FASNACHT: What's Love Got To Do With It? (The Second Gathering)

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Step out of the cold and into a growing winter gathering of live music, masks, noisemakers, and ritual fire. AltFestEvents presents Fasnacht, a living seasonal ritual inspired by European winter and carnival traditions, shaped by the people, place, and moment that carry it forward today.

Held in the heart of February, Fasnacht marks the turning from winter toward spring through gathering, misrule, masking, music, and communal release. Rather than centering romance or spectacle, the night focuses on shared experience—bringing people of all ages together in a space rooted in tradition and alive in the present.

Throughout the evening, live music and performance unfold across the venue, featuring a wide range of artists spanning Appalachian-rooted songwriting, polka, punk, rockabilly, folk, roots, and experimental performance. The night is anchored by Bryan Elijah Smith, alongside The Polkamaniacs, A Band Named Ashes, Weasal Face, Steven R. Trent, Faith Kelly & Caswyn Moon (Couple of Wanderers), The Greasy Boys, The Modernes, Trash Talkers, and more—guided throughout the evening by Flicker (Daniel Eady) as MC and story guide and Psychic Sonya Horstman as the Festival Ambassador .

As the night builds, sound, movement, and ritual elements weave together, leading toward a shared moment of release: the burning of the Old Man Winter effigy. Masks are welcome, curiosity is encouraged, and participation—whether loud or quiet—is part of the experience.

This is a family-friendly gathering throughout the night, welcoming children, parents, elders, and first-timers alike. It is not a reenactment or simply a costume party, but a living gathering shaped by those who attend, the artists who guide it, and the season itself.

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