FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Shakori Hills GrassRoots TownHall: Supporting the evolution of crowd-sourced intelligence and leadership
The GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance and Democracy 2.1 gather input from festival goers on important issues at this Spring's Shakori Hills Music Festival
Pittsboro, NC
- The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is excited to be hosting their Spring festival next Thursday, May 5th through Sunday, May 8th. A date change isn't all that is new with this spring's festival! This year, GrassRoots, a 501- c(3) organization, in partnership with Democracy 2.1 is conducting a "GrassRoots Town Hall": A polling platform that uses a plus/minus voting system, allowing festival-goers the opportunity to weigh in on important questions about the festival as well as on local issues that result in consensus, not just a yes or no vote.
The goal is to tap into the collective intelligence and leadership of a crowd to help solve shared problems by creating consensus, thus leading to the collection of wisdom derived from common priorities and values. The ability to have both plus and minus votes is the key to the recognition of problems, errors, or tension points in proposals which in typical "yes-or-no" voting can be so easily overlooked.
At this year's festival, Shakori Hills GrassRoots will be tackling some difficult topics in the poll, including the controversial HB2 bill as well as the ever-concerning issue of the rise of hard drug use among our youth. GrassRoots has partnered with Equality NC, an organization
dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) North Carolinians as well as key community members from the area who have recently been involved with the issue of heroin use among our youth. In addition, festival goers will also have the opportunity to weigh in on lighter issues such as the festival's music selection as well as programming and amenities at the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center, where the festival takes place every Spring and Fall.
Voting will take place with paper ballots and will be open daily at the Shakori Hills tent near the Meadow Stage. Results of the poll will be shared with festival goers and available on on the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival website at
www.shakorihillsgrassroots.org
.
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ABOUT the GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance Organization
GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance is a mission-based (501-c3) organization that hosts four music and dance festivals and two sustainability fairs a year in three different states across the east coast. GrassRoots brings multi-cultural communities together through the magic of music, art, dance, education, wellness and sustainability.
The GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance began in 1990 in the Finger Lakes as a benefit concert to support a local AIDS organization in Trumansburg, NY. The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival has become an internationally recognized event with a focus on traditional and contemporary roots music and dance from all over the world.
Twelve years later, the
Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival
was launched on a 75-acre farm in rural North Carolina near the triangle cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
And in 2012, GrassRoots launched it's newest festival located on
, the
Historic Virginia Key Beach Park
, just off the coast of Miami, FL.
GrassRoots works to nurture local artists and talent while reaching around the globe to bring world music and culture to new audiences, creating environments that inspire creativity and foster community building. The impact of GrassRoots expands far beyond that which occurs during these four-day festivals. For over 25 years, GrassRoots has served to both engage and give back to the local and regional communities in which we exist by providing financial and organizational support to impact positive change.
