Campout 2024 performers and contributors
Here is the programme (subject to change) for Campout 2024, happening over the weekend of August 8-11 at Three Pools Farm, near Abergavenny, south Wales. Tickets are available here.
THURSDAY
Since being a child, Ruth has been fascinated by how people are in the world, how they respond and react to life and was curious as to what lies beyond the seemingly rather limited ‘agreed reality’ we were entrained into. Fascinated by seeing beyond, over the years she was naturally drawn to the exploration of freedom and awareness.
On her way, she also learned many healing modalities, freeing herself and assisting others to find freedom from the pain and the limitations, gathered from human life experience. She was drawn to whatever ways that she perceived to be powerful, profound, effective, simple and easy!
Her studies began in 1989 out of personal curiosity and she has been working with individuals and groups with a range of effective modalities since 2003. She has facilitated group workshops and retreats since 2006 in healing, freedom, imagination and awareness and has trained practitioners in energy psychology techniques.
Throughout her life she has been profoundly sustained by the life that surrounds us on this extraordinary and beautiful planet, retreating alone into nature to restore herself to her joy of being.
Ruth's Offering to Campout 2024:
"I attended my first Campout in 2022. When Pete asked the people what they might like to contribute I knew that I can bring an effective practice of connection that people can take out into the world and make a difference wherever they go and even in the most challenging of circumstances. Lately I have observed many people expressing various feelings of dismay about events in our world. Wars, politics, injustice and vast damage perpetuated upon the natural life on this Earth. These events seem to be an expression of disconnection. The emotional responses to these events arise and naturally have to be experienced but if they persist they weaken us and can interrupt our connection with some of our fellow humans.... the hardest to love!
Despite an intent to live from the heart in a caring sharing world, those reactions can in themselves disconnect us from the whole. My offering is a simple profound way to restore connection heart and soul. In my experience it changes worlds by ‘changing up’ the resonance in which we operate. To raise yourself, raise whomsoever you meet, and raise the collective consciousness of the whole human race.
An intent that no matter what we are challenged by, we can always offer love. This is our superpower.
When we remember to connect deeply, heart and soul and are able to quickly do it, in any situation, we have immense power to radically change this world."
Ruth can be contacted on ruthfox9@gmail.com
18:00 - 18:45: JuliLa - sings and plays.
Charismatic cross-over cellist JuliLa landed in ‘ElgarLand’ in 1999 after a World Tour playing Jimi Hendrix with Nigel Kennedy. Perhaps the pinnacle of a colourful career carved as a cross-over cellist in London’s 80’s/ 90’s Acoustic scene. Settling in the Malvern Hills, whilst raising two gorgeous off-spring, JuliLa has hosted magical happenings, created a ‘spike’ of cellists in her Cello’ ScooL and conceived SongSPACE Sessions, a Family Singers Class intended to cultivate mini-future musicians on Planet Earth, whilst, all the while, concentrating on her own compositions. JuliLa’s gift is to invite presence while sharing a unique cathartic collection of instant sing-a- long songs to tickle, uplift and inspire. Grab a copy of JuliLa ~ in Fields, her debut album made in lockdown, while you can!
Highly anticipated second album 'Take These Ghosts' was released on 8th July 2016. The album has received critical acclaim with the music garnering comparisons to the likes of Björk, Kate Bush and even Sgt. Pepper. The album received regular airplay with tracks being segued next to Dave Gilmour, Kate Bush and Antony and the Johnsons.
In 2016 with a new line up including guitarist Bruce Knapp the Buckets embarked on their first UK tour with the help of 5 members of the world class Tredegar Town Band ( brass band) and over 300 singers from across the land.
Gitika and Andy announced at the beginning of 2017 that they were planning to release a single each month for a year. All the tracks were brought together on 'The Singles 2017-2018' album released in May 2018.
Buoyed by the addition of new recruit Ali Orbaum, together with more airplay on BBC Radio 6, the band gigged for a while and a fourth Live album was recorded in Auntie Molly’s Front Room with filmed excerpts on their YOUTUBE channel
Album 5 ‘Catch My Breath’ started evolving at the beginning of 2019. It took some time to come to fruition as life took a turn for the sad and unusual. The new album was written and recorded remotely by Andy and Gitika and produced by Gitika. It is a mixture of melancholic, thoughtful, nostalgic pieces, including a new reimagining of ‘Love My Way’ by the Psychedelic Furs produced by Matt Glaseby. The vocoder lurks in many a track under layers of Gitika’s vocals (how can anyone hate the vocoder?) and the album features a generous helping of Andy’s beautiful lyrical piano. It has been mixed virtually by some incredible mixing and mastering engineers .
Through the madness of the last 4 years Andy and Gitika each write and record a song a week (up to 300 songs between them).
