting with many of the magical light workers here in the UK…people selling yummy treats and beautiful clothes and amazing, loved-up, handmade products…mmmmmmm…I spoke to a packed little room of yummies – thanks to all of you who came along for it and apologies to those who were turned away due to lack of space – I didn’t realise – I’m sure we could’ve squeezed you in somewhere ;) ahhh, well…next year perhaps…or sometime sooner – we had quite a lot of requests to hold a retreat here in the UK in the near future, which sounds fun…so…keep your eyes open for news of that, or if you have a venue you’d love to suggest/offer for such an event, do please let us know – angela@rawreform.com ;)

on September the 2nd I had:

1.5 litres water
500ml rooibos tea
juice of one Satsuma
double shot of barleygrass
500ml spinach/celery/parsely/carrot juice
1 little cube of raw halvah
1.5 durians
2 litres water

OOOooooo, Mr Brian Self just published a VERY interesting article all about the effects of cacoa/raw chocolate – yeeeeeeeee-HAH ;) He draws on Native American tradition and writes about how this powerful food is a ‘medicine’ rather than a staple ‘food’. He explores the emotional and alchemical aspects of the brown stuff – the stimulating action, the alkaloids, the effect on the adrenals, the impact it can have on mood swings/balance and more…he quotes a Native American friend of his as saying “When we eat chocolate it is always after a meal or ceremony, it is not the meal and is used with great honor and respect." I’d highly recommend taking a look through this article HERE – I find it very well-written and balanced – so much of this ‘rarely mentioned’ info resonates for me…I love having some ‘cracao’ every now and then – for me it’s definitely like a stimulant/’party’ food though - not a daily staple… Thanks for sharing Brian ;)

One love,
Angela. xxx

Raw Events, Ferments and Pregnancies... (don't get too excited ;)

Are you a luscious lady, ripe for a touch of juicy detox??? Hmmmmm…??? If so, I’d highly recommend you shimmy on over to Ronora Lodge in Michigan for their second Women’s Juice Feast Detox Retreat of the year, starting September the 12th. Unfortunately, due to visa blahblahs I will not be present to facilitate this retreat as originally planned…the first JF retreat we held there back in spring-time was AMAZING though and I would be back there in an instant if it was possible…the fantastic news is that the modern-day mumma of raw foods herself, Victoria Boutenko has agreed to step in and head up the juicy joy team…yum :) Visit www.rawnora.com for more info ;)

On August the 30th I had:

1.5 litres water
700ml warm water with lemon
700ml orange/melon juice
600ml green ‘garden’ juice with carrot
3 plums
bowl of chia soaked in blended apples/persimmons/water, with dried figs, mulberries and dates
500ml water
6 fresh figs and a little box of jack fruit pieces
1 litre water

One of you marvellous popsicles – Michelle – wrote in with a couple of questions:

If you have the time, could you share the sauerkraut recipe you enjoy so often? I've made some cultured veggies in the past but wouldn't be able to eat those daily on a bet. And when if/you become pregnant, how will you change your diet if at all? If that is not something you've considered, please forgive me asking. Thank you so much! Michelle

Mmmmmm…yes…sauerkraut…actually, the one we’ve been eating of late is an unpasteurised one we’re buying from Bionova here in the UK…here’s a quick run-down of how I WOULD make it if I were to do it myself though:

Cut up a head of cabbage, really finely. Put with enough water to cover the cabbage, in a glass vessel in a dark-ish, warm-ish place, for about 4 days (keep checking). Make sure it’s covered. Add a little probiotic powder if you want to speed the process up…

As for being raw pregnant…well…my intention is that as and when I get pregnant and have kids, I would remain completely raw - as I am now - and would also raise them completely raw. I know too though that this seems to shift for many raw women when they actually GET
pregnant, so, I'll see what unfolds - I cannot imagine being anything other than raw though...we'll see...and I would feel very unpleasant about giving any child of mine anything to eat other than raw foods...they will have their own journey to explore as they grow up - I'd love to give them what I would consider the healthiest start I can...

