2006 Isla Vista Peace Festival on March 11th

By email

This event -- dedicated to all victims of the industry of violence, including Planet Earth -- will explain why we fight and why there is great hope for ending America's 60-year dependence on manufactured conflict. If you are or will be in the LA/southern California region mid March, this event will be fun, educational and inspirational, as well as productively focused on the anniversary (of current US aggression).


Best wishes for change,


Brian Bogart

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2006 Isla Vista Peace Festival on March 11th

Santa Barbara, CA (February 22, 2006) - The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), UCSB Solidarity Against War (SAW), and KCSB will present the first-ever Isla Vista Peace Festival – “celebrating resistance to war and visions of peace” -- on Saturday, March 11. The event will consist of a teach-in at Isla Vista Theater 1, titled “Peace Now!,” from 1-5:30 p.m., and a concert at Anisq Oyo Park from 6-10 p.m.

The event is timed to coincide with the three year anniversary of the Iraq War, which began on March 19, 2003. In addition to its goal of educating attendees about the current status of that war, the potential for war in Iran, and other timely concerns, the event will shine a spotlight on the underlying causes of wars in general, as well as what ordinary citizens can do in their day-to-day lives to create a more peaceful future.

“The aim of the Isla Vista Peace Festival is to tell an empowering story about the ability of everyone – not just politicians or major business executives, but everyone – to make a major difference in issues related to war and peace,” said Will Parrish, Youth Outreach Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and one of the event organizers. “We can’t rely on anyone but ourselves to bring the Iraq War to an end and create a more peaceful world at large.”

The teach-in will consist of three parts: a panel, workshops, and a keynote address. The panel topic will be “The Movement to End the Iraq War: Three Years Later” and will include six local activists, including Parrish, UCSB Professor of Black Studies Otis Madison, and Veterans for Peace member Loretta Redd. The keynote address will be delivered by Brian Bogart, the University of Oregon’s only graduate student in Peace Studies, who went on strike this past fall to protest the dangerous and extensive military weapons and surveillance research projects at his university. Bogart’s “Strike for Peace” campaign has since achieved national success and recognition.

The concert at Anisq Oyo Park will feature three bands, including BIXBY and Crosby Loggins & the Namedroppers, a pair of fast-rising alternative rock groups based out of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, respectively. They will be joined by Isla Vista reggae phenomenon Rebelution. All three bands are noted for the politically-conscious content of their songs.

Adam Fell, the ukulele player in the band BIXBY and the founder of Miracruz Records, said, “Our band BIXBY is honored to be involved with such a necessary event, and we couldn’t be more excited to play alongside Crosby Loggins & the Namedroppers and Rebelution.”

During the concert, tables bearing information on various UCSB and community organizations will be arrayed around the park. There will also be speakers in between each band’s set, as well as various other educational activities to complement the bands’ performances.

Amy Mackreth, a fourth-year UCSB student and event organizer, observed: “This festival will be an extremely entertaining and fun event that will also serve the purpose of providing essential information about current events, especially to UCSB students.”

The Isla Vista Peace Festival is free and open to all who wish to attend. To arrange interviews regarding the Isla Vista Peace Festival, please contact event organizers.

If we do not unite to advance our founding vision for peace, we will perish by advancing our technology for war.

I lived in Isla Vista in college. There are alot of people there living the free lifestyle. Free of shaving, free of deodorant, free of hair brushing. Now they are not the majority and I feel bad for mentioning it, but all the same if you want me to show up, I don't want to see your hairy coochie when you sit on the hill above me in the bowl at the park. If you must wear a gypsy skirt, and no underwear keep your damn legs closed.

Now that I have that off my chest, go Isla Vista. I am proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!! It's lovely to live in a liberal area.