Her life’s work has been to explore her inner and outer landscape and now as an elder she is a guide for others on the path. She brings lightheartedness, depth, safety, peace, wonderment and laughter to her work.
Her favourite place is to be found in nature, in the physical and the metaphorical which is a kind of wonderment poetry for her.
Opening shamanic fire ceremony “We will gather together to make a fire as a community. Calling in sacred space, the ceremony is a movement meditation and a simple and beautiful way to let go of anything that is getting in the way of you stepping into your life. As we stand in circle we also make an offering to pacha mamma, mother earth who’s bely we live on, the fire then becomes The Children’s Fire. This is where we dream a new world into being one not informed by the past but informed by who we are becoming. So we leave something more life enriching and beautiful for the future generations.”
Bruce's output is pretty prolific and there's a large canon of work all over the internet.
When he's not making music, he compiles and produces a radio show for MixCloud and syndicated stations in the UK called 'Eclectronica'.
alucidnation has recently released an album of new material called ‘Mellifluous'
20:00 - 22:00 Introduction - Embodied presence, Healthy hugs & embracing connection with care.
Led by Debra Sophia Magdalene and Quinky
Connection and conscious touch are essential sources of feeling good, nurtured, playful and nourished. Pleasure in its purest form is good for maintaining good health and well-being. Embodied Presence gives us the opportunity to identify what type of feelgood we want/need in each moment, whether nourishing touch, a hug, cuddle or holding hands etc. Pleasure comes from feeling safe.
Safe consensual touch is as necessary to life as breath itself. We expand and grow with both, yet many of us are touch-deprived, currently living in a touch taboo society.
We explore how to tune into ourself to see what our bodies might need to feel nourishing pleasure. We will learn and practice safety through consent and boundary exercises, and take the risk of asking for what we want/need to feel safe, whilst also learning to accept a ‘no’ with grace.
There will be demonstrations, discussions and chances to practice sharing different types of hugs taught by Debra Sophia Magdalene, The Frequency Alchemist who has been teaching the benefits and ways of healthy hugging for 20 years, including business meetings.
Then in pairs or small groups we will take time to tune into and discover what type of hug/caring connection we would like, and are open to sharing - and breath the courage to ask, negotiate or say no thank you without feeling rejected.
Please note that Eros Rising is a space for nourishing nurturing non-sexual intimacy. Everything is an invitation, never an instruction. You are encouraged and supported to prioritise self-care and choice in every moment.
Please bring cushions for comfort sitting
Quinky aka Sidtsara Ross has been holding space and facilitating workshops and retreats since 1999. Formally as Tantrapure and currently Conscious Connection events their themes are deepening into connection to self, other, and divine, (if desired) through exploring the more edgy aspects of humanness - pleasure and intimacy.
With Msc in Psychosexual and relationship therapy, mindfulness, and at least one life time of tantric being, Quinky holds safe, edgy, heart-centred explorative space with (personal and professional) awareness of trauma and neurodivergency.
All the offerings are invitation and trauma informed. You are encouraged and supported to honour your boundaries in each moment.
FRIDAY
VENUE : DUTCHIE
07:30 - 08:45 Ambika Bosna - Inner Alchemy QiGong
Ambika is a certified instructor of the Universal Tao System, a Tao Wellness Coach, and a Chi Nei Tsang Practitioner. She specializes in teaching Taoist energy practices that promote longevity, reduce stress, and facilitate emotional and mental healing.
By blending ancient Taoist techniques with modern insights from epigenetics and neuroscience, Ambika offers transformative meditations, breathwork, qigong, and Chi Kung for Women's Health and Sexual Vitality, focusing on healing, spiritual growth, self-realization, and achieving a fulfilling life. Her approach focuses on clearing energy blockages, detoxifying organs, and balancing emotions to connect with the body's innate wisdom.
With extensive training in Meditation, Shamanism, Aikido, and Emotional Detox Bodywork, Ambika serves as a bridge, integrating holistic well-being with Taoist practices. She also offers Chi Nei Tsang sessions, a traditional practice that detoxifies and rejuvenates vital organs.
09:40 - 10:15 Opening Circle
10:15 - 11:00 Ian Banyard - Nature Connection
When Ian was a teenager he realised something very valuable: learning doesn’t just happen in a classroom. One of the most important things he learned as a child was the value of solitary time in Nature. While living in the Lake District following a series of devastating life challenges in 2002, he rediscovered this valuable life lesson. Time ‘invested’ alone in the natural world, teaches many things. Most importantly, our relationship with our true selves. Wandering about in nature stimulates the senses, guides us gently into the present moment, cleanses us of negative emotions and somehow re-energises our spirit.
