Sedona, AZ - July 25, 2008 - A startling majority of American adults smoked cigarettes prior to the advent of the Surgeon General's Warning. Three decades later, merely 15% of Americans consider themselves to be regular smokers. Why so few?

Just as the popularity of smoking plunged due to widespread dissemination of knowledge of its potentially perilous consequences, Happy Oasis, founder of the Raw Spirit Festival, foresees a law requiring warning labels on pre-fabricated foods, including those chemically-preserved, fried, pasteurized, artificially dyed, hydrogenated, homogenized, roasted, toasted, canned, boxed, processed, injected with hormones and antibiotics, sprayed with pesticides and insecticides, genetically modified, and otherwise nutritionally emaciated.

The Raw Spirit Festival, gathering-place for today's hippest international food fashion called the Raw Spirit Movement, which is primarily based on consuming more fresh organic vegetables and fruits.

Oasis suggested that a possible Surgeon General's Warning could read: "Consuming this 'food' can cause a plethora of diseases including cancer and heart disease, and may lead to painful, pre-mature death."

She explained, "Given accurate information, most adults will choose health as evidenced by cigarette smoking's significant downward trend. Generations raised on packaged foods have been misled by mostly well-meaning food manufacturers for several decades, thus most people today are not in a position to discern what is truly nutritious, since ties to foraging and horticultural practices, which have sustained humanity, have been severed."

Gently re-introducing and increasing the percentage of fresh organic vegetables and fruits into the SAD (Standard American Diet) is one of the primary aims of the Raw Spirit Festival, a fun-loving educational celebration in its 4th year. The festival grew by a phenomenal 1000% in 2007 and is expecting a 300% increase in 2008. "We are only just beginning!," beams exuberant, health-radiant Happy Oasis, who has big plans to expand the festival to several locations, including internationally.

The 4th annual Raw Spirit Festival is Arizona's largest healthy-living and eco-sustainable celebration, returning to spectacular Sedona's Radisson Poco Diablo Resort, Friday through Sunday, September 12th to 14th.

The unusual enthusiasm for this festival is due to burgeoning interest in the delicious nutritious raw vegetarian gourmet fare provided combined with an entertaining, comprehensive health program that attracts a devoted national and international following.

The RawSpirit.com website's main page invites the approximate 5000 participants to "Come discover ancient wisdom and the latest findings from the greatest minds in healthy eco-living."

Features include:

• three organic raw vegan gourmet meals,

• 40 raw food preparation demos with complimentary food tastings,

• 100 dynamic cutting-edge speakers including many doctors,

• an outstanding array of world class musicians,

• 250 educational booths,

• a creative children's program, raw chocolate emporium, an extensive raw restaurant food court, outdoor and indoor main stages,

• interactive workshops in the discovery dome, an art garden, dancing, poetry, theatre, open mike, sacred exercise area including free yoga and chi kung classes throughout the 3 days,

• an ongoing meditation circle, electric cars, eco-products,

• 5-minutes-for peace program each hour led by musicians and spiritual leaders,

• healer's area with massage, astrologers, shamans and psychics, a leadership sharing circle,

• nature trails, guided creek-side hikes, fantastic foods and fabulous friends.

The festival is a family event that welcomes children though the event is equally esteemed by singles and couples. The atmosphere is unusually friendly with a hug patrol, peace & harmony services (instead of 'security') and a speed dating game – but a few of the ways to meet new friends from around the world.

The celebration is free of alcohol, meat, cigarettes, profanity, stress and drugs. Pet-owners are requested to leave their furry family members at home because many participants will be dining beneath Sedona's famous red rocks amidst the duck-filled ponds on the festival resort venue's rolling lawns.

The Raw Spirit Festival is a 501c3 educational non-profit that provides CEUs/CMEs (Continuing Educational Units) to healthcare professionals.

The fledgling festival is funded mostly by ticket sales, though is now focusing on seeking sponsorships, donations and grants to fund three programs, namely

1. a Scholarship Fund for the elderly, indigent and ill;

2. a Venue Land Procurement Fund; and

3. a Perennial Operations Fund.

"Donors may choose where the money will go, which makes giving much more meaningful and fun", says Happy Oasis, CVO, an acronym for Chief Visionary Officer. She added, "Everyone should have access to health information. This is a basic human right."

Tickets are on sale now though seem likely to pre-sell out. For more information, peruse www.RawSpirit.com or call 928.708.0784.
 

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