Human interaction buzzes within festival crowds — shouting the wrong lyrics with your best friends, engaging in spontaneous dance with a person you just met and allowing the hum of a guitar to resonate through your body. Yet, Cuesta Ridge, Laguna Lake and Funk Safari were not the only locations to experience this engagement at the Dairy Creek Golf Course from May 3-4, during the annual Shabang Live Music and Arts Festival.
Alongside musical performances, Shabang hosted a variety of vendors, ranging from jewelers to tattoo artists, who contributed to the festival’s unique environment and provided interactive customer experiences.
The artists
Situated near the Laguna Lake stage, live painter Cooper Willson stood on the grass with a singular set of paints, a cup of water and a giant canvas at his ready. A warm-toned sunset soon appeared on his canvas, as Shabang attendees began flooding in on the afternoon of day one.
“I’m not trained in visual art or audio art, but I do believe that it’s available to everybody and it comes from within, so the medium is almost irrelevant,” Willson said, stopping to dip his brush to the palate.
Accepting that it was his first time live painting with brushes and a canvas of that size, Willson did not let unfamiliarity wreck his creative expression. Starting this painting was akin in many ways to the finger painting he did as a child, or the rocks he stacks and lines he draws in the sand at the beach. Arranging fallen leaves into shapes on the ground or plucking away at a guitar, Willson is constantly driven by a subconscious need to create.
“It’s not a popular opinion because technique definitely has a big influence on our ability to articulate our emotion,” he said. “But, God, I’ve seen like eight-year-old kids or five-year-old kids blow me away. They have a color concept and value, and even spatial awareness and it’s absolutely innate I think.”
Months ago, Willson met one of Shabang’s coordinators at a coffee shop and was asked to paint throughout the festival weekend. It was an opportunity he said he had to take.
“We need imagination and creativity more than ever,” Willson said.
While it takes long bouts of solitude and silence for many artists to create their work, it seemed that with thousands of festival goers strolling by Willson’s canvas or pausing to watch him make his next brushstroke, he thrived as a painter in that environment.
“I think what’s created will be appropriate for the environment that inspired it, and so I would probably paint different art if I were alone,” he said. “It’s just going to look a little different.”
When Willson is not painting, he’s expressing himself by being a “noise maker,” as he described himself, always ready to hop on guitar, drums, piano or the microphone.
“All these beautiful, talented artists, whether it’s visual or audio, come together and while there’s a little bit of lag time and it might sound rough at first, that’s how people learn to speak each other’s languages and compromise on where their styles fit together,” he said. “I think it ends up as a really powerful, potent, relatable piece because everybody in it has their style come through and it’s just layered and really complex.”
To Willson, the Shabang weekend is a meeting place for all creatives trying to express something. Every year it is proven, as he said, “that we have the opportunity to connect at this level and there’s people around here, like us, who view the world with such color and rhythm and harmony … to prove it to ourselves that we can do that, that goal is attainable and then we go back to our day jobs and we bring that attitude there and hopefully that’s contagious in a positive way.”
The people and vendors of Shabang make up what Willson coined a “supportive ecosystem,” working in conjunction with one another to achieve great things.
“I was setting up some paintings and I didn’t bring the proper equipment,” Willson said. “In L.A. or the Bay, I’ve seen it where artists are more competitive and they won’t help you out, they’re like ‘My arts up, I’m good,’ but these guys are like, ‘This is a team effort, let me help you string this up and screw in wires and stuff.’”
Lauren Alamillo, Isabel Rodriguez and Tristan Thorson of Cool Slut Tooth Gems know teamwork is a significant component of success.
When they were Cal Poly students years ago, Thorson taught Alamillo how to make jewelry, and the pair sold at craft fairs on Dexter Lawn and in their backyard. While trying to grow their mini jewelry business, Alamillo began buying tooth gem kits and doing them on herself. Soon after, she brought them to a campus craft sale for $10 each and sold out considerably fast.
“No one else was doing tooth gems, so I kind of got to mess around, charge low prices and practice on some people to figure it out as I went along.”
She moved to San Francisco after graduating in 2022 and has returned to San Luis Obispo for Shabang the last three years.
While Cool Slut Tooth Gems has frequented makers markets and art fairs, they’ve been unable to sell at most festivals due to expensive vendor fees. The affordable nature of Shabang, in comparison to other music festivals, is what sets it apart, according to Alamillo.
