Festival aims to heal those grieving from loss

Samsarafest returns to the Enumclaw Expo Center with a little more experience under its belt.

Samsarafest — Enumclaw’s festival of healing — is returning to the Plateau for its second year, and the four-day event is looking to pack the Expo Center.

From Thursday, March 21 through Sunday, March 24, attendees can participate in myriad physical, mental, and spiritual activities meant to restore the body, clear the mind, and relieve the soul.

The founders and organizers, Lax and Travis Burt, created the festival in honor of their daughter, Samsara, who died only days after she was born in March 2017.

Racked with grief, the Burts and their three other children, Rishi, Areya, and Bodhi, spent that summer recovering from their loss, and their quest for healing brought them to the decision to host an annual a celebration of life, not just for them, but for others who have also experienced loss.

“We didn’t want to be the only keepers of her memory,” Lax said. “We wanted her memory and existence to go on through other people.”

At first, their plans started out small — half a day of activities at the Enumclaw library or the Danish Hall. But as word of Samarafest spread, Lax and Travis realized they had stumbled onto something bigger.

“I didn’t know how many people in my own circle have experienced miscarriages or had difficulty bearing a child, and going through it over and over,” Lax said before the first Samarafest. “There are so many different stories.”

They estimated 500 people were coming to the inaugural festival — instead, more than 1,100 showed up at the gates.

“That was a lot more than what we anticipated and planned for,” Lax recalled.

Some of the draw was due to several well-known artists, musicians, and speakers had volunteered their time for the event, like Hannah Rose Crabtree, founder of Pocket Mansions, and D.J. Drez and Jesse Blake.

But another reason why so many unexpected attendees arrived was likely due to the fact that the Burts were not looking to make a profit. In fact, less than four dozen attendees actually paid for their tickets, they said.

This was part of the plan — Lax and Travis wanted anyone in need of healing to be able to attend the festival for free, and asked those who could afford tickets to offset the cost.

To afford this, though, the Burts had to dip into their 401K, and — because so many unexpected attendees arrived — costs were higher than expected, especially since they had to upgrade their liability insurance twice last year to accommodate.

This year is no different, and attendees can apply to attend for free by going to www.samsarafest.com/event-tickets to email the Burts directly, or purchase tickets to offset the cost for others.

Additionally, Lax and Travis are hoping for additional volunteers to help this year in exchange for attending for free, and can sign up at https://www.samsarafest.com/volunteer.

“It’s two hours a day, during the festival, or they can help set up or take down,” Lax said.

Volunteers can also navigate attendees to their events, help with food and beverages, be a photographer or videographer, or even be a “festival hugger” to help people calm down from a moment, Lax continued.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Samsarafest officially begins Thursday, March 21 at 8 a.m. with a 2K color run to correlate with the Indian Holi festival, a celebration of spring. The run is followed by a snowshoe hike, a flower crown workshop, and a yoga dance and movement class, all before the opening ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by a town crawl, “to blend the folks who are joining into the community here,” Lax said, and a healing drum circle, and a silent disco.

Friday opens with a yoga class with Rishi and Areya Burt, easily the youngest instructors at Samsarafest.

Rishi, 12, and Areya, 10, completed 200 hours of Hatha yoga training in Kerala, India, last summer as a way to stay close to their sister and improve their lives; Rishi hopes yoga can help him play soccer, while Areya wants to learn sign language so she can teach yoga to a wider audience.

Following Rishi and Areya’s class is an introduction into the Chakras class, mandala rock painting, a sound bath, and meditation with Hilary Paris and D.J. Drez. Later in the evening there is live music by La Dulce Vida, Waking Maya, and Samuel J. Music.

Saturday is another eclectic mix of activities, from capoeira workshops to group healing sessions, beginners yoga classes, and ritual dancing, all followed by another live music performance.

The festival ends Sunday, but not before Rishi and Areya lead attendees through meditative chanting, horse healing sessions, a gong bath, and finally, the closing ceremony at 5:30 p.m.

Many sessions have limited spots, are filling, or are already full. To see which sessions have room, or to register for an event, go to https://www.samsarafest.com/festival-schedule.

A yoga class from the 2018 Samsarafest event. Photo by Ray Miller-Still

A yoga class from the 2018 Samsarafest event. Photo by Ray Miller-Still

Areya and Rishi Burt will be teaching yoga classes at Samsarafest this year, since they’ve completed their 200-hour training in India last summer. Here, they pose in front of Adi Yogi (first Yogi - Shiva) at Isha Ashram in Coimbatore, India after completing their teacher training program in Kerala. Submitted photo

Areya and Rishi Burt will be teaching yoga classes at Samsarafest this year, since they’ve completed their 200-hour training in India last summer. Here, they pose in front of Adi Yogi (first Yogi – Shiva) at Isha Ashram in Coimbatore, India after completing their teacher training program in Kerala. Submitted photo

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