Cosmic Contemplations
Dr. Aparna Venkatesan
Dr. Aparna Venkatesan is a cosmologist and dark-sky advocate at the University of San Francisco. She grew up in congested cities with limited opportunities to see the stars, and highly recommends the awe we experience when we reconnect to our timeless relationship with dark skies as an antidote for modern life's anxieties. With Dr. John Barentine, she co-founded the Center for Space Environmentalism in 2025, and coined the term noctalgia to express “sky grief” for the accelerating loss of the home environment of our shared skies.
Come hear about the growing space environmentalism movement to defend our shared skies from increasing light pollution and orbital congestion. The night sky represents our shared origin story grounded in language, science, storytelling, sacred relationship, and interdependent health, needing advocacy and protection more than ever.
Who Owns the Night Sky?
Friday, August 14th
8:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m.
Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Daniel Paul
Southern California-based architectural historian Daniel Paul attended the California State University Northridge, where he studied art history. His 2004 master’s thesis presented the origin story of 1970s and 80s-era mirror glass office building architecture. His preservation projects include landmarking the Capitol Records building in Hollywood and the entirety of Griffith Park, plus writing the City of Los Angeles guidance for evaluating its Postmodern and Late-Modern architecture for historic protection. Daniel authored the successfully listed National Register of Historic Places nominations for the New City of Mentalphysics, Pioneertown’s Mane Street, and the Integratron itself.
Skyscape Charger:
On August 24, 1953, George Van Tassel: a former Howard Hughes test flight inspector had a contactee experience. Directly in front of Giant Rock, Van Tassel met a tanned and handsome 300 year-old Venusian being named Solgonda. Solgonda introduced himself, showed Van Tassel his craft, and imparted a bittersweet thought. Just as humans are learning what they need to know in this lifetime, it is time to die. As a remedy, Solgonda gave Van Tassel the equation F=1/T, and shared secret instructions for a life extension. Featuring Van Tassel’s own rarely seen pictures, Skyscape Charger overviews the Integratron. The presentation frames the machine against its charged environment of mineral, space, and especially sky, and the atmosphere of the Southern California’s post-World War II ufology zeitgeist.
The Integratron in its Atmosphere
Saturday, August 15th
7:15 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Dr. Graham Lau
Dr. Graham Lau is an astrobiologist, science communicator, and storyteller whose work bridges the science of life with the philosophy of the cosmos. With an academic background spanning biology, chemistry, astrophysics, and geology, he studies how life and its environment are intertwined and how we search for life beyond Earth. He serves as the Director of Communications and Marketing and as a Senior Research Investigator with Blue Marble Space, a global nonprofit dedicated to cooperative exploration and sustainability. Graham hosts the Ask an Astrobiologist show, guiding worldwide audiences through the frontiers of astrobiology. Beyond his research, Dr. Lau teaches meditation and public speaking, inspiring others to explore both inner and cosmic horizons, and he writes on various topics in The Cosmobiologist.
Panzoic Mythologies and Alien Life
Language may be humanity's oldest technology, but seemingly as soon as we could speak to one another we started asking questions about meaning and our realities. Among these questions were those that led to mythologies, science, and wondering if we may one day find extraterrestrial life. Come along as we follow an arc in time through our own cultural history to the mythologies of modern science fiction and to the psychological and spiritual impacts that come from considering a cosmos potentially replete with life. We'll explore the modern realm of astrobiology, missions to other worlds, space telescopes searching for alien biospheres, and the search for alien technologies near and far.
Saturday, August 15th
9:15 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Connecting to the Cosmos:
A Guided Meditation
We are an expression and shared lineage of billions of years of cosmic evolution. From the origins of the universe to the ancient stars that formed our material selves and the future of life as we know it. Come to a place of stillness with us as we explore the cosmos that lies deep within ourselves as well as the extensions connecting us to the planet and the greater outer spaces beyond.
