Yaga Gathering is a

transformational festival A transformational festival is a counterculture festival that espouses a community-building ethic, and a value system that celebrates life, personal growth, social responsibility, healthy living, and creative expression. ''Transformational'' allud ...

hosted in a clearing in Ežeraitis Forest, at the edge of Spengla Lake in the

Varėna District Varėna (; pl, Orany; yi, אוראַן ''Oran'') is a city in Dzūkija, Lithuania. History The town was founded in 1862 near the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway, south of Sena Varėna (Old Varėna). At that time it was a small settleme ...

of southern

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. The festival has no corporate sponsors, and is financed by ticket sales. The site of the festival is about south of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, the capital of Lithuania. DJs and live bands from various countries perform on four music stages: the Valley stage, the Pinegrove stage, The Duskwood stage and the Outmost stage. Classes and activities are among the festival's other attractions, including open-air cinema, the Discovery stage featuring lectures, Healing area with

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

and meditation sessions,

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

workshops area, and a children's area. The design of the event space incorporates

art installation Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

s and

exhibits An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

. Most of the festival infrastructure is built using

biodegradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...

materials. Attendees are permitted to

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

on-site.

History

Shambala festival 2003 (Lithuania) flyer

Initially, Yaga Gathering was called Shambala Festival—named for the mythical hidden kingdom of

Shambhala In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala ( sa, शम्भल ',''Śambhala'', also ''Sambhala'', is the name of a town between the Rathaprā and Ganges rivers, identified by some with Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. In the Puranas, it is named as t ...

. The first event took place from 18 to 20 July 2003; it was small (250 attendees) and not widely advertised. Organisers produced a second festival in 2005, and the third festival in 2006. In 2007 the festival was renamed as Yaga Gathering. Between years 2007 and 2019 there was no Yaga Festival in 2008 or 2010. In

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

tradition, a ''yaga'' ( sa, याग, translit=

yajna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

, lit=sacrifice, link=no) is a ritual performed in front of a sacred fire, or one in which an offering is burned in a fire. The festival's name alludes to spiritual rebirth.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Festivals in Lithuania Transformational festivals Counterculture festivals Hippie movement Trance festivals Electronic music festivals in Lithuania Jam band festivals

History

See also

References

External links