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The more we gather, the more we manifest the future we desire.
Heart Expansion Festival is a celebration to honor the divine essence within each of us. With the guidance of embodiment practices and the beautiful, ancient medicine of cacao, we will open our hearts back up to our innate inner wisdom: Love. In the wise words of bell hooks, "The moment we choose to love, we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.” Join us to celebrate, connect to, and expand the potential of love to set us all free.
This heart-centered festival is brought to you by Expansion Festival and Cacao Source — a direct trade cacao sourcing company based in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Join us to bridge our community in heart frequency and let love shape our world!
This is an in person event! Expansion Festival takes place on a private farm in Duvall, WA. The land is a half mile long field that borders the edge of the forest gives way to a sandbank river. The official festival runs Friday afternoon August 26th - Sunday night August 28th, and you officially don't have to leave until Monday evening August 29th. Stay awhile. Happy Expansion!
Line-up
Click text to visit artist music!
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JOSIAH SUNRAY
THREE WHEELS TURNING
HEZZA FEZZA
EVAN AVERY
Workshops
TASTING THE GODS
A MythoMovement Exploration of Cocao
Jahfaa A’nu
The tools we’ll be using are questions and shape exploration through guided intentional movement. We’ll meet at the place between story and poetry with hopes you walk away with a sweet gift from within. What are some sensations of your creative cycles? What does Cocao have to teach us about life and death? What does Cocao have to teach us about exchange?
CACAO ECSTATICA
with Dorothy Morganna and Dmitry
Join Cacao Ecstatica — a heart-centering embodiment practice. We’ll be working with cacao and ecstatic dance to shake ourselves into our highest, most radiant expression! Dorothy will open the space with cacao, intentions, and contact dance; and DMTtree will share a juicy ecstatic dance set.
HEART WOMB/HARA BREATHWORK The Unique Calling of our Time
by Cherezade Aanya
As a Former Mental Health Therapist studying the realms of Somatic Trauma Therapy and as an Initiated Magdalena Rose Womb Priestess, Cherezade combines both the Masculine and Feminine Dimensions of healing creating a truly Alchemical healing container. The workshop will include an introduction to the Heart-Womb Connection and their vital importance for Awakening the Womb/Hara and bringing union within our own being. Followed by a Breathwork Immersion to awaken and connect these sacred portals within. **For all Genders**
REGENERATIVE LEADERSHIP
The Unique Calling of our Time
by Arielle Therese
We are uniquely positioned at this moment in history to begin the re-design of systems and structures for a more regenerative world. Regenerative thinking honors diversity and works with complexity to create conditions for abundance and resilience. Join us for a skill building exploration on Regenerative leadership and learn how this philosophy can best serve you or your community.
SELF DISCOVERY
with Mohsina Nawal
Join Mohsina in a 2 hour Self-Discovery workshop that dives into the depths of your past and brings out the true essence of who you are, sans the influences and identities that have been imposed upon us since birth. Once you discover (or rediscover) your true essence you can live in the present more freely and look toward the future more openly.
VOCAL YOGA
with Micaela Kingslight
Micaela Kingslight is a certified Vocal Yoga teacher and RYT200 yoga instructor. She blends over 20 years experience as a music teacher, professional musician, songwriter, and yogi, to help students open their voices through somatic movement. In these movements we utilise breath work, toning, and sing songs together to awaken the voice and release tension.
These sound healing exercises are designed to unlock the breath and voice from the parts of the body that have been braced or blocked due to the emotional and physical stresses of life. It's also a lot of fun!
CHAKRA ALIGNMENT CEREMONY
with Maytrelli Diaz
Dive into a mystical journey to the main energetic centers of the body, known as Chakras in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, through somatic movement and music! In this ritual we will move and journey through an exquisite selection of tunes from the most sublime and pure vibrations to the most tribal. Using the ancient practice of Yoga you will learn how to get to holistic wellness and control the emotions that rise up in everyday life. We will study elements, characteristics, and techniques to balance each chakra.
LISTENING TO YOUR BODYS INTUITION
with Regan Powers
Playfully explore, uncover, and expand your authentic voice using the power of dance! In this workshop, guided exercises and prompts will invite the body's natural wisdom and underlying truths to the surface, encouraging our intuition to come alive in a profound way. This exploration of movement pathways and creative flow is intended to open up a gateway within our soul, so that we can powerfully navigate our purpose, relationships, and the world around us while nourishing our unique gifts.
This workshop is suitable for all levels. No prior experience is necessary!
TAOSIT SHAMANIC MEDICAL QI GONG
with Gaven Horne
Lets unpack these labels here: taoism is the guiding philosophy of this lineage. shamanic being the same here as inner alchemy, where one is transforming their inner reality to guide the external reality consciously. medical being that they are specifically designed for healing as opposed to marshal forms.