Ian began to notice life-lessons from nature all around him. He rediscovered his inherent ability to ‘tune in’ to his true nature. And detach from the rigid personas he had hidden behind for years. He called this powerful state of being Natural Mindfulness. When we connect we care and what we care about we protect and nurture.
Walking mindfully ‘with’ nature is an exciting journey of reconnection with nature and our true nature. Ian is offering to guide some Natural Mindfulness wellness walks in south Wales to help others energise the body, relax the mind and lift the spirit. These are gentle, mindful walks where we commune with nature and our true nature using Natural Mindfulness and Forest Bathing practices. All welcome and no prior knowledge/experience of mindfulness is necessary.
https://www.ianbanyard.com/home/
11:15 - 12:45 Jo Berry: 40 Years of Peace Building
Jo is an international peace activist and founder of ‘Building Bridges for Peace’, a charity dedicated to conflict resolution and promoting peace around the world. 40 years ago, an IRA bomb, planted in the Grand Hotel in Brighton killed Jo’s father. She knew she had a choice: to harbour feelings of hatred and anger, or to seek understanding and bring peace and understanding back into her life. She chose peace.
Following his release from prison, Jo sought out a meeting with Patrick Magee, the Brighton bomber. And from that initial three hours spent together, Jo and Patrick have formed a remarkable friendship, based on compassion and respect. For the past twenty or so years they have travelling the world spearing a message of peace and understanding in such areas as Palestine and Israel, Rwanda, Lebanon and through the UK. Jo also facilitates workshops in many parts of the world, working with victims of genocide, war and terrorism as well as working alongside others whose own legacy of conflict has been transformed into one of peace, acceptance and compassion.
https://buildingbridgesforpeace.org/about-building-bridges-for-peace/jo-berry-founder/
13:00 - 14:00 Space for Lunch
14:00 - 15:30: Dan Astin-Gregory - Trailblazing New Politics.
Dan is an activist, content creator and entrepreneur whose commentary on the pandemic reached over 15 million views. He has since launched Free Humanity, a grassroots movement to promote freedom around the world and to explore solutions to the critical issues that have arisen during this time.
At last year’s Campout Dan led an exploration around how to build a new counterculture movement to challenge the status quo and begin to explore and create alternative social, economic, and political structures. However, to build a widespread collective resistance against hegemonic powers, movements must develop strong leadership, create effective channels for communication, and balance idealism with practicality.
His 'Trailblazing New Politics' talk will explore the practicalities and challenges of moving beyond the current two party political ping-pong that we’ve been stuck in for decades and how we can shape much-needed new alternatives.
16:15 - 17:15: Briony Greenhill - Live Music As an artist Briony is a singer, pianist, arranger, producer, composer, performing and recording artist, and musical director. Bryony is a specialist in improvisation. Her lyrics, which come as improvisations, focus on themes of human depth, paradigm shift, the intimacy and bigger picture of our times: folk/soul/jazz, acoustic, multi-instrumental, join-in music with singers improvising lush and wild harmonies.
Briony has released 4 entirely improvised albums. Her debut studio album took improvisations and reproduced them adding instrumentation in the studio. Crossing the Ocean featured in The Guardian, Mojo, Radio 3, Woman’s Hour and more.
https://www.brionygreenhill.com/
17:30 - 19:00: Conscious Connections - Jem Ayres
Conscious Connections & Embodied Meetings: Jem Ayres, will guide your embodied meetings and conscious connection practices. Meeting each other through embodiment experiences. Here we can build confidence in our own visceral experience and strengthen our connection to the outer world, through our connection with ourself. This workshop gives us permission to peel back the mask and to be seen fully in our deep human brilliance. Surrender to the breathe and open your heart to this expanded experience of meeting with yourself and others.Jem Ayres is a Sex Coach, Sexological Bodyworker & Tantra Practitioner.
19:00 - 20:00: Space for evening food
20:00 - 20:30 Jackie Juno - Stand-Up Poetry.
Jackie has always followed a spiritual path, having had many psychic and mediumistic experiences from early childhood. She trained with Eagle’s Wing College of Contemporary Shamanism in the UK 1987-88 and has worked with several elders in different traditions since; in particular White Bear (Hopi, USA), Pat McCabe (Dine, USA) and Xilonem Galindo (Nahuatl, Mexico); and elders from her ancestral lands of Great Britain.
Her creative life is vital and her background is in art, music and performance. She runs workshops in Devon and beyond, including Oracle/Tarot, Creative Writing, and A Course in Goddesses. She guides people on shamanic journeys in groups and on a one-to-one basis. She loves bringing groups together to explore creativity, archetypal wisdom and personal experiences.
A safe and confidential space is created so that each person is held in a supportive environment.
