"Catharsis 2017" -- known as D.C.'s Burning Man -- provides three days of healing through vigils, art, music, and more.
When the Catharsis on the Mall annual festival returns on November 10-12, the community will have the chance to enjoy three days of lectures, art, workshops, music, and discussions intended to facilitate individual and communal healing. Adopting its ethos from Nevada’s annual Burning Man festival, Catharsis' main event features a ceremonial burn of artwork, and this year, organizers are planning to bring in a large 45-foot sculpture of a nude woman that was featured at this year’s Burning Man festival over Labor Day weekend. [gallery size="large" columns="2" ids="4741,4745"] While Catharsis on the Mall isn’t quite as big as the annual Burning Man festival, both share the same creative party atmosphere as DJs spin electronic dance music and live bands perform until the early morning hours. Many attendees will be decked out in costumes, expressing their creativity as a way of achieving catharsis and spiritual healing. During the day large artwork will be on display. [caption id="attachment_4742" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Courtesy of Catharsis on the Mall[/caption]
Speakers and workshops will address societal issues such as racial profiling by police, gender equality, the flawed drug war, medical cannabis, and the opioid crisis. Last year’s program was heavy on Yoga sessions, and much of the same can be expected this year, as well as workshops featuring guided Vinyasa breathing, music meditation,and Psychedelic Harm Reduction -- all in keeping with this year’s festival theme: “Nurturing the Heart.”
As the weekend of the festival nears, organizers are working to have the giant "R-Evolution" sculpture of a nude woman in a Yoga mountain pose -- a fixture of Burning Man -- transported from San Francisco, once enough funds have been raised and permission has been granted by the city and the National Park Service. If approval is granted, the sculpture -- a masterpiece by artist Marco Cochrane -- will remain standing in the National Mall area until March.
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Courtesy of WTOP[/caption]
Attending Catharsis on the Mall is completely free. While the festivities take place all day and all night from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon, the event is not a campout. Organizers do, however, recommend bringing warm clothes, blankets, mats, and chairs, as well as food and water.
Unlike most festivals, Catharsis on the Mall does not have permits for vending, but food and drink will be available from the independent vendors who sell food and drink items daily in the surrounding areas of the National Mall.
To learn more about Catharsis on the Mall, visit the event’s website.
