Beloved Festival: A Counterpoint To The Social Problems That Plague Coachella

Even for forward-thinking festivals, it's easy to lean back into labels like "world music." But they paper over a range of injustices, from chattel slavery to Eurocentric prejudice. These omissions and assumptions get in the way of restorative conversations and true appreciation of musical artistry.

They are also at odds with the vision of Beloved Festival, the long-running Tidewater, OR festival that shines a light on the spiritual side of musical experience. For Beloved, the integrity of its spiritual roots requires deepening its connection to social justice.

This resonates in the festival's lineup, which includes Nahko and Medicine for the People, Digable Planets, Ghost Note, Sudan Archives, Dobet Gnahoré, Be Svendsen, ÌFE, Climbing PoeTree, Taina Asili, Jupiter & Okwess, Fanna-Fi-Allah, Alam Khan, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Witch Prophet, and Yungchen Lhamo. Beloved's artists defy the either/or, thinking instead of the lineages, histories, communities, and movements that nurtured the music that forms the heart of the festival.