on August the 31st I had:

1.5 litres water
600ml warm water with lemon
700ml watermelon/orange juice
600ml celery/cucumber/carrot/radish/fennel
romaine wraps with avo, fermented sunflower seed cheese, sprouts, cilantro (coriander), red pepper, tomatoes and pumpkin seeds
1 litre water
5 fresh figs
big juicy-smoothie hybrid of carrot/apple/cucumber juice blended with spinach and ginger
bowl of chia soaked in apple juice with mulberries
1 litre water

SOOOOO…the spectacular Festival of Life kicks off tomorrow in London…yeeeeeee-HAH…I love it…I speak tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at 5.30pm and Matt speaks earlier – at 3pm – hope to see you there if you’re around ;) More info on the site http://www.festivaloflife.net…

One love,
Angela. xxx

'Passion for Paradise'...;)

On September the 1st I’m going to be speaking in London at the fabulous Festival of Life raw food/permaculture/vibrant living festie. I’m excited – it’s going to be a wonderful weekend. I speak on Saturday afternoon at 5pm and Matt will be there speaking too – at 3pm. I believe this is the fourth year of this wonderful gathering (perhaps 3rd...)– wow – it seems amazing to me that it was 3 or 4 years ago now that I first attended this event, as a visitor... It absolutely blew me away – I was in awe – it was the first raw gathering of its kind I’d been to and spending the whole day living, learning and eating among a crowd of so many like-minded beings was SUCH an amazing experience to me… One of the things I love so much about this festie is that it’s so affordable for people – entrance is just £12 for the whole weekend and all talks, sessions, food demos and so on are free once you’re in…there will be stalls, incredible raw food, yoga, music, dance and MASSES of vibrant joy…hope to see you there ;)

On August the 20th I had:

1.5 litres water
300ml warm water with lemon juice
1 litre ‘garden’ juice
1 box of blueberries
handful of mulberries and 3 tsp green powder
big green salad with avo, dulse, fresh tomato/garlic sauce, sprouts and sauerkraut
1 litre water
1 large papaya
1 litre water

I’ve stopped using deodrant. LOL…I love it…many raw foodists of course choose not to use any deodorants, or just something simple like lemon juice…well, after dabbling all over the ‘natural’ deodorants section of health food stores for the last few years, I’ve kind of lost interest…my body pretty much doesn’t produce that much odour anymore anyway – only when I’m detoxing something rough, like cracao…so, the deo’s become kind of…redundant…I’m enjoying this new experience – it feels like another happy step onwards into simplicity for me…I still OWN a deodrant stick and use it from time-to-time…overall though, my pits are mainly breathing free and easy these days…I’ve also started to sprout and regularly eat fenugreek sprouts, which have apparently traditionally been used in India for regulating body odour for generations…hmmmmm…interesting…have you TRIED fenugreek sprouts???…WOW, they smell and taste SO great to me…and are, of course, also happily packed with enzymes and nutrients…yummmm ;)

on August the 21st I had:

1.5 litres water
300ml warm water with lemon juice
150ml orange/grapefuit juice
700ml cucumber/celery/romaine/carrot juice
3 persimmons blended with 4tbsp of ground chia, with a handful of mulberries swirled in
500ml rooibos tea
500ml water
green smoothie of pear, romaine, spirulina, water and gojis
500ml water
greens/avo/dulse/sauerkraut/sprouts salad with fresh tomato sauce and hemp seeds
1 litre water

I went rock-pooling one day recently, when the weather was brighter…poking about in the rocks while the tide was out…it was amazing…I was in a stage of feeling a little tired of being incessantly ‘on-the-road’…that morning however, in my sun-kissed scramblings on the rocks, I was blessed by an encounter with a beautiful huge black crab. We stopped and gazed at each other for quite some time…I breathed deep into the experience and took the message that I, like the crab, am of course truly at home always, wherever I am…I have my backpack just as he has his shell…my style is a little more complex than his, admittedly…and yet, I resonated and felt at peace…thanks little friend ;)

All love,
Angela. xxx