LEAF ticket holders may come for the music, but the healing-arts lineup has grown more and more robust, adding to a festival culture that puts a unique emphasis on wellness.
![](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/WELLNESS_leafhealingarts-480x320.jpg)
LEAF ticket holders may come for the music, but the healing-arts lineup has grown more and more robust, adding to a festival culture that puts a unique emphasis on wellness.
Find the full weekend schedule at theleaf.org. Here, Xpress rounds up a few non-to-be missed acts (like the return of The Bluebrass Project, pictured here).
Mountain Xpress presents your guide to the 2013 Lake Eden Arts Festival running from Thursday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 20.
Lake Eden Arts Festival announces a spooky, rootsy, psychedelic-laced lineup for Fall 2013 LEAF.
Children from the local nonprofit Children First/CIS performed a wide range of dance routines at LEAF this spring. This short video shows off their moves. Photo by Jodi Ford.
Zimbabwean musician Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi and his band have been on tour in the U.S., playing dates from California to Quebec, including a stop at Lake Eden Arts Festival last weekend.
The Illinois-based contra dance, folk and swing band plays for three dances (with caller Diane Silver) at Lake Eden Arts Festival next weekend. Photo from the Mean Lids’ Facebook page.
Abigail Washburn is a claw hammer banjo player, singer/songwriter, world traveler and, most recently, theatrical writer. She’s a former member of The Sparrow Quartet and a LEAF favorite.
WNC-based roots/folk/jazz/gospel singer and composer Lizz Wright has released four solo albums and contributed to many more projects with the likes of Jakob Dylan and Meshell Ndegecello. She plays Lake Eden Arts Festival with Free Planet radio — click through for dates and tickets info.
Northern California-based musician and yoga teacher MC Yogi fuses Hindu chants with hip-hop. He returns to Lake Eden Arts Festival this May — click through for dates and tickets info. Image from Smithsonianmag.com
The festival, held May 9-12, features headliners Mavis Staples (pictured), Ozomatli, Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, Oliver Mtukudzi & the Black Spirits and Abigail Washburn.
And we have your complete guide to the fall festival, which features such rootsy heavy-hitters as The Mickey Hart Band, The Tony Rice Unit, The Be Good Tanyas and more. It’s time to plan your weekend!
LSS director Jocelyn Reese is always beating the drum to enrich school children. (Photo by Bill Rhodes)
Lake Eden Arts Festival names its October entertainers, including The Mickey Hart Band, Tinariwen, The Tony Rice Unit, The Be Good Tanyas (pictured) and George Porter Jr. and the Runnin’ Pardners.
Local producer Ben Gradison is traveling through Africa, helping to build studios, deliver equipment, and train youth and adults to create and record music. Follow his work (and listen to the music he’s recording with African groups) on his blog. Photo from the Likoni and Arusha Studio Projects blog.
The spring edition of the twice-yearly festival is May 10-13, but tickets are only available online in advance, and volunteer slots are going quickly. Photo by Cameron Yeager.
The roster includes New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band, bluesman Taj Mahal and Afrobeat heir Seun Kuti (pictures) with Egypt 80. Photo from Nigerian Music Movement.
Among the many musical acts at this season’s Lake Eden Arts Festival, The David Wax Museum (from Boston) played a soulful set on Sunday afternoon. Here’s a video clip from that performance.
“It was a photographer’s paradise at LEAF this past weekend!” says Xpress Office Manager Patty Levesque, who snapped these photos of the Lake Eden Arts Festival.
Autumn LEAF kicks off this weekend at Lake Eden in Black Mountain. Among the dozens of national and international performers, a number of local artists will also be featured on various stages.
LEAF 2011 Fall Guide