Saturday, August 15th
11:45 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Meet at The Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Summer Ash
Summer Ash is an astrophysicist, rocket scientist, and freelance science communicator.
Summer has worked for the World Science Festival, Columbia University, and the Very Large Array (VLA) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). As a science communicator, she has written for The Atlantic, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Atlas Obscura, Slate, Nautilus Magazine, and SyFy.com; and has hosted videos for NBC.com, the Science Forward program at CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, the Intrepid Air & Space Museum, and NRAO's Baseline series.
After Space Craft, you can catch Summer at the Grand Canyon for the month of September where she will be the Astronomer in Residence.
Is the Universe in the Room With Us?
We’ve all heard “you are made of stardust,” but have you really thought about it? I mean really thought about it? Join me as we explore the past lives of the atoms in your body and the current lives of the cosmic particles that surround you and interact with your body everyday without you even noticing. Dark matter and ghost particles and relic radiation.
Saturday, August 15th
10:30 p.m. - 11:15 p.m.
Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Ken Layne, Desert Oracle
Ken Layne is creator and host of Desert Oracle Radio, the cult-hit broadcast/podcast that airs on more than a dozen terrestrial stations. Since 2017, he has performed Desert Oracle Campfire Stories at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs, along with occasional live broadcasts of his late-night radio program around the Southwest. A new live version of the show premiered to sold-out audiences in Twentynine Palms in July, and it is this trippy mix of sound, vision & performance that’s going on the road.
"Layne cuts a singular figure. UFOs, doomed hikers, William Burroughs, singing sand dunes, Elvis, ghosts, roadrunners and rattlesnakes – the Desert Oracle packs a lot of weird, dark matter between its bright yellow covers, a cross between a guidebook and a punk zine. Created in the arid beauty of Joshua Tree in California, it has proven a cult hit devoured from Los Angeles to London." — The Guardian
Friday & Saturday, 10:30 p.m - 11:45 p.m.
Outside Studio B at Desert Willow Ranch
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Telescopes
Stargazing Joshua Tree
Let our local guides take you on a journey through Joshua Trees Dark Skies. Gaze out at the Milky Way, follow the Planets on their journey, marvel at distant Galaxies and Star Clusters, see the stunning colors of Nebulae and make a wish upon the streak during the Perseid meteor shower. Using high-powered laser pointers, we will provide you with stories about ancient civilizations, Greek mythology, and the evolution of the Cosmos.
Friday & Saturday
Telescope Viewing, 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Desert Willow Ranch
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The Origin of Shooting Stars
Join Stargazing Joshua Tree during the peak of one of the year's best meteor showers. Trace the journey of a comet with an expert astronomer and learn how these regular visitors from the outer solar system create trails of material and the incredible meteor showers experienced annually from Earth. Gain a better understanding of shooting stars and interplanetary material as the Perseids' meteors rain overhead.
Friday, August 14th
10:00 p.m. - 10:45 p.m.
Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Outdoor Movies
Welcome Space Brothers
The hard-to-believe but one-hundred percent true story of the Unarius Academy of Science —an extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual school and self-healing community founded in El Cajon,California in the 1970s. Under the outlandish direction of its charismatic leader Ruth E. Norman, known to followers as "Archangel Uriel," Unarius evolved from a fringe spiritual movement into a wildly prolific public access television staple of the 1980s. Director Jodi Wille (The Source Family) brings this singular American story to the screen with the same affectionate, wide-eyed fascination the subject demands.
A film by Jodi Wille · Presented by SpectreVision
In 1970s California, a self-proclaimed Archangel convinces her followers that the space brothers are coming to save them. The wait becomes a movement, the movement becomes a spectacle — and the spectacle becomes one of the strangest true stories ever told.
Friday, August 14h
10:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
The Space Arena at Desert Willow Ranch
The Arrival (1980)
A film by The Unarius Academy of Science.