She has performed her poetry at festivals, cabarets, nightclubs, fayres, schools, churches, weddings, funerals, birthday parties and on the street! She has won several Poetry Slams, including the official Glastonbury Festival Poetry Slam 2017, Green Gathering 2016, and Plymouth Lit Fest Oct 2017. She was a finalist in the National Poetry Slam at the Albert Hall, 2018.
She also writes scripts, one-woman multi-media shows, short stories and song lyrics.
20:40 - 22:40 Live Music Evening
Elle Chaska - Song
Music inspired by nature and the ceremony of life
Lucy Hill - Song and Dance
Lucy shares her emotive and heartfelt interpretations of sacred prayers and medicine songs, including ancient mantra and indigenous tribal chants. Her intention is to bring the listener into the heart space and encourage others to connect with their own voice. There is always an invitation to sing with her - and of course, dance.
This is the first tike that Lucy has shared her music outside of retreat or ceremonial space. The journey with sharing her voice has been a long one, she says "Just a few years ago, I could barely sing in front of a mirror, let alone an audience. So may this be the inspiration to get out there and do whatever your heart calls you to do. I knew I wanted to sing when I was tiny, but it took until I was in my 40s to actually get over myself and let it happen. I'll be sharing the stage with my dear sister Ruth Lorna and her gorgeous soulful prayers - so please join us for what will be a nourishing session"
Ruth Lorna - Song Circle
Ruth's Album 'Give Thanks' is out now
VENUE : SLEEVE BAR
20:00 - 22:00 SERiOUS jONEs
22:00 - 01:00 Bruce Bickerton and Pete Lawrence
VENUE : OUTSIDE
11:30 - 13:00 Briony Greenhill. Vocal Improvisation
As well as her supreme skills as a singer, pianist, arranger, producer, composer, performing and recording artist, and musical director. Bryony is a specialist in improvisation. her lyrics, which come as improvisations, focus on themes of human depth, paradigm shift, the intimacy and bigger picture of our times: folk/soul/jazz, acoustic, multi-instrumental, join-in music with singers improvising lush and wild harmonies.
As a teacher she helps people bring out their full voices, develop their chops (musicianship), express themselves, connect and heal, and become great Collaborative Vocal Improvisers.
Briony Greenhill is “one of the world’s leading proponents of collaborative vocal improvisation (CVI)” - The Guardian.
CVI is the art of co-creating vocal music in the moment. Here is a short film about Briony’s teaching, which has evolved from the lineage of Rhiannon, Bobby McFerrin, Joey Blake and others. Briony is a founding member of The Well Global Vocal Improvisation Network and the UK Vocal Improvisation Festival.
Briony teaches vocal musicianship from beginner to advanced levels, while also honouring the spiritual, ritual and therapeutic application of CVI. She is a qualified SomaSource Leader; a “psycho-spiritual educator, artist, activist and healer who has an integrated understanding of how to creatively work in developmentally attuned ways with diverse people throughout life’s cycles.”
You can read more about Briony’s teaching values, Vocal Musicianship Trainings, and a history of vocal improvisation in the American tradition here.
https://www.brionygreenhill.com/
VENUE : SLEEVE UPSTAIRS
07:30 - 09:00: Jahnavi Ma - Pathways to Inner Peace: A Vedanta Workshop Series 1
Vedanta introductory sessions, where ancient wisdom meets modern life. Discover timeless insights from India's spiritual traditions that offer profound perspectives on happiness, purpose, and inner peace. These sessions, designed for all backgrounds, and all levels of spiritual development, will explore the core principles of Vedanta in an engaging and accessible manner. Whether you're seeking personal growth, deeper meaning, or simply curious, these sessions promise to inspire and uplift, leaving you with practical tools for a more harmonious life. While each session offers unique insights, attending both is highly recommended, as true understanding comes from deepened practice and continuous learning. Come, experience the transformative power of Vedanta.
11:30 - 13:00: Jessica Mallock - Shamanic Journey to discover your Power Animal
Join Jessica on a Shamanic journey into your lower world, a beautiful garden where you can rejuvenate and discover your power animal. Upon your return, she will show you how to connect with and nurture a relationship with your power animal.
14:00 - 15:40: Zelda Hall - Gold In The Shadows - Meeting your Demons and Finding your Gifts.
To be truly free we must be capable of self-reflection. Otherwise we are running on old programming often related to childhood experiences, which though they were functional then, are no longer life enhancing. The demons of yesteryear continue to haunt our lives and keep us stuck in reactivity rather than response to life.
Signals of the natural human tendency to evolve appear where they are less amenable to conscious manipulation. Such as in dreams and in body symptoms.
You can't ignore a banging headache or a recurring nightmare.
Approaching these phenomena with curiosity and compassion allows us to discover what we are called to heal.
