On Saturday, September 9th, Musician and Filmmaker, Michael Franti and his group Spearhead with Guerrilla Management present the 8th Annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park.

The Festival began humbly in 1999 as an international day of art and culture in support of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. The name and date “911” were chosen to call attention to the emergency status of Mumia’s impending execution and drew roughly 6,000 people to the Mission’s Dolores Park. In 2000, PTTP expanded; showing support for all prisoners on death row, and speaking out against the exponential growth of the prison industrial complex.

When the attacks of September 11th, 2001 occurred, the festival took on a new significance, serving both as a day of remembrance for the lives lost in the tragedy as well as a day in which Northern Californians called for and end to all bombing around the globe. The 2002 and 2003 events offered a space for healing and compassion for all the people killed or displaced by terrorism and the war on terrorism. By this time, the festival had outgrown Dolores Park, and was resituated in the lush mile acre of Speedway Meadows in Golden Gate Park, with over 20,000 people attending. In 2004 the festival was themed "Stand up and be Counted", encouraging people to get out and vote. Last year's festival, themed "Bring 'Em Home" emphasized that the best way to support our troops is to bring them home now and drew upwards of 50,000 attendees participating in a day of music, art and social justice.

"Be Peace Now" is this year's theme reminding us that the path to a less violent world starts from within. Each one of us must commit to what we want to see reflected in the world. Or as Michael Franti sees it, "We can't change the world over night, but we can be a drop in the river that moves a mountain".

In addition to the main stage of live music, PTTP also features morning yoga, an open-air art gallery, a healing arts tent, a DJ tent, vendors and food booths, eco village, kid's zone, bicycle coalition, and social, environmental & political organizations tabling & forums. A second stage has been added this year featuring an array of cutting edge local artists. Sunday September 10th at 1pm, Yoga Sangha of San Francisco will be hosting the Power to the Peaceful, "Be Peace Now Yoga Jam: A day of Yoga, Music and Activism", with Yoga teachers Shiva Rea, Nickie Doane and Eddie Modestini, Katchie Ananda, Acro-Yoga with Jason Nemer and Jenny Sauer-Klein, guest speakers Matthew and Terces Engelhart (Cafe Gratitude), Robi Damelin and Nadwa Sarandah and acoustic musical performances by Michael Franti, Jai Uttal others.

PTTP Festival has been graced with inspirational performances by Michael Franti and Spearhead, KRS-One, String Cheese Incident, Saul Williams, Keller Williams, Blackalicious, Alice Walker, Ram Dass, Talib Kweli, Amy Goodman, The Coup, Digital Underground, Woody Harrelson, Lyrics Born, Anti-Flag, Jello Biafra and Angela Davis and many others.