FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS SATURATION FEST?Saturation is a DIY art and music festival that occurs annually in Riverside, CA. Saturation is a labor of love, and it's successful because of the incredible talent in Riverside. We keep doing it because it's fun, and because it's vital to keep up the hard work on behalf of the bands, artists, and community that make Riverside uniquely creative and supportive.
WHEN IS SATURATION?
Saturation Fest 2016 is May 27th - 29th.
WHY IS SATURATION?!
Saturation energizes artists and performers to keep working and not get discouraged about making their art outside of a major city. It raises the profile of the Inland Empire and shows a side of the region that is often hidden from people outside the area or not plugged in to the grassroots. Our concerts, exhibits, workshops and events are a prime opportunity for the audience to participate and create an experience. As a mostly all-ages and largely cost-free festival, Saturation pushes for the de-commodification of culture as much as we can, concentrating instead on the value of the experience. The workshops are a major part of that, where we all work together on the free exchange of skills and ideas. We always hope that the community will pick up where we leave off, making events like these happen year round. The crowds have steadily increased over the years, going from a few hundred the first year to about 10,000 in 2008. We are looking forward to the future!
WHO STARTED SATURATION?
Saturation was started by Alaska Quilici in 2001 as an experiment. "I had no experience with planning, but I have always believed that we should make the world we want to live in. I launched the fest as a weekend event of every local band and artist I knew, and people were really excited about it. It seemed like people had been waiting for something like that to happen for a long time. It has steadily grown to the massive project it is now because people believe in it, and they look forward to it, and they get involved and contribute and play."
WHO RUNS SATURATION?
Saturation is a DIY festival, but it relies on a team of volunteers that contribute their time and energy to organizing a complex, extremely-low-budget but still high-quality festival! The 2014 festival organizers are Talene Salmaszadeh, Sierra LaPoint & Jon "Roach" Brosius.
HOW IS SATURATION ORGANIZED?
The organizers work behind the scenes to connect venues, performers, artists, art vendors, event curators and volunteers. Volunteer event curators help put shows together under the direction of the Saturation organizers. We try to choose performers that are representative of what's current in Riverside, but we also branch out to other areas to pull in the best of what's happening elsewhere. We create a very, very long wishlist, and then try to schedule performances that will be strong, exciting, and somehow special. We always ask ourselves, "What makes it special?", and if we can answer that, then we try to make it happen. It is a tough process, and there just isn't enough festival to book everything we really want to. We have to be selective, but we always wish there was more time and space.
HOW CAN I BE INVOLVED? Do you love us?
We love you too. Follow the "Sign Up!" link in the menu above to fill out a form and tell us more about your interests for Saturation, whether as a performer, visual artist, volunteer, venue or vendor.