Owning your individual healing is important as it contributes to the evolution of the collective in the turbulent times and allows you to bring your gifts to a world which requires your presence.
Zelda Hall is a psychologist and therapist with more than forty years experience in private practice. She has several published articles and book chapters and her work is featured in the documentary 'Chasing the Present'.
16:00 - 17:30: Bob Hillary - Breaking Free of the Matrix / Creating a New Earth.
Bob is a folk roots Singer-songwriter who makes music that is Earthy, soulful & powerful in its simplicity. His music carries a strong message in these times. He sings about change, consciousness, empowerment and not just how to remain positive in these times of transition, but how to step into and create the New Earth that many of us know is possible.
Bob will lead a session about the transition that we each need to make in order to create a world freed from the shackles of patriarchy, capitalist exploitation and technocratic enslavement.
17:45 - 19:00: Caroline Savage - Financial Solutions: A practical approach to physical precious metal investing
https://www.bleyerbullion.co.uk/
VENUE : EROS RISNG YURT
11:00 - 12:45 Yael Hochenberg 'Breathe. Sense. Dance.' An Integrative Embodied Journey, Weaving The Conscious Connected Breath and more...
Through the potent combination of body-centred practices, weaving with the conscious connected breath, we will call back and reclaim into ourselves, all those parts that have gone walkabout….
The invitation…..to be unconditionally present with all sensation. Including the unique sensations of our body and its physicality, our heart and its emotions & feelings, our mind and its consciousness, imagination & vision, and our unique spirit experiencing itself, as it is.
Cultivating all that we are as multi-dimensional whole human being, this event will weave together the conscious connected breath, sensory somatic movement/dance, awareness, sounding/toning, touch (self, and received if desired), music, silence, space, all within the sacred container of deep inner-listening.
Together we can soften into our sensory embodied experience, literally re-membering ourselves home, here, into our now body & life!
Welcome to the journey!
Always drawn to the Sacred and Mystical via the ‘Embodied’ route, Yael is an experienced Certified Transformational Breath® Facilitator and Group Workshop Leader, a Somatic DanceJOY Facilitator, with a Bachelor of Music Degree and Concert Recital Diploma GSMD. She offers Inspired, Body-Centred workshops and events weaving together a combination of Sensory Conscious Dance, Breathwork, MER-inspired bodywork (Myofascial Energetic Release) and Sound Healing. Her professional life also includes piano teaching, and choir directing, and she comes from a background as a performing concert pianist, Hanna Somatics coach, ballet dancer and holistic massage therapist.
https://www.instagram.com/yael_breath_dance_joy
14:00-15:45 Joi Steele - Voice Medicine Activation
A journey to the discover your unique sonic gifts.
A calling home to the gift of your instrument, your voice.
We will journey through courage, playfulness, vulnerability, compassion and presence to shift blocks and fears and experience divine pleasure of our individual sound signature
Are you ready to reclaim your voice and to express what is most alive inside?
17:30-18:45 Liquid Love
Imagine you are a jelly fish slowly floating in an ocean of warm ocean, no intended direction, just going with the flow, allowing...
That's what liquid love can feel like, but with olive oil instead of water.
We begin with meditation and boundaries.
Blindfolds are involved (please bring own or £1 to buy)
Underwear optional non-sexual space. Any clothes worn will be covered in oil
Can be solitary or anonymously connected.
You can step out at any time.
20:30 - 22:00 CUDDLE WORKSHOP with Quinky and Bear Phillips
What's the difference between a hug and a cuddle?
Come along to this gentle cuddle workshop to explore experience and expand into one of the many ‘touch for health’ co-regulating practices that can help settle the nervous system and regain balanced well-being.
In this workshop we slowly explore fears around touch, and learn how to find, and express our yes and no as equally valuable resources to accessing the amount and type of connection we want - or don't.
We play with boundaries and consent, we engage as much or as little as we want.
This workshop is also great for people who are anxious around connection as everything is an invitation, never an instruction. You are encouraged and supported to honour your boundaries in every moment which means if you want to sit out, you sit out.
This is a trauma-informed space for platonic non sexual intimacy.
Please bring pillows and comfy things to lie on
See listing at the foot of this page
SATURDAY
VENUE : DUTCHIE
07:30 - 08:45 Ambika Bosna - Inner Alchemy QiGong
see Friday for bio
09:40 - 10:30 Opening Circle
10:50 - 12:50 People's Assembly
Following Campfire's pioneering People's Assembly at our 2019 Campout, we are not just looking at the potency of this method of community-based decision-making, we're actually putting the process into action for ourselves. We invite everyone to join us in modelling new directions for direct democracy, new politics grounded in a common-sense, humanitarian ethos and values. We ask what matters most to you in determining a blueprint for our future. Each team will have an opportunity to shape a new directions for the way we view and do 'politics' as we collectively imagine future Trailblazers policy. This should be a lively session which can act as a model for many types of community in a wide variety of situations.