SPIRITUALITY TOWARDS
COLLECTIVE LIBERATION
with Débora Oliveira-Couch
Interested in learning more about how to align your spiritual practices with the movement for collective healing and liberation? Curious to know ways we can move towards liberated presents and futures together? Join us in this embodied dive into ways to love life deeper, live abundantly, and practice liberation right here and right now. In this workshop, we’ll be expanding our minds with capoeira-inspired movement & body love practices and reflections from Black feminist lessons learned by observing our Marine Mammal siblings (inspired by the work of Alexis Pauline Gumbs in Undrowned).
RECONNECTING TO GROUND
with Rachel Duthler
Seeking stillness in nature when our bodies experience departure from self. Generations of suffering are baked into our bodies, each painful experience adding to the challenge of
connecting with self and others. As a trauma therapist, Rachel will aid us in the exploration of what is happening to our bodies when we are experiencing fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. We will practice re-centering in nature as a path towards wholeness, groundedness, and a choice-full futures. There will be time to practice nature connection activities, guided meditations, and games in nature with other participants.
CONSENSUAL CONNECTION
with Lux Gypsum
Join Lux Gypsum in a 2-hour play-shop on Consensual Connection. In this space, we will learn an embodied framework of consent as a group, and put it into practice by inviting each other into platonic connection through guided exercises. This carefully crafted container is designed to support you in voicing your desires and boundaries so you can collaborate in finding ways to connect that are a "yes" for all involved.
SACRED SILLINESS
with Ash to Ashes
Dea SPACE to TAKE UP SPACE and FULLY be your EXPRESSIVE SELF! Let’s Journey in Joy, Live in Laughter, Celebrate Silliness, and Manifest our dreams together with some Laughter Yoga, Joy Juice, Authentic Expressions and an abunDANCE with some beats for ya cheeks to move and groove to! This workshop will have you smiling and laughing from ear to ear! ALL of you is Welcome Here!
YOGA ASTROLOGY
with Skye Alexandria
Learn to use the planets and constellations as tools to unlock and use your unique energy to your advantage, while taking your yoga practice to the next level. We will dive into birth chart readings, yoga, and a healing sound bath.
DEEP DIVE DANCE CEREMONY
with Erika Merz
Throughout time, humans around the world have been using dance to pray and tap into trance states of connection with Spirit. The intention of this Deep Dive Dance Ceremony is to tap into divine, infinite, love energy through dance, to reclaim our spiritual empowerment and direct Source energy for healing and global change.
ODES AND ORDINARY WONDER
with Audrey Kohler
Rediscover the world around you. How easy it is to lose yourself in the shuffle of everyday life. Routine, responsibility, and pressure from everyday stresses can dull the shine of your surroundings. Wipe the lenses of your rose-colored-glasses with Audrey in this class that utilizes poetry and prose to guide you back towards your inner child, slow down your rush, and assist your search for the bits of joy you might be walking by or leaving behind!
WILD EMBODIMENT
with Hayley Shannon
Drop into the wilderness of your wholeness through somatic (inter)connection and sensuality with self and environment. Discover the places in you where “wild” has been domesticated and experience the power of allowing authenticity to be seen and heard. Movers of any ability explore cultivating a five-senses experience through embodiment cues that invite the language of body, soul, Earth and Sky to unfurl. We move deeper into the mystery of our internal landscapes by grounding into the physical external landscape, and unearth the wonder of wisdom that animates our body when we free ourselves of internal oppression. Open to the power of mirroring through witnessing self in nature and other beings present as we compost judgement and reconnect to aliveness. The journey includes live musical accompaniment.
Ceremonies & Special Guests
EDUCATIONAL PANEL
This workshop is designed to demystify cacao and to explain more aspects of the origin, history, Mayan traditions, prophecy, and how it is emerging in the world today to bring heart-centered presence. We’ll also break down the medicinal aspects of cacao and how it can be integrated into our practices and social settings. As the first wave of people who are bringing cacao to mainstream culture, we have a sense of responsibility and guardianship for medicine. This will be a conversation-based workshop to create a greater intellectual understanding of cacao.
GRIEF SANCTUARY
with Yeshe Salz
Come restore your tender heart at the expansion grief sanctuary. Facilitator and grief worker, Yeshe Salz, will be creating and holding space for all the grievers and feelers out there— for as we expand our hearts, we make more room not just for joy and play but also for the pain and sorrow of our individual and collective body. When we expand to hold it all, there is room for us. At the grief sanctuary, you can rest and tune in. Come cuddle up in blankets, and drink tea, or engage with the various altars and ritual spaces available. Tend to your heart. There is room for you here, welcome.
Yeshe Salz is a rites-of-passage guide, climate resilience coalition builder, grief worker and facilitator whose life and passion is dedicated to building both personal and planetary resilience in times of deep change. Yeshe is a trained Work that Reconnects Facilitator, wilderness guide through the School of Lost Borders, and climate activist primarily based in the Bay Area.
