Parked on the street near the entrance of Esplanade Park in Ft. Lauderdale, the site of this year’s Florida Flow Fest Flourish, was the Incredibus. Right away one gets the sense that her or she is about to embark on a trippy voyage into another world, fueled by the imagination and sunshine, full of bright characters. The magic school bus is the vehicular love child of KnoBody, a colorful, eccentric, and fantastical artist who lives in the roving art piece with his dog Somebody. KnoBody, a photographer, was inspired to sell his art gallery and move into the bus after he attended Love Burn, the Floridian little sister of Burning Man, a few years ago. He has returned to the Love Burn festival each year thereafter, and plans to be at the one later this month at Virginia Key. He even made it to Burning Man, and was at the Flow Fest this weekend. He says he inspires people on the moving abode, which he has decorated with dream catchers, dragons, unicorns, and other whimsical elements. The work of art on wheels set the mood for the Flow Fest fittingly because the two day festival was all about movement, creativity and the ability of art to take you into another dimension.
I got a chance to go inside the bus and chat with KnoBody. He told me the bus draws people for a reason, either there’s a message they need to receive or some kind of life-changing moment to experience. He says soulmates have met on the bus and people’s lives have been changed after spending time in the magical Incredibus. I wondered if I had a reason for coming in.
“Check out the energy in here, ” said KnoBody as he led me inside. It was colorful, alive, electric, welcoming, relaxing, loving, and inspiring. I think Somebody, his friendly pup, helped to create it. Written inside on the roof of the bus are poems, which those who have entered, some friends of the owner, have left behind. KnoBody said: “You’ll love this one.” He was right. It resonated because of the inspiring, positive message about authenticity.
Entering the festival area, one is captivated by all the participants hooping on the grass, doing acroyoga, or flowing in some other way, and all of the colors from the variety of hoops and other contraptions. It strikes one as a liquid art.
Here’s one of the multi-talented participants, Andrea Meythaler @aunt_flow_artist, dancing with scarf-like props resembling flames as others practice acroyoga.
She also beautifully spun one of the most whimsical apparatuses at the festival, a sunwheel brought by @crisrovo as captured in the video below.
Aside from talented flow artists practicing their skills at the festival, many skilled instructors also joined to teach workshops in yoga, hooping, acroyoga, circus arts, juggling, and more. Check out a segment with one of the talented participants of a hoop workshop:
Enjoy an additional photo gallery of the marvelous vendors and participants, who all contribute to the artistic conscious community of South Florida.
The workshops, vendors, and participants were on point but something was amiss. There was not one vegan food vendor to provide nourishment for the crowd of conscious individuals. Most yogis, including myself, adhere to a lifestyle free of cruelty since they practice ahimsa, or non-violence, from one of the limbs of yoga. A few people mentioned they were going to the vegan market across the street, and I had to notify them that it was not open. They were disappointed that there was not one vegan food vendor despite the event description mentioning healthy food. Many had to go to the nearby restaurants to find a suitable option. I hope the organizers of the festivals pay attention to this matter in the years to come and provide healthier nourishment for attendees.
Miami Chronicles 