Emma Wall, the Independent Trailblazer who stood for Brighton Kempton & Peacehaven ward has unfortunately had to pull out of being here at Campout for personal reasons but previously had suggested an invitation “Anyone who is planning to attend this [people’s assembly] session, please bring up to five SMALL (easily transported) items that you no longer use or that no longer bring you joy. ‘Items’ can be anything from clothing to crystals, kitchen equipment to ornaments. Please ensure they are in good enough condition that they are useable and have the potential to “spark joy” for another person”
13:00 - 14:00 Space for Lunch
14:00 - 15:30 5 Rhythms with Bob Hillary
With a mix of live and Dj'ed music, Bob offers a guided journey for us to drop really deeply into ourselves through music - to ground us, take us back to our truest selves, open our hearts, and dance out any current difficulties and stuck energy, and then back out again into our JOY, & then finally to a deep still meditational finish. Celebrating beauty, celebrating ourselves.
15:45 - 17:15 Althea Finch - Pain Free Method.
Healing is immediate. So how come we can suffer for YEARS?
We are taught to get rid of symptoms, make it go away and everything will be better. To take medications or have operations, endless tests and told to ‘learn to live with it’. Some things might help but ultimately this doesn’t work.
People tell Althea all the time they’ve been on medication for years that barely touch the pain and leave them ‘out of it’. They become, despondent, depressed and even suicidal. It doesn’t have to be like this. She has helped people around the world to get their lives back and be pain free for good.
There is a way to heal effectively and it’s all within your own body that you have access to any time. Althea is going to show you how it’s possible to heal completely from anything from simple aches and strains to long term chronic pain and conditions, without medication or operations. The secret to healing whenever you need it with The PainFree Method™. Proven to work since 2000.
17:30 - 18:45 Sing Out! Campfire Singing session led by Gitika Partington
Campfire / Campout founder Pete Lawrence and Gitika Partington have been busy since late spring writing some new campfire songs. Inspired by 60s activist / pacifist campfire singing by the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Donovan, Judy Collins and The Weavers.
The aim is to make a new collection of timeless songs in the 'Kumbaya' spirit that reflect the ethos and values developed in the Campfire community in recent years, bringing people together around a universal message of love and hope, finding our voices and seeking common ground.
We will start with this rehearsal session and continue around the central fire in the evening. Printed song sheets mean that everyone can join in, or at least try! Come and sing your heart out...
19:00 - 20:00: Space for evening food
20:00 - 21:45 Open Mic sessions.
Your chance do your party piece, sing a couple of songs, say some poetry, dance or stand up and be counted!
VENUE : CAMPFIRE
22:00 - 23:30: Sing Out! sessions (see above)
VENUE : SLEEVE UPSTAIRS
07:30 - 09:00 Jahnavi Ma - Pathways to Inner Peace: A Vedanta Workshop Series 2
(see Friday)
11:00 - 12:45: Leora Lightwoman - Look Lovingly
We all long to be loved deeply, and to experience ourselves as loveable. In an embodied way, Leora facilitates a chance to see and be seen through the eyes of love.
To experience yourself more deeply than your personality and self-concepts.
To relish in the wonder of discovering others afresh.
This workshop includes movement and dance, eye gazing, sharing, meditation, connection and transformation.
For both couples and individuals.
https://diamondlighttantra.com
14:00 - 15:30: Paula Charnley - Focus & Inner Listening
Paula is a Person-Centred Psychotherapist and Focusing Teacher. She has created a !unique and embodied way of working which incorporate many years as a Shiatsu Therapist and Yogi. Having spent much of her adult life in The Netherlands she now has her practice in the Staffordshire Moorlands and online.
Paula will introduce you to ‘Focusing’. It’s a technique which you can apply to emotional feelings past or present, situations like conflict or uncertainty as well as physical symptoms. There is no need to re-live the trauma or recount the story, she will guide you through the simple steps. This non-invasive process can really help us to ‘ move through it’, to make sense of or feel more at ease about any situation.
16:00 - 17:45 Andy Hickson - Indigenous sustainability
An interactive and creative workshop that will take you on a journey to the Malaysian jungle to meet the Senoi Temiar, guardians of the Malaysian rainforest. We will explore deforestation, mono-cultures, climate change, environmental crisis and regeneration. We will ask how we can apply indigenous sustainability to our own lives and the nation. Keeping our earth and our soil with indigenous knowledge.
