Everywhen in the Woods Was a Sensation

When the box office told me that we had sold out, I couldn’t believe it.

In the seven years that we’ve been running the Everywhen Project, we have never had an experience quite as profoundly groundbreaking and transformative as the one we all experienced together in the woods. We hit our vision in its totality. Not a version or partial expression of it. The dream manifested into reality.

It was a thick, heady elixir of music, workshops, art, nature, story, and community. There was so much happening all at once that I could not walk more than five feet without being stopped, whether by a friend, a guest, an artist, or simply by the experiential nature of being there. The awe and beauty of the redwoods, mixed with the presence of so many beautiful and wonderful people, kept interrupting whatever I thought I was supposed to be doing. I mean that in the best possible way.

From the beautiful tunes of Moonlust, to experiencing the folded paper boat and plane by the river, to watching freestyle painting while people moved through ecstatic dance, there was always something unfolding. There were folks gathered around a fire learning didgeridoo while others were deep in the Magic Spot, tucked into the redwood forest, being bathed by the resonant tones of the gong. I personally loved the cacao ceremony, punctuated by the sounds of the creek and the birds chirping high in the forest canopy. It was one of those moments where the world felt very still, even while everything around us was alive.

Amanda Loveland in a ceremonial mask dance

The workshops felt pointed in their intentions, and I was struck by the quality of the instructors and the deep commitment of the participants. People did not just show up to “consume” an experience. They arrived ready to be part of one. That made all the difference.

And people came from everywhere. My expectation was that, because this was a local event in the Santa Cruz Mountains, we would draw mostly from Santa Cruz and the San Francisco Bay Area. And of course, many people did come from those communities. But we also had guests, artists, and talent fly in from across the country, including the broader western seaboard, Hawaii, Maryland, Florida, Arizona, and even Illinois.

Huh.

The Forest Became the Gallery

One of the things I loved most was how the art settled into the land. It did not feel separate from the forest. The installations were tucked into pathways, meadows, lodges, hollows, and hidden corners in a way that made the entire woods feel alive.

The Sphinx Riddle Gate was a cool installation that invited people into deep introspection as they walked through the Temple space. I loved how it worked with the terrain. The artist built a pathway using found materials from the redwoods to guide participants through the gate and toward the sphinxes themselves. It felt mythic, deeply introspective, and completely at home in the woods.

I loved this exhibit. What a great group of people.

Further down from the Magic Spot was Valerie Mallory’s Sculpture Garden, an impressive display of women’s casts sitting within the hollow of an ancient mother redwood. There was something powerful about seeing those forms held by the tree, almost as if they had always belonged there.

MOLYcule was a neat molecular display by Kevin Byall, situated on the main meadow lawn. ECO//TEK was tucked into a hidden nook within the woods, where people who found it discovered a cluster of CRT TVs showing analog-scrambled images of things that had happened earlier in the day. It felt like the forest was broadcasting strange little memories back at us.

The forest bathing and therapy resonance ceremony was a hit, with people intentionally walking through the woods and noticing the sights, sounds, textures, and movements of the creatures around them. Handpan tones drifted through the campgrounds as people listened to the beautiful sounds and the larger cacophony of everything happening at once. The face painting brought vibrant colors to everyone’s faces: bright hues, rainbows, and little flashes of joy.

And then there was the spinning heart called GKU LOL, short for “Got Knocked Up, Laugh Out Loud.” Interesting. Very fitting, I think, for a theme which, by the way, was love.

DynaMandala was a popular attraction in the Forest Lodge, where people interacted with the mandala and, when they touched it, could fly through a fractal projected all around them. Very trippy stuff.

The Village at Night

One of the neatest things that happened was watching ecstatic dance unfold at the Sound Garden Stage to Evan Hatfield, Beat Kitty, Agua Mayyim, Elysian Moon and so many other beautiful DJs and musicians. The singing of King Kairos, the collaboration between artists, and the energy of everyone dancing together made the whole thing feel alive in a way that is hard to describe unless you were there.

