Bella Terra Festival

Bella Terra Music & Arts Festival

OVERVIEW
Bella Terra Festival is an outdoor music and arts festival that occurs over multiple days and nights and features several stages of performances, artists and other programming. Gardner’s Farm in Stephentown, New York will be home to the third annual Bella Terra Festival, located between Albany, New York and The Berkshires in western Massachusetts.

Bella Terra celebrates a positive and progressive outlook and lifestyle, grassroots organization and activism, consciousness and creativity, self expression through artistic mediums, and the pursuit of a holistic existence that balances body, mind & spirit. Music and art can be a great platform to promote awareness, consciousness and sustainability and unite a people to affect societal progress. Bella Terra Festival uses this platform to call attention to the need to reestablish a spiritual connection between mankind and the Earth and perpetuate an ideology of global unification.

  Bella Terra Festival recognizes that changing one’s own life for the better goes hand in hand with improving the world around us. This is why Bella Terra advocates that each person pursue his or her own dreams, open their minds and realize their maximum potential. To help meet these ends at Bella Terra Festival, many classes, workshops, and lectures in music, art, nature, politics and beyond are offered, in addition to a host of other programs and entertainment to help deliver our message.

ORIGIN
Bella Terra: Arts, Music & Culture Festival originated in 2009 as a benefit event to raise funds for Berkshire County, Massachusetts Arts Scholarships. The first annual Bella Terra festival took place at Bogie’s in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, July 30 – Aug 1, 2009. And it was a wash – literally. The event flooded, with a river going over the crest of the embankment upstream and causing a channel of running water to dissect the festival, as deep as 2 ½ – 3 ft in some areas. By morning, the only thing above water was one small piece of land with a sign that read ‘camping.’ And that was surrounded by the largest puddle a festival has ever seen (bigger than many ponds). Regardless, we pulled through and went onward to put on the festival again in 2010 and now in 2011. Although we no longer are purely a benefit for a nonprofit arts scholarship, Bella Terra Festival still aims to provide the same  multidisciplinary atmosphere for local and national artists to showcase their work while integrating local youth talents (and other aspiring artists) into the greater arts community. Bella Terra aims to contribute a portion of our proceeds to worthwhile charitable causes and provide a platform for those charities to further their cause and extend their network.

COMMUNITY

Bella Terra Festival strives to find ways to help contribute to the improvement of the community. One of the ways we do this is by integrating non-profit and activist organizations into our event, with informational tables/booths, workshops & seminars, lectures about relevant social, political and environmental issues. We aim to offer progressive programming that inspires our patrons to ‘think globally and act locally.’ In previous years, we’ve had programming from organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Strangers Helping Strangers, Western Mass Labor Action, West Side Farming Project, and other entities.

WEBSITE: BELLA TERRA MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL

TWITTER: @TheBellaTerra

FACEBOOK: BellaTerraFest

Candace Talks with Greek from 845 Ent.

Wednesday I met up with last years Break Contest winner, Greek, on 845Entertainment and hailing from Newburgh, NY. Greek dominated over 500 area musicians winning the opportunity to perform on a main stage at the 2011 Bamboozled Festival. Even with that notability established, I’m not going to lie, I was mad skeptical going to check out a new local hip hop artists expecting to hear the same ol’ , same ol’… The following interview is pretty much Greek schooling me on why you should never judge a book by its cover or an artist by his locality. 

Canneddass: So, I did my research. Newburgh, NY, born and raised, started freestylin’ for giggles around the cafeteria table at age 13, and won the 2011 Break Contest… So what else? How many break contests did you enter before you won?

Greek: Basically, the first round of the Break Contest was my first performance ever.

Cannedass: Ever?!

Greek: Ever. And the second round was my second performance, and the third round was my third performance…. I had about 3 months to prepare from finding out I had won to hitting the stage at the festival.

Cannedass: So from age 13 spitting at the cafeteria table to 2011 what were you doing? Just studio recordings?

Greek: Not even that really. I was just freestlyin’ for fun here and there. In 2006 there was a recording, but not anything serious just me messing around. That was called, ‘’They Watching”. Other than that nothing really until 2010 when I got together with No Other Beats and put together my first album, “Greek”. It was really a fluke that I even entered the break contest. It was my buddy KY’s idea. He’s a huge 
hip-hop head and my new hype man. He basically said you have to do this.

Cannedass: So what have you changed up since last years Break Contest? 

Greek: Looking back at the first round of the first Break Contest I was like “What the hell was I doing!?” haha. Like I said it was my first performance and performing is a whole different beast than being in the studio. It’s controlling a beast really. In the studio it’s method, routine, consistency. Performing, you have to control the crowd’s energy. This year you’re going to see a lot more energy with DJ G-rock and The 6’7 swag giant, KY, Keep ‘em Yellin! It’s definitely going to be hype!

Cannedass: *Seriously, I can’t wait! So, was winning The Break Contest, that moment of validation for all your hard work?

Greek: Honestly, it wasn’t until I saw the lights on the line up. I looked up and I was like, “Hey, what am I doing up there?”
 
Cannedass: Have you checked out any of the acts that are up against you? Do you think you have any competition out there?

Greek: Are they my competition? Haha. I mean, I go out on stage I do me. I’m so real with myself and that’s how you have to be. I hate to see artist out there doing it for the wrong reason. They’re wasting their time and they’re wasting my time. Do you want it for the fame and the fortune? Or, do you want to build a lane. I’m tryin’ to build a lane. I just want to be comfortable just doing what I do.

Cannedass: Alright, what do you want to tell to all your fans and potential fans?

Greek: Give local a chance. Don’t be closed-minded. Everybody came up from somewhere.

The Break Contest 2012 Breaking Boredom

     Well, Upstate the fact of the matter is, although we haven’t had a decent accumulation of snow, it’s still colder than the Zima in the back of your mamas freezer (a side note, Zima has not been produced since 2008; though, I haven’t actually seen one since 1994.) Anyway, in so many words it’s cold outside. Don’t give in to cabin fever! Come out to The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie and show your support for some local bands playing for a spot at Bamboozled festival 2012.

For those of you not in the know like myself, a mostly California girl, the Bamboozled Festival is one of the tri-state areas largest music festivals. Held over three days in the armpit of America (sorry Jersey, had to, love you!), since 2003. Through The Break Contest local artists are given the chance to earn a spot amongst famed headliners. A few personal favorites on the 2012 line up include Foo Fighters, Mac Miller, and Skrillex.!

     The Break Contest is a classic battle of the bands, but it’s not just your high schools battle of the bands! Eight venues will hold preliminary, semi-final, and final rounds over the course of about ten weeks. The artists need to sell a certain quantity of tickets to earn a chance to perform in the next round. This is where you come in. There are a ton of bands out there, and last year’s winner, Greek EuropeanDon, hails right from Newburgh, NY, and is a major player for T.E.A.M. 845.  Also repping T.E.A.M 845 is Tell a Tall Tale out of Washingtonville, NY. I know Greek is hungry for another win, and Tell a Tall Tale came so close to glory last year they’ve been waiting all year for redemption.

      Be sure to check out The Chance Theater or The Break Contest website for schedules. Once you’ve marked down some must see shows, including Greek THIS Saturday January 21^st at The Chance, come back by the blog for an in-depth look at Greek EuropeanDon .Get to know the renowned Hudson Valley MC who’s came out on top last year before you see him live this Saturday.

      So there you go. Go warm up your car. Tickets are a reasonable $12 bucks pre-sale and can be purchased through the artist, The Break Contest website, pre-sale and at the door for $15.00 through the venue. Get out. Show love. And always, #FeelFreetobeFree