The Arrival is a true story of reincarnation and the first contact with another world, 162,000 years ago. Without using a script or acting in the traditional way, individuals relive their past lives on the continent of Lemuria. See the amazing special effects in this film, created long before CGI.
Friday, August 14th
12:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
The Space Arena at Desert Willow Ranch
The Space Arena features quadraphonic surround sound by Mobius Acoustics and custom lighting designed for optimal stargazing.
Music Under The Stars
ALIA
ALIA is a multidisciplinary artist transporting her audiences to alternate dimensions with her celestial theremin sounds. One of the world’s most unusual instruments, the theremin is also the only instrument played without physical touch. Conducting this strange synthesizer, ALIA creates otherworldly soundscapes, conjuring hypnotic melodies out of thin air, enriched by her dream-like aesthetic. She is currently on a world tour playing theremin with pop-artist Melanie Martinez.
Saturday, August 15th, 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Red Dog Saloon
Saturday, August 15th, 12:30 a.m.- 1:15 a.m. Space Arena (Cosmic Jam)
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Ami Dang
Amrita “Ami” Kaur Dang is a South Asian American vocalist, sitarist, composer and producer. from Baltimore. Her sound blends elements of North Indian classical, noise/ambient electronics, beat drive psych and experimental dance pop. The work references her hybrid identity as a first generation South Asian American. Sikh upbringing musical education, as well as the chaos of spirituality of the landscapes of both Baltimore and urban India.
Friday, August 14th - 7:45 p.m. -8:30 p.m. Space Arena
Saturday, August 15th, 12:30 a.m. - 1:15 a.m. Space Arena (Cosmic Jam)
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Catfishbluelagoon
Saturday, August 15th, 10:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. // 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
The Wild West Theater at Desert Willow Ranch
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With a sound that drifts between desert horizons and distant galaxies, Catfishbluelagoon creates immersive sonic landscapes using pedal steel guitar, synthesizers, and ambient textures. Their music unfolds in slow-moving waves of melody and atmosphere, blending the mournful beauty of the American West with the expansive wonder of the cosmos.
Flore Laurentienne
At the center stands composer and keyboardist Mathieu David Gagnon, surrounded by a string quartet and two keyboardists/percussionists. Drawing inspiration from contrasting worlds, the melodic clarity and counterpoint of Bach and progressive audacity of King Crimson, this unexpected encounter is at the crossroads of classical, progressive, and experimental music. While deploying a unique and sophisticated language, Laurentienne's music seeks depth rather than complexity.
Saturday, August 15th, 9:45 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Space Arena
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Laraaji
Multi instrumentalist, mystic and laughter meditation guide Laraaji will channel new music for electric zither, ecstatic vocal toning and kalimba. Listeners can expect to be transported to refreshing levels of inner calm, positivity and inspiration. Laraaji has brought forth an inspiring non-traditional zither musical sound that has captivated the peaceful imagination and heart of a global following.
Saturday, August 15th, 11:00 p.m. - 11:45 p.m. Space Arena
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Nailah Hunter
Nailah Hunter is a California-based composer, harpist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist whose work explores experimental harp music through ambient, folk, and electronic sound worlds. Drawing from classical training, contemporary experimental practices, and mysticism, her compositions blend harp, voice, electronics, and field recordings to create immersive, otherworldly landscapes.
Saturday, August 15th, 7:00 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. Space Arena
Saturday, August, 15th, 12:30 a.m. - 1:15 a.m. Space Arena (Cosmic Jam)
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Shape of The Moon
Shape of the Moon is the California based duo of Benjamin Burke and Bear Glass that explores existential headspaces beyond mundane frames of thought. Following streams of consciousness that contemplate the stardust that forms us to the very first human sound that reverberated through a cave, Shape of the Moon intertwines language and music into ambient dream-weaving narratives.
