After returning to England I spent some time with family before making my way to Wales for the Green Gathering festival.
I had discovered the Green during some online searching, after my experiences at Woodford left me looking to find some festivals on this side of the world with a similar ethos. I’ve discovered one of my favourite parts of these events is to meet all of the like minded souls who choose to be involved in their creation and so I was once again participating as a volunteer. I find I no longer feel the desire to go as a patron, feeling I would miss out on making those new connections.
As the name might suggest, the Green Gathering very much has a green focus. Fueled by renewable energy, many solar panels were spread around the site and a large portable wind turbine took its place in the central field. The bin areas would comprise of around ten different recycling options and the majority of toilets were compostable. A large part of the festival was taken up by the Campaigns Field, there to educate and encourage people to be involved in the fight to defend our environment.
Dropped off at the entrance to the site, I then had a twenty minute walk through the grounds to the back fields where the event would be taking place. The path took me over a steep hill, through a forest and out the other side into a huge clearing. I walked through the large green space, admiring the vast surrounding landscape. Farm fields spreading across Wales to the left and beyond, the sloping green to my right led to the River Severn and England.
There was a gentle buzz of activity with people working in groups to erect festival tents, designing signs or setting up their personal living quarters for the week. Pointed in the direction of my campground, I continued along a gravel path until I passed a line of trees. Hidden from general view this area was set aside for artists and crew, and here I found the Artist Liaison tent and our Entertainment Crew leader, Ben.
I was to be part of the Trike Crew. Branched as part of the Artist Liaison team, it would be our job to transport musicians’ equipment from the camping area to the appropriate stage in time for their performance. We had several vehicles for doing this, two were recumbent trikes with raised reclining seats at the front, a large net spreading to two wheels at the rear, and two more were bicycles attached to trailers. They had all been designed by one man who used all manner of recycled parts to make these machines, including a shopping trolley caster to hitch trailer to bicycle.
It did not take me long to determine that, as I had hoped, the Green was brimming with people passionate and knowledgeable about a multitude of environmental issues. I had only to sit around our camp area or next to members of my team at lunch to learn more. I discovered it is possible and apparently (though I have not yet tried) quite straightforward to make your own small scale solar panels. I found out there seven categorisations of plastics and about possible loopholes for companies claiming their products are sustainable. I also heard about many other small scale festivals happening around the UK, festivals that do not leave a field of litter in their wake.
Over the weekend I had some time to wander around, through the healing fields which offered different types of massage and yoga, through spaces dedicated to sitting peacefully enjoying your surroundings or the company you may be with. I passed workshops that taught hands on skills such as how to wood carve or weave, and spent some time at the Permaculture Field where they shared knowledge the community has gained over the years, such as effective and efficient growing methods.
Spread among the site were the four different music stages, all performances were from bands within the UK (their location is taken into consideration when being booked as part of a conscious effort to keep the carbon footprint as small as possible). The weekend was a great success, patrons and crew alike seemed to fully enjoy themselves. As much as I loved discovering new bands, meeting new people and being inspired by all that I learnt, I have to admit, one of the biggest highlights of my weekend was devouring my first ever vegan pasty!
Ahh this sound fab Nicki,
The man who organises this festival is a patient of mine so I’ve been hearing all about it. We’re hoping to try go next year!
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