Eastern Mass Rhythm Festival

THE GRAFTON DRUM CO-OP IS ONE SPONSOR OF THE:

Seventh Annual
Eastern Mass Rhythm Festival
Saturday, August 20th, 2011
11am - 7pm
River Bend Farm, Uxbridge, Ma.
Hosted by: The Eastern Mass Drum Coalition* (EMADC)

The Premier Drum and Dance Circle Event of the Season!
One harmonious all day outdoor drum and dance jam!
African, Middle Eastern, facilited, freestyle and more.

Djembes, Dununs, Doumbeks, Ashikos, Atabaques,
Bata, Bongos, Congas, Claves, Gongs,
Shakers, Spoons, Rattles, Timbau, Timpani,
Frame, Powow, Riqs, Tablas, Bodhran, Taiko

You get the picture--
If you dance, sing, chant or drum, come!

We have both Afridan and Belly dancing workshops this year!

What to Bring?

Your rhythm
Your drums
Your percussion instruments
A stool, chair or blanket to sit on
Water*
Snacks
A picnic lunch
Mosquito repellent
Sun block
Tents or shelter from the sun
Your family

and come enjoy the day outdoors bringing your inner rhythm out in nature to share with the universe! You may consider putting your name on your belongings as there will be so many similar drums, items, etc. floating around.

*Water: An important drumming tool

Keeping yourself hydrated while drumming is of the utmost importance. It's especially important during hot weather, or if your hands hurt or bruise. (If your hands hurt, you probably need to work on your technique too.) Drink a little water, here and there during the session, even if you don't feel thirsty. Don't overdo it.

What is provided?

Welcoming packet with festival info
Some large public-use drums
Plenty of free parking
Rest rooms at the park visitor center
Bottled Water ($1 per bottle)
Some sun shelters
Picnic area with tables and grills

If you don't own a drum, you should contact your local drum circle facilitator before the festival date and make arrangements for a loaner or rental. It is your responsibility to take care of this ahead of time, since we can't easily provide loaner drums on the day of the festival.

You are welcome to bring melodic instruments to the festival (flute, didgeridoo, etc) but should expect to be totally drowned out by the drums most of the time. There may be some quiet moments when your instrument may be heard, so take your chances.

Poi spinners are also encouraged to show off their moves wherever they can find room to not bonk anybody on the head. But for safety reasons, we'll have to just say "no" to flame spinners.

What to Leave?

Nothing, but great vibrations!

We must leave the park in the same condition that we found it, or we will not be welcome back. Please pick up after yourself and others throughout the day. That will really help to make our final sweep of the area a manageable chore.

What will the day look like?
Something like this! This is the last year's schedule. This year's schedule will be put up sometime in July.

There will be a 15 min. break and announcements before each workshop.
All times are tentative and may be rescheduled

11:00-
1:15 1:00-
2:00 2:30-
3:30 4:00-
5:00 5:00-
7:00

Free-Style Drum Circle Free-Style Drum Circle Free-Style Drum Circle Free-Style Drum Circle Grand Finale Free-Style Drum Jam and Dance Circle

on the hill: Fundamentals of Hand Drumming
with Dave Curry Intro to Belly Dancing
with Jamie Lee Fury African Dance
with Heidi Roth and Susan West

next to the visitor's center: Malian Rhythms
with Sidy Maiga Creative Drumming
with Rick Cormier Gong Bath
with Deb Stevens

Workshop descriptions:

Free-Style Drum Circle: this is the main circle and will be running all day

Intro to Hand Drumming: Dave will help those unfamilar with hand drumming and drum circles to gain understanding of how it all works and help those who want to create further connections with others in the circle and create richer musicality
Malian Rhythms: Sidy Maiga will be offering an instructional workshop
Belly Dancing: led by Jamie Lee, will give a good introduction to belly dancing and lead you through some intermediate steps as well
African Dance: Heidi and Susan will teach African dance steps to use in Freestyle dance
Creative Drumming: Rick will help participants learn how to break out of the same patterns that we fall into and find our own voice to extend our playing
Gong Bath: Deb will bathe us in the pleasures of the sounds of the gong as we relax.

Directions
FROM THE EAST Take Route 495 north or south to Exit 19 Get on Route 109 going west towards Milford At 2nd light, merge left with Route 16 west Follow Rt 16 through the center of Milford Continue roughly 4 miles through the towns of Hopedale an Mendon Pass the Imperial Chrysler dealership on left side Pass New England Steak and Seafood on right side Slow down and take next available right onto Hartford Avenue East Pass the signs for West Hill Dam Cross over the Blackstone River bridge The Tri-River Medical Center is on your left Take immediate left onto Oak street Just past Tri-River is a large grassy field on your left Pull onto this field to park at River Bend Farm The visitor center for River Bend Farm is a red barn directly in front of you The festival welcoming booth will be at the foot of the hill near the canal bridge	FROM THE WEST Take the Mass Pike to exit 10A Get on Route 146 going south towards Millbury Go 12 miles on Rt 146 Take the Route 16 exit for Uxbridge (there are no exit numbers) Turn left off the ramp and follow Rt 16 (Douglas St) towards Uxbridge Go 2 miles to the center of Uxbridge At the lights jog right and then jog left to stay on Rt 16 east (Mendon St) Go up a hill and pass Capron St on left Take next left onto Oak St. Go half mile and bear right at fork to stay on Oak St (school on left) Go another half mile and look for River Bend Farm visitor center on right (red barn) Pass the visitor center entrance and turn right into the large grassy field to park The festival welcoming booth will be at the foot of the hill near the canal bridge
Address: 287 Oak Street Uxbridge, MA 01569-1250 508-278-7604 Link to Maps: Google Map and MapQuest

To contact the coordinators:

The Eastern Mass Drum Coalition (EMADC) is a grass-roots organization comprised of several drum circle facilitators from the Eastern Massachusetts region. At this time, there are no paid performers and no vendors involved.

Dave Curry from Drums For One and All
Email: Dave@DrumsForOneAndAll.com
Website: http://www.DrumsForOneAndAll.com

Rick Cormier from the Different Drummers Drum Circle of Yarmouth, Maine
Email: differentdrummers@yahoo.com
Website: http://synthrick.tripod.com/dddc/

Susan West from Grafton Drum
Email: classes@graftondrum.com
Website: http://www.graftondrum.com

Ed Rooney from the DrumFish Drum Circle
Email: drumfish@charter.net
Website: http://drumfish.weebly.com/

Directions