Dr Andy Hickson, who delivers the workshop, as a teenager, grew up with the Temiar people, where at the age of 13-years, swapped a formal western education to attend the school of the jungle, learning to survive, forage, hunt, cook, craft, trance, heal, carve, build and trek in the rainforest, although he still regards himself a novice. Dr Andy lived with the Temiar until the age of 15-years. He now regularly visits his Temiar family, most recently (April 2024) taking students from Argentina, Latvia, Switzerland and the UK to live with the Temiar, in the jungle and learn about their lives. Dr Andy delivers the workshop in un-traditional Temiar clothing along with the use of original Temiar artifacts, sounds and music.
VENUE : SLEEVE BAR
20:00 - 01:00 SERiOUS jONES and Bruce Bickerton provide an eclectic musical soundtrack
VENUE : EROS RISING YURT
11:00 - 12:45: Bear Phillips : Men Meeting Men
Over 30% of single men say there’s no one they can talk to when they feel lonely, anxious, or depressed. And over 40% of single men say they feel lonely often or almost all the time.
This is tragic! This is what patriarchy has brought us; loneliness and isolation.
Bear suggests that he had to free himself from society’s expectations as to who he was supposed to be (the well-behaved son, the good husband, the adoring father) to live his life on my terms, with no regrets.
He grew-up with deep reservations around the nature of masculinity, and what it means to be a man. He had to take it all apart to understand the nature of misogyny and patriarchy in order to find his peace with it.
He believes it is a process all men have to engage with and will be talking with us at Campout about it and about his new book 'Feminism Will Make a Man Out of You!', his memoir, and part self-help guide to sex, love and relationships in today’s world.
It is the story of one man’s journey to personal liberation – breaking free of a life lived for others – to find his purpose and to claim his life for himself, finding love, joy and bliss in the process. It’s the story of a shy, socially awkward introvert, who reconciled himself with his gender and the traumatic experiences of his childhood, to become a “professional lover” working with sexuality and pleasure to support others on their own paths of healing from sexual and relational trauma.
Written with endless compassion for the struggles men face in finding connection, whether in dating or long-term commitments, 'Feminism Will Make a Man Out of You!' challenges men to recognise just how much they have been hurt by Patriarchy. This is in no way to excuse the subsequent harm caused women across the globe, but as a call for all of us to reclaim our full, whole and authentic selves, redefining what masculinity means in the process.
14:00-15:30 Elle Chaska - Somatic Tea Journey
Learning herbalism through your body rather than your mind is an empowering and effective way of learning about the plant world around us.
In this somatic tea journey we will journey with a mystery plant and discover what our bodies innate wisdom already knows! You’ll be surprised how much it knows when you learn how to listen !
20:00-22:00
Night of the Senses Temple led by Quinky
The place to get out of your head and into your body. We begin with a tantric senses ritual, whereby blindfolded, you are brought to your senses with a selection of objects designed to awaken each nerve ending whilst being reminded to deepen the breath and expand into surrendered pleasure .
This will be followed by small group conscious touch practices where using boundaries and consent, we ask for the holding or tender nourishing touch we would like to receive.
Please bring blankets.
See listing at the foot of this page
SUNDAY
07:00 - 08:30 Wellbeing Area sessions
08:30 - 09:30 Breakfast Space
VENUE : DUTCHIE
09:20 - 09:50 Opening Circle
10:00 - 11:30: OPEN SPACE ACROSS SITE
Nothing is programmed for this part of Sunday morning. It's your chance to nominate your own session and stick it on the board at the Info Hub.
11:50 - 13:20: Pete Lawrence - Writing Circle
Pete Lawrence is the founder of Campout and its affiliated social network Campfire Convention. Previous to that he founded the Cooking Vinyl label and the pioneering Big Chill festival. He has been described as a conceptualist, firestarter, community social network obsessive, music nut, writer and naturist and is enjoying digital nomad status when he’s not to be found at home on Paros island, Greece or in the Welsh hills.
Pete has been an activist since student days, campaigning for peace, social justice and systemic social change. He believes passionately in the potential for personal change through connection and self-organising potential of communities as the spark which can ignite wholesale social change. His work for Campfire places him at the forefront of a non-aligned emergent movement for societal transition which aims to trailblazer new ways of connecting, collaborating and doing ‘politics’ in its broadest sense.
We will be coming together in a setting where we can give flow to our creative juices in community; to write and express ourselves around areas of interest, whether a blog, a book idea, a project presentation, web content, poetry, letters, short-stories, reviews, scripts for podcast ideas or content for public talks. We will be limbering up with an opening session in which we sharpen our critical faculties.
The power of journaling can often be witnessed in the writing of morning pages. Regular journaling can be effective in unlocking creativity and building self-awareness. Doing this together will also help us through any creative blocks and other challenges, enabling new levels of awareness and new stories to evolve.