MYCEIAL NETWORKING PANNEL INTER-CONNECTION: WEAVING OUR WORK
with Morgan Vanderpool
A time of weaving/tethering some of the pillars of knowledge and lived experience present at the gathering…
Together we will explore the interconnectedness of the global community we have access to through relationship tending and lineage sharing. We will take a particular focus on how we are co-facilitating the, transmutation of systems of disconnection, and the curation of systems and practices of restoration.
Via this panel we will highlight the potency of intersectional & transgenerational collaboration present at the gathering and how that translates beyond the container of Heart Expansion.
Panel will be facilitated by the mycelially-inspired nervous system wizard, relational choreographer, and community connector- MorganicMovement of Mycelial Movement Network
TRADITIONAL MESO AMERICAN CACAO CEREMONY
with Xochitel Sandee
New Additions
Andrew Genovese
Breathe work Facilitator & Plant Medicine Guide
Haazel Elledge
Primal Play
Alchemize fear into power. Remember ways of being, ways of relating, ways of expressing. Set yourself free. We can no longer be caged.
Reishi Strauss
Microdosing Magic Mushroom
In this workshop we will explore the therapeutic effects of microdosing small amounts of Psilocybe fungi and how this practice impacts cognition, mood, creativity, neuroplasticity, and neural regeneration. I will share my experience from coaching hundreds of people through this practice and the potential applications of Microdosing as a therapeutic alternative to conventional anti-depressants. Topics will include: 1) Benefits, Side Effects, and Contra-Indications 2) Dosage 3) Protocols / Frequency 4) Complimentary Practices 5) Synergistic Herbal Combinations
Taylor Eaton
Mens sexual wellness
Tickets
General Admission
$255 - $333
Includes full weekend, all workshops, all music performances, parking pass, and overnight pass from Friday, August 26th at 12pm to Monday, August 29th at 6pm. - Only 120 tickets available.
Payment plans also available through ticket link - 2 installments of $100 and one installment of $55, pay all three installments before August 26th - Ends August 8th.
Low Income Ticket
$145 - $255
We understand that under the systems of capitalism that financial means can be hard to come by for souls who go against the status que. We want you here. We have opened up 20 Low income tickets to support you.
BIPOC Ticket
$100 - $333
We honor the generations of genocide and mass incarceration perpetuated towards BIPOC on North American soil by offering reparations through discounted tickets. Please click here or email aliko@weareuproductions.com for the code.
Day Pass
$111
Just want to come for the day? Come hang! Day passes are from
9am - 9pm, on Saturday and Sunday.
Age 16 and under
$55
Kids 16 and under are welcome!
THREE NIGHTS
FOUR DAYS
EYES OPEN
HEARTS WIDE
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THE LAND
FAQ
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Bring your mug for cacao! (And bring one for your friend who forgot one lol)
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Tickets are non-refundable. This is a rain or shine event!
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Tickets are transferable.
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Car camping Welcome!
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Camper vans also welcome!
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Do not show up without a ticket, you will be turned away. Keep an eye on the facebook page to see if there are tickets at the gate.
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There will be food trucks on site at specific times on the 26th and 27th ONLY, bring your own food, snacks, food for late night, and mornings!
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There is a potluck on Sunday late afternoon! Please bring something to share!
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There is a safeway 10 minutes away from the land!
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Large open field for parking and camping, nested in the valley. Amazing view of the mountains, large forest and sandbank river to swim.
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This is a leave no trace event
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That means pack it in pack it out, if you bring garbage in please bring your garbage out.
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There is cell service
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There is no fires on the field or in the forest. Fire is welcomed on the river only.
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You’ll be camping
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There is no drinking water on site! Bring your water!
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You can bring a grill!
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No dogs please! You will be asked to take them home.
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No Showers - bathrooms are provided
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Bring a swimsuit for the river!
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Read more below!
Schedule and info
the producers
Aliko Weste is the founder and director of U Productions and the Co-founder of Expansion Festival along side Shoshana Glickman. Along with event production, he enjoys helping small and large organizations with getting their messages out to the world through creative messaging and design. As someone who holds many marginalized postionalities as a trans, mixed race, first generation Amerincan, Jew, Aliko has dedicated his life to carving out spaces for our humanity through embodiment, art, music, education, and more. Aliko is also the founder of Good for Chocolate the Pacific Northwest distributor of Cacao Source chocolate.
Dorothy is a co-founder of Cacao Source. She has been living in Lake Atitlan for the last 4 years, developing her knowledge of the sacred medicine cacao and sharing this knowledge with others. She organizes transformational retreats for people who are ready to dive deeper into their hearts and the source of the medicine. Sharing cacao with old friends and new friends is her favorite thing in the world. Her other favorite things are walking in the forest, dancing, and contemplating the cosmos.