To Your Health: 10th O+ Festival Biggest and Best Yet

The 10th Annual O+ Festival is set to turn the city of Kingston every flavor of exuberant from October 11-13, and to say we're psyched would be an understatement. We truly love music, art, access to health care, and wellness—so having a banquet of it all laid on the doorstep is bliss. (Full disclosure: Chronogram has been a longtime Media Sponsor of O+—because of course we have.)

Art will be everywhere. Art blended with music. Art blended with medicine. Art blended with wellness, environmentalism, and social change. The theme artists are responding to in their works is "X," and Uptown, Midtown, and the Rondout will be flooded with next-level experiences in every medium and manifestation, from murals to "multi-site experiential projects."
Then there's the music: over 50 performers, bands and ensembles, 60 percent of them local will be taking over various venues in the area. There'll be dance punk and cabaret punk, folk rock and folk rockabilly, heavy rock, electro dream pop, and a performance of "The Mystical Arts of Tibet" at UPAC.

There are film and video screenings, participatory art workshops, cycling events, the Literary SALO+N at Rough Draft Bar & Books, classes in yoga, dance, meditation, sound healing, and more. There will be immersive theatre and sand painting, slow flow yoga and hula hoop, Improv Empowerment and Latin dance.
Last year, 21 artists, 96 musicians, and 56 festival volunteers received 465 widely varied clinic visits from 113 care providers. They've added educational forums, new festivals, and the O+ Radio hour to what Yes magazine has called their "quietly radical agenda."
"It's the largest we've ever done and we've expanded programming to encapsulate our mission, community empowerment through collective well-being," says festival director Sarah Van Buren. "The art of medicine and the medicine of art. Our partnerships and the range of experiences you have just keep expanding and flourishing. You could spend the whole weekend just doing music, or just doing wellness, or just roaming."

Head over to their website to view the full lineup and schedule and pick up a 3-day, all-access festival wristband.