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Big Green Gathering 2009

Guest Zanna

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Zanna Newbie

Zanna

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Hey folk,

Anyone been to the Big Green Gathering before and/or going this year? There doesn't seem to be much talk on the forum about it. I can't afford festival tickets this year so I'm applying to steward at a couple... This one caught my eye as it looks really interesting but chilled out aswell. And it's 5 days long :blink:

Would be interested to hear your views! I'll probably go for it regardless as i'll be getting it for free if i'm stewarding anyway!

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flibbitybob Newbie

flibbitybob

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I'm going with the family this year, can't wait!!

I have heard A LOT of good stuff about it, but never been myself. The people I know who go say it's better than any other... they're very loyal fans! For 5 days I think it's pretty good value really, and I think it will be very much worth it!

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Green Fairy Newbie

Green Fairy

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Big Green Gathering

July 29-August 2, Frenhill Farm, Cheddar, Somerset

A five-day event allegedly wholly powered by renewable energy, the Big Green Gathering nestles in a spot near Cheddar Gorge and has been going for more than a decade. Expect laughter workshops, organic farm produce, a healing area, theatre performances, spoken-word poetry and dance. Mostly, it is small bands and DJs playing everything from dub and drum’n’bass to folk and Celtic music.

£125; big-green-gathering.com

Ecological vibe at green festival

By Martha Buckley

BBC News, Somerset

Horse-drawn transport

No combustion engines in the on-site transport

For all their hippy image, festivals are not necessarily good for the environment.

They often leave behind mountains of landfill-destined waste, create gridlock on narrow country lanes as thousands arrive by car and fill the air with polluting emissions from diesel generators.

The Big Green Gathering, however, is different.

The Fernhill Farm site is expected to attract up to 20,000 people over the course of the festival, which runs until Sunday.

Now in its 12th year, the five-day extravaganza takes place with the intention of showing people how they can reduce their impact on the planet at the same time as relaxing and enjoying themselves.

It may be all about entertainment, but it also has a serious point to make.

Pedal-power

Generators are banned, with every stall, stage and activity on the 200-acre site, near Cheddar, in Somerset, powered instead by renewable energy.

There are wood-fired saunas, an internet café running off wind turbines and even a pedal-powered laundrette.

Gathering chairman Brig Oubridge

We wanted to make it just green, without the consumerist ethos of the big markets

Brig Oubridge

In pictures: Green festival

Solar panels fuel everything from showers to cinemas, wood workers demonstrate treadle-powered lathes, adapted bicycles power blenders to make smoothies and wood stoves are used for heating and cooking.

As well as providing power, they provide an endless source of interest for the punters, many of whom go home inspired.

Brig Oubridge, chairman of the Big Green Gathering, is a veteran of both the festival and the green scenes, having been involved with both since the 1960s.

He and his partners set up the BGG as a separate festival, partly out of a desire for a more civilised festival in comparison to Glastonbury, which at that time seemed to him to be "knee-deep in litter, with muggers on the street corners".

He says: "We wanted to be in charge of our own festival and make it just green, without the consumerist ethos of the big markets, for example, at Glastonbury.

"The thing that inspires me is the number of people each year who say, 'That was a life-changing experience for me.' They see how important the green issues are and what we can do in our own lives."

Awareness growing

Started in 1994 with just two stages, one powered by wind and solar power and the other by pedal power, the Big Green Gathering has grown to be among the largest outdoor green events in Europe.

Now a well-established fixture on the festival calendar, it has moved from a niche gathering of green enthusiasts to an event which is just as much a place to be seen as Glastonbury or the Big Chill.

It is a move which parallels the growth of awareness of green issues in society as a whole. While there is still a long way to go before green campaigners are satisfied enough is being done to tackle environmental issues, many of their demands of a decade ago are starting to become reality, from doorstep recycling projects in most council areas to the growth in the farmers' market scene.

"Those of us who took it seriously when Jacques Cousteau was warning about the pollution of the ocean and Joni Mitchell was singing about how they levelled paradise and put up a parking lot were called cranks and weirdoes for a long time," Brig says.

