Sarah Belzile - Chief Forest Fairy - This festival is an offering from my heart. It's my form of "activism" - creating the world that I most want to live in... and creating an experience where we can learn to live in the magic not just on special days, but all the time. With lots of support from the brilliant souls listed below and the sparkly Fairies who attend this event, together we'll create an experience for 50 people, in the middle of the forest of Kentucky, that is truly a portal to another world.
"Mama Yoni" - Sara Downing - Heading up our Hospitality and Care Team. A big mama bear with a body-positive focus, Sara is a pleasure educator and intimacy mentor helping folks find joy in their authentic selves and navigate their desires with confidence. The warmth, empathy and unwavering support she brings are the gifts of her devotion to the energy of mothering, a practice she honed raising her three daughters while navigating the complexities of severe mental illness in her family. Her DBT and intimacy training allow her to create safer spaces for people to find comfort, delight, and excitement in their bodies and their sex, expand their capacity for pleasure and explore the edges of their erotic selves. Her presence offers unconditional support and loving attention for all of your tenderest parts.
Lauren Higdon - We are so thrilled to have Lauren contributing so much leadership and creativity to this event, including heading up the Hospitality and Care Team. Lauren is the creator of BreathTouch™ and NatureTouch. She brings over 25 years of teaching experience and has intuitively and skillfully funneled her trainings and practices in trauma informed care, Bodywork, CranioSacral Therapy, Trained Vocalist, Birth Doula, Yoga, Dance, Parenting, Breathwork, Relationship, Sex & Intimacy Coaching. Explore somatic practices with Lauren and learn more at www.laurenfaye.love
Allison Kemphaus (also known as Alice in Wonderland) lives in Northern Kentucky, and is a gifted Thai massage practitioner. She has been serving people's bodies and souls with her magical hands for multiple decades. She is also a jiu jitsu grappler, flower farmer, rock climber and trained yoga teacher. She excels at creating magic and inviting others into experiential and transformational portals. One of her favorite questions is “Does anyone know what happens next in the story?”
Brad Amberheart (also known as Nature Daddy or Leafie Rootz) is a writer, guitarist, ceremonialist and outdoorsman, whose reverence and connection to nature forms the foundation for his life’s work as a teacher of transformational, whole-body, cathartic erotic bliss. He combines the powers of breath, serpentine movement, visioning, ancestral connection, and whole-body arousal as vital tools for holding the fertile energy field within which seeds of intention for our flourishing lives on a fertile new Earth can be lovingly planted, grow and flourish. His greatest life’s influences have been his Southern “Mamaw,” the soft folds of Southern Appalachia, his 13 trips into the depths of Russia, and 100+ days and nights in sacred ceremony with indigenous elders of North America and Siberia. He resides in the forest near Asheville, NC.
“Bring your gift of music as prayer, your gift of deep reverence and connection to nature and the land spirits, and your devotion to cultivating erotic ecstasy for yourself and others.”
Jacob Reid - Jacob brings lots of experience as an outdoor educator and intimacy guide, as well as his skills as a talented actor and gifted group facilitator. His leadership will serve to support all of us in going deeper in a sense of presence, creativity and exploration in our adventures together. Jacob gets the Forest Fairy MVP award since he will be supporting in so many areas of the Festival this year, and is so amazing at spreading the word about the event as well.
Phillipe Coquet (Also known as Luxure) - We are fortunate that Phillipe has again agreed to guide/direct our culminating group performace ritual on Sunday night. He’ll use his decades of experience as an actor, playwright, dancer, artistic director, intimacy coach, spiritual counselor and sex positive community leader to weave something fabulous, that is representative of the world that we want to live in. The performance ritual will include all the fairies who wish to participate, with varying roles and ways to engage. We’ll use costumes, movement and sound to bring together some of the themes that we’ve explored during our time together.
Phillipe is an actor/singer/dancer/playwright/director. Active in Long Form Improvisation, Guerilla and Immersive theater, he has worked on the Broadway stage and cabaret for over 50 years (with a 25 year sabbatical in a spiritual community). He's a featured subject in Holy Hell, a documentary about that cult (available on Amazon Prime). His plays include "Stripped", "Monogamy, A Comedy", which he did at Edinburgh Fringe in 2023. He has directed many successful performances in Asheville, the most recent of which is "Plato's Return". He also directed the hit show "It Didn't Happen" by Judy Calabrese. He is co-creator and director (with Vinny Bonanno) of "Hauntville", a yearly immersive theatrical Haunted House. Phillipe is executive artistic director of Cauldron Multimedium, an innovative organization that promotes positive sexuality, inclusive role models, and alternative relationship styles.
Max Aaron Christeaan - A long-lived fae creature, Max entered this world naked and is more comfortable wearing his skin only. As part of the Radical Faerie movement, he has been observed hanging with woodland and earthly creatures, water sprites, cozy with demons and angels, especially with poly pan beings. His specialties include building creative environments, naked handyman, spirit guide, fabulous cook, farmer, author, tantric erotic bodyworker and Asheville community leader.
Max is an experienced entrepreneur - he created The Garden Sage, creating garden and water features in Hawaii and California. He also built space ships and Death Star for Lucas Film (Star Wars!). He is also the co-founder of the Michael Educational Foundation. He is trained in Somatic Rebirthing, the Hendricks Institute, has his CMT and LMT from the McKinnon School.
Alida Borgna - Alida is again offering us the amazing gift of her absolutely delicious food - so informed and inspired by her Italian heritage and her love of cheese! We also adore her charming presence. Helping Alida in the kitchen is such a treat - don't hesitate to pop in and offer to help with meals!
We will also be assisted by Aizen, Tim Vettel, Caleb Farmer, Anice Chenault, Josh Saxton, Scott Wheeler and Orion - many thanks to this crew!
