AOF Activities & Events

The Twenty-second Annual California Freethought Day Festival will be an in-person event on the West Steps of the California State Capitol. As in years of yore (it has lots of yore), the local community of freethinkers will converge to bring you a menagerie of wonders and a fabulous flight of free minds, with music, speakers, awards and more. Attendance is free. Free. Please join us.

OK, it is not officially an AOF event. But AOF founded "CFD" in 2002 -- a rather rag-tag gathering on the Sacramento courthouse steps. It grew. Year by year it grew, until it left the nest and took wings. We still promote and sponsor it because we're proud parents.

Now it is an annual public jubilee and gala hosted by the independent Freethought Day Committee, a wide-ranging celebration of free speech and free thought, civic engagement, enthusiasm for science, social justice, and the separation of church and state. It is open to all -- combining "the fun and festivity of a fair with the education and activism of a conference," as the event chair fondly tells us. It features exhibits, speakers, music, prizes, panels, performance art, baloons twisted into small animals, and tons of fun.

Planners have packed the day with events to entertain you and uplift you. Projected speakers and entertainers include television host Trace Dominguez, freethinking physician Dr. Candace Lawson, Recovering-from-Religion president Dr. Darrel Ray, science educator Jen Young, and various other speakers. entertainers & podcaster. Even as you read this, the lineup grows.

So sign up now. But wait, sign up why? It's free, isn't it? Oh yes, the main event (Sunday) is free to attend, but advance registration (at no cost) makes you eligible for delightful & toothsome benefits, including doorprizes and updates. And would you care to staff a table? Would you like to join us for the Supporters Reception the evening beore? CFD is a multifarious event, covering the whole weekend. Please visit the event website, or see the Facebook Page, to learn more.

The seed of this festival, of course, is the celebration of Freethought Day, a secular holiday that technically falls on October 12 (click that little link to learn a bit about it), and one of many celebrations held world-over at about the time.

Finally ... if you'd like to volunteer, sponsor, help promote, help plan, participate - or if you just have ideas - then please do visit the event website now, and contact the chairman (see below). Sooner = better. The team will love to have you, because hands that help ... are beautiful hands.