Saturday, August 15th, 8:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Space Arena
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SoRIAH
Avant-shamanic and ancient throat singing merged with modern, ethereal, and dark soundscapes, SoRIAH’s live performance is breathtaking—an experience of both organic beauty and artistic ritual. Invoking the very spirits of nature, SoRIAH is currently the highest-ranked non-Tuvan throat singer in the world.
Friday, August 14th, 6:45 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Space Arena
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Steve Roach
Steve Roach is a leading American pioneer and icon in the evolution of ambient/electronic music, helping shape it into what it is today. Twice Grammy-nominated, his releases span over four decades and over 150 albums. Drawing from a vast, unique and deeply personal authenticity, his albums are fueled by the momentum of a lifetime dedicated to the soundcurrent. Roach is an artist operating at the pinnacle of his career, driven by a passion and unbroken focus that lives within the soul-stirring depth of his music
Friday, August 14th, 8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Space Arena
Saturday, August 15th, 11:45 p.m - 12:00 a.m. Space Arena // Deep Sky Dreaming
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Hemi-Synthesis SoundBath by Patricia Vernhes
Hemi-Synthesis is a live, acoustic performance rooted in the principles of hemispheric synchronization - where neural entrainment guides the left and right hemispheres of the brain into resonance and dialogue. It invites a deep-listening journey into the terrain of our own inner expanse, where the body becomes both the instrument and the vessel for all that is Spirit.
(Bring blankets to lay on)
Friday, August 14th, 7:00 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.
Meet at The Pioneertown Motel Speakeasy
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Live at Pappy & Harriet’s
ESG
The legendary Bronx-based female funk rock collective ESG set the stage for a whole genres of sounds, including post punk and house music. Songs from the group’s early EP’s have been so heavily sampled by rap’s A-listers, including Wu-Tang Clan, The Beastie Boys and MF Doom, that their sound has become nearly indivisible from Hip-Hop.
The bands song, UFO has been sampled in over 600 songs and is one of the most frequently used breaks in hip-hop history. This is the bands first performance in the High Desert.
Limited Availability
Friday, August 14th, 10:30 p.m. - 11:30pm Pappy & Harriet’s Indoors
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Transcendental outernational funk and psychedelic jazz from mystery L.A.- based collective Sun Atlas
Little is known about Sun Atlas. The group members are hidden behind masks and costumes to keep their identities secret and to put the focus entirely on the music and oneness. A sense of community and universal spirit as an alternative to idolization and individualism is heavily.
The sound of Sun Atlas is mystical and cosmopolitan, combining afrobeat, cinematic soul,, spiritual & ethio jazz with space sounds, hiphop-breaks and a garage funk vibe.
Sun Atlas
Friday, August 14th, 9:30 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. Pappy & Harriet’s Indoors
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Tangerine Dream
Over the last 53 years, Tangerine Dream released more than one hundred albums. Their early recording became a milestone in electronic music and played a pivotal role in the development of Krautrock (cosmic music).
After Edgar Froese's death in 2015, Tangerine Dream's line-up now consists of Thorsten Quaeschning as musical director, Hoshiko Yamane and Paul Frick
Their latest studio album Raum was released in February 2022 and was highly praised by the press. 'The best Tangerine Dream record in decades' - Resident Advisor.
Every performance ends with a live session, a real-time composition that can last from 20 – 45 minutes.
Saturday, August 15th, 7:45 p.m - 10:00 p.m. Pappy & Harriet’s Outdoors
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Evicshen is a sound performance alias by Victoria Shen who manipulates records and materials of all kinds. Her sounds oscillate between moments of restraint and swells of frenetic and confrontational movement. Eschewing conventions in harmony and rhythm in favor of extreme textures and gestural tones, Shen uses what she calls 'chaotic sound' to oppose signal and information, eluding traditionally embedded meaning. The appendage-like instruments and objects she makes, exemplify Shen’s ability to embody through sound her interest in the tension created by opposition
Evicshen
Saturday, August 15th, 6:30 p.m - 7:15 p.m. Pappy & Harriet’s Outdoors
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More surprises await..