Revelation on the Dance Floor : A film Dedicated To West Coast Festival Culture, Featuring Lightning In A Bottle, Basscoast and Shambhalal Music Fesitvals

When I was sixteen, I set off on an adventure that would bring me to where I am today. Leaving my family farm on Vancouver Island, I hitchhiked across BC to this festival that I had only heard tales about around campfires in the early mornings. That festival was Shambhala. Up to this point in my life, I had felt very alone, I grew up in paradise, but a paradise that lacked one major thing… Community. For most my youth it was just my brother and I. We barley connected with the other kids in our town. (Being the kids of the town’s hippy family was a hard thing at the time.)



So here I was, a sixteen year old kid, in a sea of thousands of people, with only one person that I knew (who of course, I could not find.) Alone like usual, wandering, seeing and hearing sounds that were as foreign as could be. Then it happened, sitting up in the trees of the Village, watching people dance to Bassnectar as he played a remix of Saul Williams Not In Our Name… It hit me, I was no longer alone, there were people out there who were like me, who were different, who wanted to do something different, who wanted to create something new. Just writing this now brings tears to my eyes of how important that moment in my life was.



Almost ten years later, and it is this community, this family that has been the driving force in my growth to who I am today. For this I thank every single one of you.



This film is a dedication to dance, community, growth, and to three festivals that have taught me so much. Lightning in a Bottle, Basscoast, and Shambhala. Huge thanks to Leet-Kei Leung for providing his words for the film.

I hope you enjoy, and our filled with beautiful memories from this past summer.  Would love to hear you stories on how festivals have helped shape your life, so please leave your story below all the photos from this summer.


-Syd Woodward

(Source: getgrounded.tv)