Taos Music Festival: The New Mantra of New Mexico

by Mike Marino | January 2008

The western sun journeys high above the deepest of blue skies of the pastel paradise of New Mexico. A massive hydrogen and helium power plant resembling a giant yellow piņata stands in the town square in the center of the human village that has made "go green" the new mantra of New Mexico. Abundant in the green extreme, El Sol provides not only clean and remarkably renewable energy source illuminating the humblest of adobe abodes, but businesses and whole communities in the desert state are tapping into its energy riches with all the fervor and fever of the Gold Rush-era. Solar energy and its myriad of uses is creating a new breed of eco-pioneer. The race is on to discover the bounty of energy uses from the sun and the wind in the wide open spaces of the desert southwest and in New Mexico, that means it's time to energize and celebrate at the annual Taos Solar Music Festival in June during the Summer Solstice, proving that solar power does rock and roll!

Taos sails into summer with a three-day solar festival designed to exchange energy ideas, urther educate the eco-minded, win over new converts and to entertain the masses in Kit Carson Park in downtown Taos. The festival draws huge crowds, so it is advised to make reservations well in advance for the summer fest. The festival has over thirty vendors, numerous energy exhibits, demonstrations and of course, mas musica! Taos is known far and wide and proudly, as the Solar Capital of the World and with good reason. Plentiful sunshine and an energetic, creative community of artisans, musicians and those seeking a sustainable lifestyle perpetuate the ongoing energy experimentation. This group of the energy efficient eclectic has resulted in the formation of the Taos Earthship community, an energy-rich enclave of passive solar system homes, made of natural and recycled products and designed to minimize the reliance on and use of fossil fuels.

Instead, they rely completely on the natural order of Mother Nature's own power suppliers of sun and wind. The Earthship homes also hoist their energy-efficient sails to make full use of prevailing winds and their invisible energy producing orts, so as Bob Dylan says, "the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind." The mass media of FM radio is also an innovator in the field of energy and entertainment, as Taos is the home base of KTAO, which is heralded as the world's most powerful solar powered radio station with the high desert sun dialing it up with a radio array of 140 photovoltaic cells, proving that even the blues can go green.

Tapping into the energy of the natural elements have been the Great White Whale of humanity since time began; the goal being to harness it and not harpoon it. New Mexico has always been on the front lines of the battle against wasteful use and the high cost of energy, so it's no surprise that the Los Alamos complex and the Sandia Laboratories in state have been studying alternative energy applications since the race for space heated up during the Cold War. The passive use of the sun's warming rays have been known to ancient cultures in pre-rocket science age and were utilized by the pueblo cultures of the southwest; evident in the positioning of their cliff dwellings, which made the most of a southerly exposure to capture the sun's warmth during the winter months. In effect, Taos is as important to alternative energy karma as the Guggenheim is to the world of Andy Warhol, art and pop culture.

The Woodstock Art and Music Festival was laced with liberal doses of LSD, set against a tiedyed backdrop of a waning Sixties subculture. The Taos Festival, however, is a solar bash with solar flair and panache that always includes an amalgam of musical performers with a wide and diverse appeal to festival goers. Musicians who have played in Taos over the years include everyone from Steve Earle and Harry Belafonte to the Indigo Girls and the Robert Cray Band. The music is ongoing and it's not unusual to have 15 to 18 bands booked for the entire weekend. The two Tao stages used are amplified and electrified zing the natural organic power sources of sun and wind. The smaller of the two stages is solar powered with photovoltaic panels, while the larger stage is wind powered with energy provided by the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.