“Even if you’re a small business, you can afford the booth,” she said. “You don’t have to be huge and successful, like I just do this on the side and I’m still able to afford to come here.”
Most people, as Alamillo said, come up to the booth and don’t know what a tooth gem is or that it’s a thing they can get.
“I think it’s so fun to be able to provide a service for people that makes them more excited about their self-expression,” she said. “It’s body modification that makes you feel good about yourself and I think also, especially [with] tooth gems being more temporary, it’s a good sort of a middle ground.”
Right beside Alamillo’s booth, some vendors were providing a more permanent form of self-expression. Tucked near the Funk Safari stage, Chuy Valenzuela of Tiger Rose Tattoo prepared to place ink on his canvas, Cameron.
Valenzuela had prepared an exclusive flash tattoo sheet to celebrate Shabang’s 10-year anniversary, which featured mushrooms, creatures and various Star Wars characters.
It’s not every day that you are able to get a mushroom tattooed on your ankle amidst a live EDM performance. Cameron saw the unusualness of the situation and knew a spontaneous decision had to be made.
“This is completely out of our element. It’s crazy. It’s wild,” Valenzuela said. “These people just want the experience and, really, everything is about experience.”
Cameron received his fourth tattoo at his first Shabang and said he would do it again if given the chance.
Hypnotherapist and tarot reader Mahsa Zaribaf offered a different opportunity to festival attendees. Zaribaf sat in the center of the Dairy Creek Golf course with a clear view of the festival’s happenings and the intention to help people who needed it most.
“I really like doing readings where people aren’t expecting it and they just stumble into it and they’re like, ‘Wait, I have this thing I’ve been carrying for so long and I’d like to just talk about it,’” she said. “I appreciate those chance interactions.”
Based out of Cambria, Zaribaf works with the subconscious mind and promotes self-exploration through tarot, inviting participants to self-reflect and restore their spiritual well-being.
The collectors & creators
Owner of And Beyond Rita Castro finds an unexpected similarity between her real estate job and her passion for selling coats. There is a subtle, uniting force between the warmth of a new home and the softness of fur against the skin. Castro believes that her purpose is to guide others in achieving this comfort.
While collecting coats started as a hobby, she realized there was a demand for an accessory that could be both fashionable and snug, especially in festival atmospheres.
“What I love about my coats is that I get to meet people and let them try things on. I always ask people to try on coats and encourage them to take pictures. Who doesn’t like playing dress-up?” she said.
Castro has called San Luis Obispo home for a decade and said Shabang provides the community that people crave. She attended her first Shabang five years ago and returned last weekend to meet fresh faces.
“I like festivals because you meet people from different walks of life. When you start talking, you realize just how much you have in common. Even if you don’t have things in common, there is always an opportunity for knowledge, that’s where growth comes from,” Castro said.
Shabang vendors sell curated collections of clothing and jewelry, art, earplugs and more. | Angie Stevens
When another vendor, Elizabeth Valesco, dressed her mannequin the morning of Shabang, she didn’t know the figure’s staple pink frilly gown would sell within an hour.
Valesco has been borrowing clothing from her sister, Laura Reyes, since high school. Passing dresses and t-shirts back and forth didn’t seem like a job then, but their sisterly exchanges developed into Hermanas Recycled Clothing.
The pair was inspired to source clothing for markets in 2020 and viewed Santa Barbara as the perfect location to launch this venture.
“Most of our markets are with young people,” Valesco said. “I love seeing these young people passionate about living sustainably.”
Valesco has spent three years at Shabang. She has enjoyed people-watching and picking inspiration from the trends in the crowd the most.
Another Shabang vendor, Flote Apparel, sprung into life as Leah Todd-Borden brainstormed ideas for her senior project. After graduating from Cal Poly in 2019, her mock business turned into a full-time career.
“I make clothes you can wear to a yoga class, on the dance floor and even fall asleep in,” she said.
Todd-Borden aims to design a fusion between the past and future through her clothing pieces.
She draws creativity from the ‘70s’ grooviness, the early 2000s’ flashiness and the quirkiness of today. Through her clothing designs, she hopes she can encourage others to avoid fast fashion micro trends and create things you can’t find in stores.
Todd-Borden has been attending Shabang since she was a graphic communications freshman, and she acquires her brand inspiration from spaces that celebrate music and dance like Shabang. Her brand has grown alongside Shabang, and she has been moved watching the festival progress into a high-level production.
