By Scott Crocker, Axis Mundi
When Revelstoke Review editor Alex Cooper approached me to write a short piece on this question, I admit my first impulse was to lob the ball back into his court. I’m not a professional writer, and in relation to an evolving Axis Mundi Festival cycle, it’s a complex query and one that’s difficult to answer in 400 words or less, but here goes:
We get asked this a lot: What does the name ‘Axis Mundi’ mean?
The term axis mundi derives from the Latin words "axis" and "mundi" or world, together meaning "pivot point, or line, connecting the earth and the sky/heavens." It’s a concept that’s linked to cosmological ideas like the World Tree or the Naval of the World.
Axis Mundi Festival is a good name for a festival based in Revelstoke, whose mountains make you feel like you really are at the meeting place between heaven and earth. And as a name, it arguably beats out “Naval of the World Fest” although that has a nice ring to it.
The biannual concept of the Axis Mundi Festival offers a two-part festival cycle, starting with Axis Mundi Harvest Festival in September and Axis Mundi Solstice planned for June 17–19, 2016. While the two events will be themed differently, both are based on the four pillars that form the base of the Axis Mundi mandate: arts & culture, adventure, environment and community.
At any Axis Mundi Festival you can expect to experience arts and live music, expect elements that celebrate an outdoor lifestyle, expect a commitment to sustainability and environmental initiatives, and expect all of these within the context of the community of Revelstoke. An ideas festival, Axis Mundi is a meeting place, a rendezous point that celebrates all of the aspects that make mountain culture what it is.
Closing in on my 400 words, I have to say that in order to really understand what Axis Mundi is, people have to come out and experience it for themselves, beginning with the FREE fringe festival on Friday. The fringe is open to everyone, with live music at venues throughout the city. Saturday and Sunday have markets, events, lectures, and music workshops through the daytime. Many of these are also open to everyone. Capping off each day are the Devil’s Club Challenge Races and mainstage concerts up at Revelation Lodge.
Lots to get stoked about in the city this weekend, so come check it out and enjoy. See you at the festival.