The Taos Festival is a fiesta of music with utilitarian purpose. The music is a wonderfully-woven tapestry of audio color to infuse the fest with artistry through performance, while presenting alternative energy ideas and just how those applications can be implemented individuals seeking an escape from high energy costs, wasteful use of precious natural resources and discovering new old ways of harnessing cleaner, leaner sources of power for the home and business. This is accomplished through demonstrations by vario vendors on site at the Solar Village on the festival grounds, who are more-than-eager to share visionary ideas to help improve the lives of individuals as well as our own star ship, Planet Earth. The Solar Village is hosted every year by the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. Green is the operative word in Taos, so the Solar Village is a technological Garden of Eden of green builders and green products featured along with demonstrations on solar, wind and modern cistern technology. In floor heating systems, which dates back to the days of the Roman Empire, utilizing powered water heaters are energy savers in themselves and for the more technically adept, there are demonstrations on water to hydrogen fuel cells, their technology and uses. If you're a fan of the Food Channel, there is plenty of solar cooking and baking going on and cookware gizmos and gadgets on display that today are science fact and not science fiction.

The car enthusiast won't find heavy metal, V-8 powered 1957 gas guzzling Buicks, but instead, the latest in electrics, personal vehicles,solar powered automobiles and race cars. Mr. Wizard always said that science can be entertaining and the kids' activities and hands-on projects are pure serendipity, designed to get children to understand that going green can be fun as well as practical and hopefully will keep the green faith going well into adulthood. Alternative energy and sustainable living share the information vendor highway in the Solar Village other groups representing wildlife preservation, environmental groups and others interested in promoting a lifestyle harmonious with nature and not in contention with her.

Green building products, techniques and Star Trekkian Earthship tech can be explored and explained. The Solar Village in its totality is an astounding array of displays that would send Buckminster Fuller reeling, sending him into an orbit ecstatic dymaxion delirium. If you're interested in solar and wind power, there are plenty of experts on hand to remove the cloak of technical mystery; from the world of wind turbines to the pros and cons f active and passive solar installations for a particular application. Curiously, wind-generated power accounts for nearly 20% of all electricity produced in Denmark, making it the leading producer of wind power generated for the benefit of its citizenry.

There are environmental concerns, however, regarding the larger commercial windmills, as they have lubricants that have been known to leak into the soil causing pollution and it's no secret that the flight of daytime birds and the much maligned kings of the night, bats, have been killed flying into the massive rotors that act as a giant blender. Much is being done to curtail these obvious chinks in the armor to find a balance in conjunction with environmental and animal rights groups to stop the leaks and the slaughter of avian and flying mammals alike. Even green has a few kinks to work out, but the important thing is that they are working o solving this obvious Jekyll and Hyde drawback.

The Babes of Toyland came to life magically in Victor Herbert's 1903 operetta and on film in the 1930's, while today the March of the Wooden Soldiers is mechanized with a solarized power boost in the Solar Village with a toy chest full of no batteries included, no-batteries-necessary toys that walk and talk and creep and crawl. Kids, along with adults with ample supplies of leftover childhood in their psyche enjoy the thrill of racing remote-control cars. With conventional batteries once-again a thing of the past as the endangered species of the Energizer Bunny and his battalion of battery buddies heads for the great landfill of extinction. Solar powered rc machines save economically on the price of disposable, non-solar batteries, but even more important to the environment is the fact that there are none to dispose of, thus eliminating battery acid byproducts from leeching into the soil after disposal. Mountain biking is freedom personified and of course, the main purpose of a bicycle is to get exercise, but, if you want to take a recreational respite from heavy pedal peddling, there is a selection on the market of electric powered bikes and trikes to let you ride relaxed while you sip your Evian.

Sun and wind are the usual headliners on the stage of orld sustainability, but there is another star of the environmental stage. Water. Water, water everywhere as the earth is comprised mostly of this precious life giving liquid and is a resource be valued and protected. Great bodies of water have been polluted beyond safe limits in the past. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio was in such dire straits from toxic pollutants, it actually caught fire. Since the 1970's, concerted efforts have cleaned up some of the pollution and while strides have been great, there is still much to do in that regards. There is just so much usable water on the planets surface and with population explosions erupting like volcanoes, the potable sources become scarcer over time. The Solar Village has a few answers to individual proactive steps that can be taken and the products to get the job the done. Cistern technology has been around since the dawn of time, simplistic to be sure, but today, there have been vast improvements in water collecting ome and garden. During the next thunderstorm, watch the amount of water that runs off your roof, through the eaves and out onto the ground and into the street. The Solar Village has demonstrations of water collection systems that allow eco-conscious to collect water freely from nature for drinking and for grey water uses. In fact, with those old plastic 2 gallon milk containers and piece of tinfoil fashioned into a funnel, you can collect water during every rainfall for drinking purposes.