“I remember going to this event and it used to be $5,” she said. “They’ve been able to really harness the vision of what it is to make a successful event. It takes a really good community of people and I’m excited to see it keep growing.”
For Todd-Borden, a milestone of success is viewing people walk the Diary Creek Golf Course in her designs. Although she operates her business in San Francisco, she finds home in the familiarity of San Luis Obispo and the DIY creators of Shabang.
For some vendors, home is within the parameters of a festival. San Luis Obispo native Zoe Markham, owner of The Afterlife Shop, lives on the road in her car, working festivals full-time. Festivals lead her around California and to different parts of the world, connecting her with new people every time.
“I used to go to music festivals religiously all the time and I was like, this is a way too expensive hobby to just go to every weekend,” Markham said. “So I was like, ‘how can I make this profitable?’”
Having always been a clothing hoarder, as she described herself, Markham started working in this creative arena by taking small volunteer jobs at festivals.
“I have so much good stuff in my closet, but I don’t wear it and don’t want to give it away, so then I started this vintage business and it kind of morphed into a sustainable fashion, upcycling, trinket and, like, bizarre-bar thing,” she said.
Having regularly attended festivals for the last ten years — and lived in the San Luis Obispo area her whole life — Markham was bewildered that this was her first Shabang.
Traditional concerts only draw people’s attention to the music playing on a singular stage. Markham said those events lack the allocated space for customer interaction.
Shabang, however, like other “all-inclusive, art-promoting festivals, includes a lot of space for vendors and promotion,” she said, “so I definitely lean more towards [them].”
With the Shabang lineup bringing in an eclectic, indie hippie crowd of all ages, Markham connected with a variety of attendees, welcoming them to try things on and leaf through her collection of trinkets.
Watches, gadgets and intricate silver boxes lined one table, with her handmade jewelry scattered in the mix. Old shoelaces were used to make a variety of bolo ties, while many necklaces had upcycled chains.
“These hold a special place in my heart,” she said, pointing to a line of necklace pendants her grandfather sculpted 60 years ago. “He’s been casting [them] in pewter for a long time and we finally made the decision to turn them into necklaces.”
Nearby, a rack of Markham’s handmade and upcycled clothing — at one point in bad condition and doomed for the trash — was now blowing with the gusts of wind, having been refurbished and turned into something new.
“I go for color and patterns not brands so I can keep it affordable and funky because I love cheap and I also love crazy,” she said.
Markham’s collection of vintage clothing, intermixed on the racks with her hand-sewn pieces, is all locally sourced or purchased from small artists in need of publicity. Upon meeting a woman who hand-embroidered shirts while traveling in Thailand, she brought back countless designs, most of which have sold out.
Tapping into various arenas of self-expression, Markham’s booth had frequent visitors, pulled in by her amalgam of things. Some customers quickly walked around the racks and tables in quiet fascination, others purchasing the items drawing them in the most. Conversations were sparked and pieces reimagined went home with a new life.
Similarly, owner of Abalone Ave Whitney Nester welcomed passersby under her tent to check out her hand-crafted collection of rings, necklaces and earrings, each adorned with unique shells and sea glass she’s found beachcombing over the years.
Nestled amongst a bohemian-style rug, velvet cushions scattered about and her salt lamp glowing softly — all pieces of her room she brought up from Santa Barbara — Nester detailed her experience as a vendor compared to an attendee to be more mellow, yet fun in its own way.
“It’s an introvert’s dream,” she said. “I honestly feel like I’m in my room at home watching a music festival and it’s been so great.”
While this was her first time vending and attending Shabang, Nester was familiar with the atmosphere’s energy, having vended at the Fields of Funk festival in Santa Barbara.
Her business, only two years old, is a product of her silversmithing knowledge gained from a fellow roommate and more recently through a class, after graduating from UCSB as a psychology and brain science major. Finding treasures out in nature while exploring or traveling in different countries, Nester has trained her eye to re-envision things as pieces of jewelry.
“I just have way too many shells and sea glass for myself and I could totally hoard it all but I like to share the wealth a little bit, it’s fun,” she said.
A cowrie and red shell found in Costa Rica made up one statement ring at her vendor stand, while hanging nearby were pieces incorporating fossilized coral, abalone and puka shells.
