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Event Cancelled

It is with very heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of the Esthetic Evolution Reunion. We have all been excited to share music, memories and meaning-making in the meadow with you this summer, but events beyond our control have made it impossible to host the festival at Twin Springs. The situation has been dynamic and changing, and even looked promising up to a few weeks ago. But an ongoing insurance dispute at Twin Springs (not relating to our event whatsoever) means they are unable to host events for the foreseeable future. We love the meadow, Twin Springs and the whole crew there, and we’ve always known it wouldn’t be Esthetic if it wasn’t in the meadow. So we are cancelling.

We are hopeful that the situation is resolved speedily for Twin Springs and everyone involved, that financial and emotional wounds heal, and that everyone revolving around the Esthetic and Twin Springs communities can look back fondly on our many wonderful years together. We love each and every one of you, and very much intend to share space in different ways in the future, whatever that may look like. In the meantime, please hold us and each other in your thoughts.

Some folks might not know we already invested a significant amount into the festival prior to COVID-19 hitting in March of 2020. We were truly pumped about our music and art lineup. It was easily our best yet, and a real game-changer for Idaho in many ways. We decided after the pandemic hit to let many of our performers hold their deposits until the rescheduled event, knowing artists and musicians were hit particularly hard by the pandemic. We stand by this decision and love all our performers. We also had major sunk infrastructure costs related to permitting. Although we are trying to recoup deposits where possible, our core crew will likely lose a significant portion of our investment.

We intend to issue full refunds to all ticket purchasers in the first part of April and have announced more in emails to ticket purchasers. While we don’t expect anything from anyone and are prepared to absorb all costs, we have given the option of donating a portion of your refund to help in recovering losses incurred by the event. There is absolutely no pressure or judgment for folks who can’t donate. We’ve always known the risks of throwing a festival and that COVID has been hard on everyone. That said, we deeply appreciate any donations ticket holders choose to give.

While this is indeed a sad announcement and will likely bring up many bittersweet memories and feelings for all, we also remain proud of our collective accomplishments over the years. You all drove Esthetic’s growth from a couple of nights on a makeshift stage (with half our regional performers getting lost) to a gorgeous, inspiring and renowned event with stellar design, incredible sound and music, and global attendees. The enduring magic of Esthetic is firmly rooted in the environment and energy of Twin Springs and the growth and interweaving of our wider community. Whether you were there from year zero on or you only came once, we love you.

Please see our Tickets Page for Information on Ticket Refunds

General Information

Esthetic Evolution was a community-based, participant-driven music and art festival centered around progressive thinking and self-expression. The festival was located at the breathtaking Twin Springs Resort, nestled in the Central Idaho Mountains about an hour outside of Boise. Esthetic featured a weekend of live electronic music, performance art, speakers and workshops, and we encouraged attendees to contribute to the collective experience by any means of their imagination. Our main premise was to provide a backdrop upon which participants could project their inner artist through a spirit of acceptance, collaboration, gifting, and love. Welcome to the evolution!

Ethos & Intention

Radical Inclusion – Mostly

Radical inclusion was one of Esthetic Evolution’s core values. We welcomed people from all backgrounds and encouraged participation in our ethos and experience on all levels. We were a blank canvas upon which we co-created our experiences and the collective was most enriched when everyone was participating. Part of this depended on our attendees welcoming each other with open arms, getting to know their neighbors, and overcoming their preconceived notions. It also meant you “Dressed to Express,” “GotIn2It!” and said “Yes!” (Rest in Power MC Anton Bomb).

This also explicitly connected to racial, social and economic justice. We strove to create a space that was safe, welcoming and empowering for people of all national, racial, gender identity, sexual preference, religious and ability backgrounds. Where our radical inclusion ended is in accepting hate-based beliefs such as xenophobia, white nationalism or bigotry of any type. While we didn’t screen people coming in, we ejected people who behaved hateful, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise like a complete douchebag. You get the picture! 😉

Leave No Trace

Esthetic Evolution was a Leave-No-Trace camping event. Each participant was encouraged to stay all weekend and was responsible for their own trash and other personal items they brought with them. The ethic was very simple; if you brought it to the Festival, you took it home with you (Pack It In / Pack It Out). We respected our Mother Earth and our fellow community members by cleaning up after ourselves. Participants were asked to contribute as much time as necessary to keep the space they occupied at the Festival as close as possible to its natural state before they arrived and show no sign of their presence once they left. We also appreciated any effort they made to keep the Stage areas and the meadow outside their camp just as clean as their personal space. We encouraged everyone to take anything they brought with them to one of the Stages, back with them once they returned to their camp. If they were away from it OR if they noticed someone discarding trash where it didn’t belong, was asked them to do the same.

Decommodification and Mutual Aid

Over 200 years of Capitalism has created a world in which the vast majority of human relationships are transactional, based on market exchange, and oriented in terms of profit and power. This experience alienates people from their own work, from their communities and -ultimately- from their own sense of self-agency. Decommodification seeks to create interactions that are relational, rather than transactional, and don’t depend on the market for survival. While Esthetic Evolution obviously cost money to execute and attend, we sought to create a container at the event that is free from market transactions and where everyone felt more connected and less alienated. This is why we didn’t allow any commercial vending and encouraged a “gift economy” without expectations of reciprocity.

Mutual Aid took this a step further, assuming that people are not atomized individuals engaged in transactions, but are fundamentally social creatures that depend on each other for survival. We have the capacity to use our skills and resources in exchanges that are mutually beneficial, egalitarian and non-coercive. Reciprocity is achieved through playing to each other’s strengths, rather than some market value for a good or service. Through this process, we gain insight into each other and ourselves. We believe our attendees cared about this, too, and that they contributed, shared, lent hands, helped each other in obvious and subtle ways both in the meadow and beyond.

Performance & Participation

At our core, Esthetic Evolution was driven by a collaborative expression of joy and creativity that thrived most when everyone was participating. A huge part of this was achieved through art projects, theme & sound camps, workshops, and group activities.

We strongly encouraged people to create art and theme camps for the meadow, collaborating with us so we could give the best placement and experience for everyone. We provided modest amounts of money to support some truly stellar art projects over the years and supported camps during the event, all of which were self-funded.

History

Check out this amazing video recap of Esthetic Evolution years 1-9, originally created for sharing during year ten. This video features hundreds of pictures, covering the first nine years. Pictures are from various sources, but the vast majority come from our longtime collaborator, eccentric Canadian and all-around swell guy, Dave Matthews. The backing song is LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends,” which perfectly encapsulates the feeling of a decade in the meadow. Video edited by longtime Esthetic performer and staffer, Josh Gannon (AKA Esnce). Pictures compiled By Esthetic Evolution partners.

We hope this brings you as much joy as it does us. Let’s celebrate what we created together!