Glowing Fest at Woodlands Nature Preserve will raise funds for those impacted by Hurricane Helene
from Staff Reports
Presented by Gator in the Atmosphere, Glowing Fest, an intimate nature-based music, arts, skill-sharing, and art-making festival, will have its inaugural festival on May 8-11 at Woodlands Nature Reserve in West Ashley. Created to support and uplift communities that were impacted by Hurricane Helene, the event features live music, visual arts, healers, and workshop facilitators from Western North Carolina.
According to event organizer Ryan Oslance (Gator in the Atmosphere), Glowing Fest was designed to bring people together to co-create a beautiful experience that will strengthen community, broaden connections, and allow folks to process and heal from Helene’s devastation. He says it’s a container for people to meet and form new connections and collaborations. There will be artists and musicians from different parts of Western North Carolina, as well as South Carolina, New York, the West Coast, Mexico, and beyond.
“It is life-giving for artists to have a meaningful space and audience to share their work with and be seen. With Glowing Fest, we aim to facilitate the merging of worlds, introducing musicians, visual artists, creatives, and community,” says Oslance.
Attendees are encouraged to camp, settle in, relax, steep in nature and art together and have time to really drop in with each other. Oslance says Glowing Fest will not be a wild party scene, but rather a celebration of how far the people of Western North Carolina have come since Helene and how much resilience and strength they have, but also taking time to pay reverence for the gravity of what they all went through with processing and grief.
“We hope you come with an open heart and mind, ready to participate and engage fully with this experience through workshops, nature walks, art making, taking every moment in and holding space,” says Oslance. “We invite you all to be with us in an inspiring place, spending time in nature with gorgeous trees, lakes, trails, swamps, and open fields under the nearly full moon with fireflies.”
While some food and beverage vending will be available, attendees are encouraged to prepare their own water and food supplies, as there are currently no potable water systems in place at The Woodlands. Portable Toilets will be on site. Ticket packages range from $30-200, with much of the proceeds from ticket purchases will go directly to supporting artists and people who were impacted by the storm, including a number of whom lost their homes, art studios, work, or businesses.
Glowing Fest will be held May 8-11 at Woodland’s Nature Reserve, located at 4279 Ashley River Road. For more information, visit www.woodlandsnaturereserve.com. To purchase tickets, visit www.universe.com/events/glowing-fest-tickets-F348JK.
