DRUM! Magazine – Issue 13-9, Pg. 30

Described as “Live Aid For The New Millennium,” the Eighth Annual Earthdance Festival gathered thousands of hand drummers, percussionists, activists, and peace-seeking spirits for three days in the calm oak groves of Laytonville, 150 miles north of San Francisco. In its goal of joining the global community in celebration of peace and supporting international and local charities around the world, the festival’s main event featured a record-breaking drum circle led by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.

Opened by a prayer for peace, Hart and more than 4,000 friends gathered on Saturday, September 18 to form the world’s largest drum circle. While people were encouraged to bring their own drums, Remo donated 3,500 hand drums to make sure everybody could join in. Hart, Airto Moreira, Zakir Hussain, and company led a 45-minute drum circle that featured simultaneous playing and call and- response rhythms. “It’s beautiful to share this great energy with so many people,” Moreira gushes. “Thousands of people playing at the same time, that doesn’t happen every day and I feel totally up. I think I’m going to have trouble falling asleep tonight. It’s all good.”

According to Bob Barsotti, co-producer of Earthdance, 4,504 drummers registered to participate in the record-breaking attempt. “I now have to send the required information into Guinness, where they will examine it and determine if we qualify as the new record holders,” he says. “I won’t know for about a month, so until then, we can only speculate whether we have it or not. “We had a plane flying about 1,000 feet overhead and when the pilot crossed over the audience he could feel the drumbeat through the wings of his plane.

Another neighbor who lives about one mile up the hill above us was watching and he could see the air above the crowd pulsating with the drumbeat. He saw the plane fly through the airwave and shake with the beat, all visible from over a mile away. The power of drums!”

Those not able to attend the three-day event were able to catch live video and audio via the Earthdance website at earthdance.org. In addition to streaming live feeds of the main event, the site also provided webcasts of Earthdance parties from around the world. About 6,500 people visited the festival that featured a variety of booths and vendors and musical performances by acts like Ozomatli, Blackalicious, Spearhead, and Tre Hardson of Pharcyde among many others.