Going to a concert is the only way to listen to music in public without having to put your mouth around a discman to catch its sound vibrations. Enjoy easier listening with this with this deal for entry to a festival at Joshua Tree Retreat Center. Choose from the following options:

• For $150, you get a three-day adult pass to Shakti Fest, beginning on Friday, May 17, at 7 a.m., and running through Sunday, May 19, at 11:55 p.m. (up to a $300 value).
• For $199, you get a four-day adult pass to Bhakti Fest West, beginning on Thursday, September 5, at 7 a.m., and running through Sunday, September 8, at 11:55 p.m. (up to a $400 value).
• For $325, you get a three-day adult pass to Shakti Fest and a four-day adult pass to Bhakti Fest West (up to a $700 total value).<p>

For newsletter updates on the Bhakti Fest, click here.<p>

Attractions at Both Festivals

Shakti Fest and Bhakti Fest West invite one and all to their schedules of yoga demonstrations and thought-provoking workshops soundtracked by the meditative mantras of spiritually grounded musicians. Throughout each festival, the air will thrum with the sounds of kirtan––an Indian folk-music tradition of call-and-response chanting rich with intoxicating rhythms and melodies that build verse by verse. Performers from across the country add drums, harmonium, guitar, and strings to the waves of vocal sound, inducing an atmosphere ripe for spiritual awakening and making any birds overhead float to the ground in a blissful trance. Both festivals also feature performances by a variety of veteran performs such as sacred-music composer Jai Uttal and the vibrant Donna De Lory, whose electronic rhythms blend with lyrics in both English and Sanskrit.

While the music fills the air, minds and bodies come together in 24 yoga classes and workshops on topics that include spiritualism, nutrition, and eco-activism. A vendor village, meanwhile, attracts eco-friendly artisans purveying clothing, jewelry, and vegetarian and vegan cuisine.

Shakti Fest

The three-day Shakti Fest, designed as a more intimate, smaller scale version of Bhakti Fest West, celebrates its namesake principle of divine feminine energy with lessons from 18 worldly yoga gurus such as Saul David Ray, and Sara Ivanhoe, bouts of transformational breathwork, and workshops connecting dance, chant, and rituals. Headlining Shakti Fest’s lineup of more than 20 spiritual musicians, singers, and performers, Govindas and Radha create sonic and spiritual trances as they fuse Western melodies to ancient Indian mantras. The fest also features performances by Dave Stringer.

Rave in the Desert – Bhakti Fest
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####Bhakti Fest West The sprawling four-day Bhakti Fest West honors emotional attachment and devotion toward a personal god with its 26 yoga [demonstrations](http://gr.pn/Q6noII) featuring instruction from Dharma Mittra, Shiva Rea, Elena Brower, and Bryan Kest, [workshops](http://gr.pn/O8PM99) where advanced yogis share mystical truths, and healing sanctuaries that feature massage, reiki, and acupuncture. The deep, soulful voice of [Krishna Das](http://gr.pn/OGhHeE) headlines the festival’s [lineup](http://gr.pn/UUxYUr) of more than 40 musical acts including Snatam Kaur and Deva Premal and Miten. Originally from New York, Das has toured the globe with music that interweaves feverish cadences with traditional and modern instrumentation. The former rock ‘n' roller and Grammy nominee explains the atavistic appeal of chanting by saying that it "just hits you and you want to be a part of it . . . you don't have to know what it means." **Krishna Das – “Heart as Wide as the World” (April 2010)**