June 23, the first day of the Wild Goose Festival, is 50 days away, and excitement is definitely building.
The speakers list is incredible (Vincent Harding, Jim Wallis, Phyllis Tickle, Jim Forbes, etc.) The musicians list is amazing (Michelle Shocked, David Wilcox, T-Bone Burnett, the Lee Boys etc.). The site is beautiful.
Tickets are on sale, and there is still an early-bird special. The next price bump is May 15, so you may want to buy tickets soon. There is a student discount, and there are opportunities to volunteer in lieu of paying for tickets. Volunteers are needed before, during and after the festival, so you need not miss events in order to put your hours in. As with most festivals, I suspect that the volunteer experience will offer a deeper experience of the festival than simply attending.
I suspect that in a few years people will be asking each other whether they were at that first Wild Goose Festival back in 2011. My hope is that the festival will be bigger and stronger by then, and that we will have been a part of launching an event that fed a movement at the intersection of justice, art, spirituality and music. See you there.
David LaMotte
Program Associate for Peace
NC Council of Churches, official co-sponsor of the Wild Goose Festival