Festival of Consciousness in San Marcos la Laguna, Lake Atitlan

Held in March of 2009, the first Festival of Consciousness attracted 150-200 people who attended workshops and seminars in San Marcos at Lake Atitlan.Yoga, meditation, capoeira (a Brazilian martial dance), drums, wine-making, solar energy, recycling and natural medicine were among the many topics of the two-day event.

Even more people would have attended if there had been enough hotel rooms in San Marcos, which filled up quickly.

The festival peaked with a party on Saturday featuring live music by Remolacha Beets, Giovanni Pínzon, and Michelle Peraza. The Beets really made the party explode by gathering all musicians on the scenario to jam together, making this the energetic highlight of the event.

Goals and Origin

“We wanted to do something to inspire people, to give them new ideas and information,” Alexis Goede (left) explained the goals of the first such festival at the lake. “The idea had been in the air for awhile,” Alexis continued. “I had talked about it two years ago. But I didn’t dare do it alone.”

Upon returning from Germany this past December, he was approached by Katherine of the San Marcos Holistic Center about producing a festival for March of 2009.

Katherine created the basic concept and structure for the event, while Alexis and Rosanna provided connections and organization. They all worked together to coordinate and promote the project with help from other many friends all over Guate.

Lindsey from Soul Projects and Rosanna Lagos from Restaurante Las Mananitas pitched in on design and graphics, while Eva and Araminta wrote the copy for the posters, brochures and promotional material.

A popular Guatemala City radio program, Global Groove (Infinita 100.1 FM) helped promote it there. “We also had moral, technical and emotional support from lots of friends around the lake and the world,” Alexis added.

Next Year’s Festival

Planning is already underway to do another festival in San Marcos for 2010, though it may take place at a different time of the year.
“We learned a lot from the first one,” Alexis said, “so our next festival will be even better.”