Chillits

Chillits is an exclusive annual ambient music festival held every September at a private retreat center in Willits, California, USA. There is one main sound stage, with music playing almost continuously through the weekend by a DJ or, infrequently, live. Attendance is limited to a few hundred people. It was started by the Cloud Factory community, but has since expanded and taken on a unique character.

Music

Most of the DJs and live musicians who play at Chillits would be considered "amateur," in the sense that they do not attempt to make a living from playing music. Some are San Francisco Bay Area geek luminaries, such as Brian Behlendorf. Since 2000, many sets have been recorded and made available for free online (see links below).

A notable participant is Mixmaster Morris, who played in 2003 and mentioned the event in a BBC documentary later that same year. It's likely that Morris's visit spurred additional interest among the Internet community, leading to mentions on Boing Boing and this article here on Wikipedia. Other notable visiting acts include Black Sifichi and Gamelan Anak Swarasanti [1].

Attendance

Due to the size of the venue, attendance at Chillits has always been extremely limited. The information sheet distributed with tickets says "Every year, the Chillits organizers agonize for months over how to distribute tickets so that everyone who wants to can attend. And every year, some good folks miss out. It's an obvious quandary: if we sold thousands of tickets then everyone could go, but we'd quickly lose the comfortable, laid-back vibe that makes Chillits so popular."

Ticket distribution is largely based on participation: collective members and others who involve themselves in the responsibilities and tasks made necessary by the planning and execution of the event are awarded the right to buy a pair of tickets. Basically, if you work it, you can attend. This work includes but is not limited to set-up and clean-up shifts, meal shifts, DJ/performance slots, door and parking shifts, equipment responsibilities, coordinator shifts, etc. There is a lottery system designed such that anyone who wants to attend may put their name in for a chance to get tickets, as well as a mailing list that facilitates the buying and selling of unneeded tickets, between private parties, right up until the event begins. There is obvious difficulty in trying to please everyone all the time, but over the years much effort has been expended toward pleasing as many people as possible. Few similar events have been created, despite the availability of this and other similar venues across the land, despite the obvious demand.

Recordings

• sets from 2007
• sets from 2006 (only a few were successfully recorded)
• sets from 2005 - Boing Boing review
• sets from 2004 - Boing Boing review
• sets from 2003
• sets from 2002
• sets from 2001
• sets from 2000
• earlier years were not recorded, and/or the recordings are not available

External links

• The Cloud Factory
• BBC Documentary Moments in Love, in which Mixmaster Morris mentions Chillits.