The Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) looks like the kind of idyllic summer camp that is depicted in movies. Cherry-red canoes and orange kayaks float lackadaisically in
the pristine waters of Lake Eden, while the sound of bright and merry folk, bluegrass, African, Brazilian, and
funk tunes fill the clear mountain air. Arts and crafts
tents welcome children to discover their inner artisan.
Potters and folk artists show off their wares by the shore.

The festival is held in early May and October each year at Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The three-day event, now in its 14th year, is filled with music, dance, food, and art. Once the site of the groundbreaking arts institute, Black Mountain College, and now the location of a summer camp, the 600-acre festival grounds, at the base of Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains, have a certain magical quality.

One of the most mystical experiences happens at the community drum circle, held at the top of the mountain, just below Eden Rock, around a blazing bonfire. The drum circle starts around 9 p.m. and won’t end until sunrise. Anywhere from 25 to 90 participants show up.

To get to the drum circle, people must brave what’s known as the Tricky Trail. “You go up this winding, little wooded path finely lit by some candles here and there for about three-fourths of a mile,” says Jennifer Pickering, organizer of LEAF. "You reach a clearing after about 10 minutes and there is the drum circle. I’ve always loved that it gave a heartbeat and pulse to the rest of the event—it’s good for people with late night energy.”

Walking through the tight foliage to get to the remote setting of the drum circle is one of the things Pickering thinks people find appealing in the atmosphere. “In the US, everything always seems so familiar, but here, that is not the case,” says Pickering. “You feel like you are leaving the world you know.”

Dr. Parv Sethi, professor of geology of Radford University, Virginia, has attended the drum circle since the beginning, both as a participant and a photographer. During his first drum circle at LEAF, Sethi used a djembe goat-skin drum. At the circle, there are all kinds of African drums, tambourines, and shakers.

"As you’re walking up the path, you can hear the drums getting louder and louder and you can hear the rhythm as you get closer,” Sethi says. “Then you start hearing echoes off the mountainside and it’s just thrilling. I can’t imagine how any indoor setting can compare to feeling the crispness of the nighttime air, the smell of the smoke, watching the flames crackle, and seeing the lights of the fire.”

Although Sethi had never played a djembe before, he was encouraged to follow the beat and not worry if he made a mistake. “The next thing I knew it was three in the morning and I had been playing for three hours,” says Sethi. Anyone from teenagers to 70-year-olds attend the late night drum circle. Part of the mission of the event is to make everyone feel included and welcome despite musical ability.

"Drumming is such a wonderful, low-cost, portable thing to do,” says Sethi. “It is the lowest common denominator of humanity and it brings people together while also bringing them closer to the earth and the ground.”

One thing in particular that is special about the midnight drum circles is how people tend to lose their inhibitions and dance around the fire. People will get a little dirty and perspire, but they don’t feel self-conscious.

"There is something to be said about the darkness and the illumination of the flames that allows people to shed their façades or masks,” says Sethi. “There’s also something about the fire being the other primal force in our lives that, combined with the beating of the drums and dance, engages the different senses all at once.”

Besides the unique atmosphere and camaraderie of the drum circle, Sethi notes a therapeutic aspect to the drumming. “I can do my high technology multimedia development, meeting deadlines at work, and living a 21st century lifestyle, but for a weekend, I can leave all that behind,” he says. “I find this other part of me that LEAF brings out that keeps me grounded and allows me to manage stress in a much better way.”

Looking for more camps and festivals? Click here.