The forest became a beautiful, vibrant hue of reds and oranges and blues and purples as the uplighting illuminated our magical village. Lights moved through the trees like dancing fireflies among the leaves. And of course, Everywhen had its signature string lights strewn about the forest, guiding people along the main walkways. Our prayer flags flapped in the wind, and big, giant flowers appeared not only on the string lights but throughout the Magic Spot, reminding everyone that this was somewhere special.

This was a living, breathing village. A temporary one, yes, but real for the time we were there. Real because everyone present agreed, consciously or not, to help make it real. And that’s what the Everywhen Project is about: to cultivate third spaces and foster authentic connection in nature.

Closing the Journey

The closing ceremony, depending on where you were or where you found yourself on the final day, was different. Some people concluded their day at the Magic Spot, others at the Forest Lodge, and others somewhere else entirely. In true Everywhen fashion, the ending was not just one thing.

I personally experienced my final act with Samira in the Magic Spot, in what felt like a shamanic, psychedelic sound-healing journey. We all laid down and closed our eyes. There was a woman singing with her beautiful voice. There was didgeridoo. There were other instruments washing over us in soothing waves of sound. It brought a close to a deeply enriching and experiential journey through the Everywhen.

And that, really, is why we do this.

The Everywhen Project began with a group of friends who built temples in the Black Rock Desert and beyond, at regional events across the country, and eventually began building our own spiritual experiences. From there, it blossomed into an event and a community based around the ethos we hold dear: build community, nurture the spirit, do no harm, leave no trace, and of course, tell tall tales.

Those values were represented beautifully at Everywhen in the Woods. And tall tales were certainly told in the amphitheater, around a roaring fire, as we reflected on the beauty of the Everywhen within the woods.

More than once, people looked at each other with bright, beaming eyes and said, “Oh, we should do this again. We must do this again. When shall we do this again?”

Yes — we’ll do this again.

What Comes Next

What we need from you now is your feedback. Tell us about your experience in the Everywhen. Tell us about the workshops, the music, the art, the camping, the redwoods, the food, the rituals, the weird little moments, and the beautiful ones. Tell us what worked. Tell us what surprised you. Tell us what you want to see grow.

When do you want to do this again?

I would love to see this happen in the fall. I would love for us to come back and experience the redwoods in a warmer time of year. What is quite nice about the fall is that there are a few trees and plants within the redwoods that turn vibrant red, yellow, and orange. During that time of year, not only would we have warm weather and beautiful colors, but we would also have warm evenings

So consider the possibility. Consider this event happening again. Perhaps even twice a year: one gathering in the spring to begin the year, and one in the fall to wind it down.

But you tell us. What do you think? What do you want to see? How do you want this event to grow?

Take the Event Survey

Thank You for This New Chapter

I want to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who participated in this experiment and helped open this new chapter of the Everywhen.

Thank you to the artists who brought their work into the forest with such care. Thank you to the musicians and performers who filled the woods with sound. Thank you to the workshop leaders and ceremony holders who created spaces for people to learn, listen, move, breathe, and connect. Thank you to the builders, volunteers, staff, and production team who worked behind the scenes to make the village possible. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket, pitched a tent, shared a meal, told a story, danced under the trees, and trusted us enough to join us in something new.

That trust means everything.

Everywhen in the Woods felt like the beginning of a new adventure for this project. We have carried the Everywhen through deserts, temples, retreats, and long nights under open skies. Now we have seen it take root in the redwoods, beside the creek, among the ferns, under the canopy, and in the hearts of the people who gathered there.

I am grateful for that. I am proud of that. And I am excited for what comes next.

Support the Everywhen

The Everywhen Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and gatherings like this are only possible because of the support of our community.

If this experience meant something to you—if the music moved you, if the workshops inspired you, if the art stayed with you—we invite you to help us continue this work. Your donation goes directly toward supporting artists, facilitators, and the creation of spaces like this one.

Thank you for helping us keep the Everywhen alive.

Donate Now

Everywhen in the Woods: A Thick, Heady Elixir of Music, Art, and Workshops