The holiday season is in full swing, the decorations and lights are shining bright, and the bottles of champagne for New Years Eve are waiting to be popped. Though these things may be exciting, we at BeatMaps are looking forward to the next reason for celebration: Tucson’s 11th annual Gem & Jam gathering. Taking place on February 2nd-5th, the event will occur in the middle of Tucson’s two week “Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase” Amidst this cold and emotionally strenuous winter, an occasion to gather with our festival family could not come at a better time.
Gem & Jam hosts an especially funky lineup this year, with melody master Gramatik headlining accompanied by The Floozies, Lotus, Russ Liquid, The Trancident, and The FunkHunters. Other notable artists include Eoto, G Jones, Com Truise, Opiuo, the Desert Hearts Crew. This lineup brings in festival families from all over the US, attracting String Cheese Incident’s faithful crowd, the Desert Hearts thriving community, and maintaining the crowd they have built in Arizona over the last eleven years.
If you’ve ever been to Gem & Jam, you know that it’s an amazing musical and visual experience for attendees. With dancers, workshops, visual performers, high-end art galleries, and expertly planned production, Gem & Jam is a playground of sensory pleasure. With live art in every corner of the venue, it is truly one of the most incredible events visually. Occurring during Tucson’s world famous gem show, there are crystals being sold and bought all over the venue. From high end pieces within the venue to boxes of gems displayed outside the gates by wire wrapper artists looking to meet new people and sell their wares- There are sparkles around every turn.
The most amazing aspect of this gathering is the crowd that it brings. The festival goers who attend the event add creative elements to the atmosphere, causing the festival to become like a living breathing entity- all of it’s parts operating and pulsing in synchronization, part of a greater whole. I’ve attended Gem & Jam for the past three years, and have always been blown away by the beauty, love, and vibe of the crowd. When you walk through the dusty venue gates of this festival, you are not simply attendees to the gathering- you are the experience for yourselves and the others around you.
How will we contribute? We will be doing a curated art walk with the brand new app- “artcuratr”. This app uses your location to locate street art, sculptures, and graffiti near you! At festivals this means better acknowledgement of artists and an easier map to the visual candy of an event. The users submit the locations of art, therefore becoming the curators. See you there!
Tickets are available at: http://gemandjamfestival.ticketfly.com/