Hot water heaters consume massive amounts of energy, but with a little solar savvy, they too can take advantage of the heating power of the sun with a full scale solar hot water setup for washing dishes, doing the laundry, bathing and showering. The can also demonstrate ways of supplying a small garden with recycled water with easy-to-construct mini-garden water diversion irrigation systems, which can be employed to keep the garden in a state of full-tilt blooming boogie. I once made one of these small systems using soda and beer cans soldered together in a line with bottoms and tops removed and attached to a barrel-turned cistern, which was gravityfed. Being an old school composter and organic gardener myself, I have to recommend the highly educational green-thumb demonstrations that focus on organic soil improvement and farming on large and small scale.

Initial investments in natural energy can be costly up front, but there are merous ways to tap into energy efficient programs already established, such as buying green power from your utility. The Earth gives us life so it's important to reciprocate and be good stewards of her resources. The Village has information on how to protect wilderness and waterways by creating land trusts to preserve open space, which is the environmentally-correct thing to do and in the short and long run, we all benefit. Green builders and solar designers are on-hand to help you plan that new green home or undertake a green renovation project and if you want to lend a hand to a neighbor, you can join forces with Habitat For Humanity for a truly spiritual experience that is practical at the same time. Habitat volunteers will be happy to assist you in started on existing projects close to home.

Lodging options are many and range from chain motels to mom and pops to charming bed and breakfasts, to enjoy the pastel pleasures of the great American southwest. The Old Taos Guesthouse and the Laughing Horse Inn are both located in town, as are the phalanx of motels. Many festival-goers lodge the old-fashioned and most non-evasive environmental way known, simply by camping out and enjoying nature without walls or cable TV. The El Torreon Historic Hacienda is located just one-and-a-half miles north of Kit Carson Park and a tent site will run around $45 for the entire three day event. which breaks down to $15 a day. Daily camping sites are $20 per day for single-day use. There's even shuttle service from the site to the festival grounds, but at a distance of only one and half miles, take advantage of leg power and get some exercise in the clean, fresh outdoors by walking it.

Nearby Carson National Forest also has rustic camping available and depending on the area you choose, the price will vary depending on the facility's availability. Camping is the rustic back-tonature way to go when festing in Taos, but let's face it; we are a wireless society with our love affair for laptops, iPods, cell phones, digital cameras and an assembly line of electronic this and that which seem to come along with us wherever we go, including camping. Recharging these products takes energy, so while in Taos, go local and go solar. There are numerous compact solar battery chargers on the market that take full advantage of the sun's power and there are even hiking clothing lines and backpacks with solar panels. There also exists a clip-on solar panel for the backpacker that doesn't always want to haul civili tion along with him or her. There are solar-powered compact ovens and stoves for the camper and flashlights with rechargeable batteries that can be solar-charged. Leave the propane at home and stop looking fo electrical outlets. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, or in this case when in Taos, do olarians do!

Taos is located two-and-a-half hours north of Albuquerque and with an airport in this historic Route 66 town, it's a good way to get there. Then rent a car for the drive north through some of the most beautiful scenery in New Mexico, including art-galleried Santa Fe, with authentic southwest architecture throughout on up into the shadow of Wheeler Peak and into Taos itself. For information on Taos and the Solar Music Festival, visit the Taos Chamber of Commerce website at www.taoschamber.com and get ready for next year's Taos Solar Music Festival. Go Green for the Big Blue Planet!

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