We welcome inexperienced writers and aim to provide a supportive space where we can all develop new skills and ways to express ourselves.
Bring pen and paper, laptop or tablet.
13:20 - 14:30 Space for Lunch
14:30 - 15:15 Next Steps: Keeping the Fires Burning
Your chance to talk about themes and what has come up for you over the four days. What are the take aways from Campout 2024?
15:15 - 16:00: Closing Ceremony
VENUE : SLEEVE UPSTAIRS
07:30 - 08:45: Wake Up. Rock Up. Breathe and Dance with Yael Hochenberg
(see Yurt, Friday)
11:45 - 13:30 Poppy Altmann - Family Constellations.
Poppy will be facilitating a 90 minute workshop which is a short introduction to Family Constellations.
VENUE : EROS RISING YURT
12:00 - 13:15: Leora Lightwoman - Somatic Tantric Sharing Circle (see Pleasurefest Yurt below)
However you are in yourself, in the festival, in your relationships with others and nature around us, Leora will facilitate a chance to connect with yourself, others and the earth in an embodied way.
We welcome all feelings, experiences, and support the connection between the heart and our sexuality and earthy selves.
Through a focus on presence and the felt-sense, Leora's guidance and the support of the circle allow for releasing, unfolding, unveiling, discovery and magic to emerge.
An opportunity to learn and grow from each others’ journeys, in a somatic and enlivening context.
https://diamondlighttantra.com
WELLBEING VILLAGE
Happening Thursday-Sunday
Andrew Reeves - Soundbaths / Breathwork
Andrew will be offering one hour full sound emerging slots throughout each day for a maximum or ten people each time that will include ten minutes of breathwork and ten minutes of a guided meditation. He will use a number of different instruments to clear blockages and help raise your vibration.
www.Theguruguide.co.uk
Geoff Greentree - Shiatsu and Tibetan Bowls (ie sound healing) / Chi Kung morning session
As an active member of the Campfire & Campout communities over the years, Geoff been an ambassador for physical and spiritual wellbeing for many decades, and continues to aspire to bringing that ethos into our lives.
"Mens sana corpore sano”
Fiona Winter - Move In Nature
Fiona is an embodiment coach and movement practitioner with over 40 years of experience of helping people move and feel the joy of movement. Whether indoors or outdoors, Fiona makes her sessions simple, fun and deeply nourishing. She creates a unique experience of embodied connection with the land. Silent Disco headsets ensure no sound pollution for other users of the space, and a highly immersive sound experience. Mindful, stress relieving and energising movement in a safe outdoor setting creating opportunities for connection with self, nature and others to relax and energise you.
Natasha McLaughlin - Reiki/Ear Acupuncture
I would like to offer reiki sessions and also auricular acupuncture which includes inserting 5 needles in each ear, this protocol is called nada, it helps with, anxiety, depression insomnia addiction, stress and it balances all the organs within the body.
Mark Griffin - Teas and Tea ceremony
Mark in-joys sharing nature- connection, forage walks, tea ceremonies & conscious tea tastings - allowing people to connect to nature's frequencies more deeply.
Mark's unique approach emanates from a deep connection, rooted in pure love to nature's way that aligns people to their expansive limitless selves through ceremonial tea and gathering wild plants.
Mark offers personally sourced, naturally grown teas from Asia, these high-vibrational teas are picked with diligence and tasted in their purest form.
07:30 - 08:30 Phillip Purslow - Yoga in the morning
He says "I’ve practiced yoga for almost 10 years but have only recently qualified as a yoga teacher. Please join me when I deliver my first ever yoga lesson. If you like it, you can also attend my second the next day! Teaching yoga is very different from some of the things I’ve done in the past (the fact that I now consider myself a peaceful warrior gives you a bit of a clue). Recently I’ve also developed new, softer skills such as sewing and knitting and my aim is to run free workshops for men struggling with their mental health (a subject I’m very familiar with) incorporating yoga and those other wonderfully mindful and satisfying activities. Namaste.
Children’s activities - under 5’s / over 5’s adaptable
l Scavenger hunts
l Arts & crafts with found materials - woodland wands, leaf mandalas, butterflies, headdresses
l Mark making - tree & leaf rubbings, earth drawings
l Group singing / music making
l Games - ball games, possible parachute games, traditional street games,
l Drama / story making
l Mindfulness walks
l Drawing
l Making damper on the fire and story building / telling
If you need a listening ear or are feeling anxious and struggling to connect with your heart-centre, check inbox at the info hub and we will attempt to find someone who can listen and help.
Full programme timetable PDF available here
SAUNA / SWIM
Tickets required in advance (regular ticket link) or available from box office / info hub
