by: a mutant

During the Summer Solstice hundreds of anarcho weirdos gathered for the annual Autonomous Mutant Fest (AMF), a 15 day long DIY renegade festival where money is imaginary and the police (mostly) don’t exist, except where they assert fire codes, unable to crack down on the dubiously legal festival with so little notice. AMF has existed since the 90’s, surviving repression during the green scare, one attendee I spoke to described dropping acid right before the FBI ruined the party that year. Every year the dates and location of the festival are different, and are posted on the website with short notice. Still hundreds of Mutants gathered, this year in the woods of Northern California high up near Mount Lassen where it hailed on the solstice and the beats kept bumpin’ and the party kept pumpin’.

This year’s AMF featured more than 10 different soundstages from crews such as SPAZ (Oakland) and 3RDKLTR (Portland), and many more. During the day there were free stores, zines, a diy hot tub, twerk shop, sushi from scratch, served with mimosas, and a tree climbing skill share. At night the festival kicked off with searchlights, impressive sound systems and decorations stretching high into the trees, a 30ft three person wide swing, tea house, and communal campfires where people gathered to battle the subfreezing temperatures of the Mt. Lassen nights.

I hope to see more of the Dissonant readers there next year. The world we fight for already exists in places waiting to be discovered.