As Nester can attest, each piece has its own special story and is handed down from crafter to customer.
“To have somebody else have that and be wearing it, it’s so special. I have seen some people out and about that I don’t know wearing my stuff and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh this is so crazy,’ because I just started it from my bedroom a couple years ago,” Nester said.
Also present at Shabang was vintage curator Kristina Schagane. Born and raised in San Francisco, Schagane, having graduated from UC Berkeley during the COVID-19 pandemic, transformed her small side business of selling clothes on Depop and at the occasional flea market into a larger, more long-lasting one by opening a brick-and-mortar store in 2021. Ever since, Schagane has slowly expanded her curated vintage collection, much of which was showcased on the racks lining her Shabang booth.
Schagane brought her vendor experience from the last two years at Outside Lands to San Luis Obispo, having traveled down with her friend Alec Huth of Fruit Face, another clothing vendor based out of SF.
“The energy of the people is just very different than a typical flea market or something like that,” Schagane said. “A lot of vendors sell online or sell in stores and it’s really different to vend at a music festival because people are really excited to learn about your business and I feel like more appreciative maybe of small businesses when they come to events like this, so it’s definitely fun to get to connect with customers in person.”
The restaurants
Amidst the rain and roaring guitars of the weekend was a selection of food trucks like Wandering Eat’s. Founder Brittany Gonyer fulfilled her lifelong dream of owning a food truck when she opened her vehicle’s windows for San Luis Obispo in 2019.
“I love the concept of Shabang,” she said. “There’s a place for everyone, and it’s all-inclusive and there’s nothing more special than that. It’s something where everybody can come together and just have that good, positive energy together. It’s unifying.”
Wandering Eats offered a variety of wraps and sugar cubes for dancers with empty stomachs, providing a selection of greens and sugar to keep the energy going. Despite working at the event, Gonyer’s customers taught her that festivals are all about being present and going all in.
Sarah Wilson Leech, manager of Zen Dogs, felt this unifying force as she watched clumps of people scurry in line for hotdogs.
“This is our biggest event of the year. It’s months of work for us. Then it’s just hit the ground running and drive it till the wheels fall off,” she said.
Leech graduated from Cal Poly in 2021 with a degree in food science. During her time as a student, she figured that Shabang was just a “party in the hills,” but in recent years, Leech has realized that it’s a significant community event.
Like Shabang, Zen Dogs had a humble beginning. Cook Isaiah Molotova explained that the truck’s founder Nick Regalia started his journey with a Mazda and a golf cart. That vision has grown into a trailer with a complete kitchen.
To Leech, Zen Dogs is all about working hard and playing hard. Though hands may be full and lines wrapping around the corner, there is no better reward than the support felt within the work environment and laughing off the stress with friends.
Having served downtown San Luis Obispo for two years on Higuera Street, and more recently at the Thursday Farmers’ Market, 201 Kitchen has expanded to larger-scale events and festivals. With an array of Japanese street snacks on the menu, hungry attendees enjoyed various types of onigiri and pork belly buns.
“It’s very interesting working behind the scenes,” 201 Kitchen staff Bonnie said. “A lot of the vendors, we talk to each other and so it’s kind of cool when we’re running out of supplies, we definitely help each other out. There’s definitely a lot of camaraderie.”
Having frequented countless music festivals as an attendee, she acknowledged a new-found appreciation for Shabang, gained through her perspective from the window of the truck, taking people’s food orders.
“I’ve been to a lot of music festivals before so I kind of understand how it works and the vibe and everything,” Bonnie said.
With this year’s Shabang weekend passed, now sits an empty Dairy Creek Golf Course, once teeming with extravagant stages, vendor booths and hoards of happy people. Bouts of contemplative nostalgia may have washed over festival goers, now returned to their daily lives of work or school.
But what lives on past the weekend is that connection point inside everyone, fostered in part by the diverse mix of vendors. The local flavors of various food trucks distributed to the festival grounds may now be someone’s go-to dinner spot around town. The vintage pieces purchased from the eclectic clothing vendors, now a new addition to someone’s wardrobe. A tooth gem sparkling with every smile, a shell ring decorating a finger, or a spontaneous festival tattoo, now permanently preserving one’s time at Shabang.
It is through the eyes of the vendors that one can see the weekend — and what it means to thousands of people — in a new light.
Check out more of the people, performances and perspectives of Shabang 2024 here.
