I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from this, but I was pleasantly surprised. Lots going on, and yet the grounds are big enough to avoid crowds if you want to. Highly recommend avoiding driving for this! Even if you're taking a bus, leave plenty of extra time as the area gets rammed with traffic on the day.
Sometimes all you need is a dance in a forest with the fire folk. The Psychedelic Way forest parties are local to where we live, so we pop down there when we can. Tonight did not disappoint, well done guys!
Today's shout out goes to The Orchard Project: a charity dedicated to the creation and restoration of community orchards. Their aim is to 're-fruit' the country, putting power and knowledge back in the hands of the local community and creating a 'better, locally-led food system'. The project started out in London, aiming to re-connect urban communities with their local and little-known orchards. Many urban orchards are now…
During the warm seasons of the year Oneness Jams are held in the parks of London on Sunday afternoons. A gathering for those who want to play music, dance, spin, and connect with people. Usually the music is tribal, with traditional instruments such as drums, rattles, flutes, didgeridoos, etc accompanied by singing. The constant flow and variety of instruments and musicians keep it interesting, and connecting vibration is…
August is peak festival time, and we set off to Portugal for 8 days of sun and psytrance at Boom festival. Every two years in a remote area of eastern Portugal, along the beach of Idanha-a-nova lake, Boomland is reborn. The festival grounds are vast, with 150 hectares of land separated into various camping areas and different zones where activities take place. It takes something like 300 experienced volunteers around…
This week we popped by the London Permaculture Festival, attended a few talks and familiarized ourselves with some of the sustainable growing projects around London and the UK. There were beginner's talks on forest gardening and permaculture design; run-throughs of building with straw bales, composting, and fermentation; a brainstorming session around urban permaculture design strategies; and some stalls, including our personal favourite: the bookstall. Anyone with…
This weekend we stopped by Rochester Square garden and had a long chat with one of the guys who's been there from the beginning. Once home to a nursery that grew plants for the entertainment industry, the site had since been neglected for over a decade; the garden and buildings that were beginning to fall apart and degrade the surrounding neighbourhood have now been returned to…
Today we visited the nomadic community gardens project, set up by 1 love community on a disused piece of land near Brick Lane. 1 love took over use of the derelict wasteland and converted it to a community garden for local residents, with various activities geared towards bringing people together. We had a chat with one of the community members and learned that the landowners gave permission for it to…
Last weekend I took a trip to Grow Heathrow, an autonomous community space and settlement, on the grounds of an abandoned market garden site near Heathrow airport. I visited to take part in a fermentation workshop run by Fareshares food co-op, and ended up staying for the day. Transition Heathrow is a grassroots action group with four main aims: To further the Heathrow villages as an iconic…
Wishing everyone a fantastic year ahead! I spent mine at Allendale's tar barl. What did you get up to? Reported to have started in 1858, when it was too windy for a band to read their music, the suggestion of lighting a tar barrel has over the years transformed into a New Year's spectacle with a pagan influence of lighting the New Year's fire. Guisers dressed…
I've just come back from Infinite Blissland – a three-day psychedelic healing festival. Think, traditional shamanism meets modern psychedelic culture. I had a good time here, even though I wasn’t feeling very sociable. The massive gong bath was amazing! I don’t have many pictures from this one, so I’ll give some extra pointers. If you don’t want to be kept up by constant music, pick a…
This weekend we visited Runnymead for a festival... and ended up staying some extra time. This place was amazing, just the kind of community I would love to be a part of. Edit: Sadly, this place is no more