"But now we are running out of gas and oil, we've polluted the polar ice caps so much the climate is changing and people cannot ignore it any more."

Never 'sold out'

Big Green Festival punters are made up of city escapees and party goers wanting a more relaxed alternative to the big ticket music festivals, teenagers and families as well as seasoned festival types, many of who see the festival as one of the only ones not to have "sold out" to commercialism.

Londoner Louise Dixon decided to come to festival after hearing glowing reports of last year's event.

She said: "It's less commercial than the other ones and more ecologically friendly.

"There are a lot more drugs at the other ones - this is more chilled and there's more awareness."

Ingenious transport

Among the most noticeable differences from the usual festival is the emphasis on sustainable transport.

As well as encouraging people to arrive by public transport, walk, cycle or lift-share, bizarre and ingenious transport methods abound, with horse-drawn taxis ferrying people and baggage around, bicycle trailers carrying equipment and teenagers pulling each other around in hand-carts.

Beef being roasted

John the chef roasts beef from the host farm on a wood fire

And in contrast to the ubiquitous presence of the big drinks companies at most festivals, at the Big Green Gathering, all the food and drink on offer is subject to an ethical trading policy.

Only fair-trade bananas, coffee, tea and sugar are allowed. Festival goers are encouraged to use the minimum of polystyrene cups or packaging and as little supermarket produce as possible.

No-one seems to mind being accosted by strangers selling homemade candles or being offered information about wave power.

Those in search of healing can try anything from sports massage to tarot, while among the festival's more way-out experiences is a "sweat lodge", where those who want to join in can take off their clothes in sauna-type environment and nestle in a circle to the accompaniment of drumming.

However, the party will not really get going until nightfall. The various sound systems power up in earnest, and around the site, groups of people gather outside exotic-looking tents, lit up by candles, coloured lights and glowing fires.

It is then that this unique twist on the great British festival will really come into its own.

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lovefest Newbie

lovefest

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Open letter to the directors of the Big Green Gathering 2009 July 5 2009

I am writing to express enormous shock and sadness that due to their differences with you the directors, Nic and Marie Piper have withdrawn from the Big Green Gathering and from the organisation and running of the Green Crafts field. They have worked cheerfully and tirelessly over the years to create a field that it has been a joy to have been part of. For a long time the BGG was my favourite festival – I was at the one on Adam’s farm in 1994 and have been at most since – always in the Green Craft field and always green blacksmithing.

But I have been aware in latter years of a certain green elitism creeping into the BGG and that the Green Craft field, well down the pecking order, has not been given the respect I would have thought its due – reflected in the comment on the BGG website: The Big Green Gathering is a great environment for learning. We have a Green Crafts area for you arty types and a Permaculture and Sustainable Homes Area for the more practical minded. As a working blacksmith, there was I thinking that crafts were practical – silly me! It would seem that you directors see green crafts as just frills on the edge of the movement – it makes me wonder who you will come to, when the apocalypse comes, for clothes, baskets, cooking pots, tools, stone work, wood craft etc.

But back to Nic and Marie – what a real loss. They have run the Green Craft field with such a light touch that they made it seem easy and effortless. They have created a site crew second to none and encouraged, welcomed and nurtured craftspeople over a broad spectrum of skills who give back in spades the respect and trust given them – witness the fact that their Green Craft field at Glastonbury this year was the only one of the green fields up and running on the Wednesday when the public arrived, and the procession and fire labyrinth that night was glorious – while much of the rest of the farm was still a construction site. Their BGG field, busy with practical crafts and enticing, interesting workshops, was always full of life, light, fun, colour and space, promoting and sharing many skills that had been dying and giving eager gathering goers a chance to try their hand – and succeed at something they may never have considered, let alone considered possible.

I am sure you will continue to have a craft field of some sort at the BGG – I just hope that you recognise the legacy you have been given. I would like to use this letter as a chance to give Nic and Marie a huge thank you for the opportunities they have given so many of us, the lasting friendships we have made on the field, the exchanges of skills between craftspeople (it’s not just the public who get a chance to try out new crafts) and the extraordinary inspiration and creativity that the field has engendered. What they created for the Big Green Gathering was really special - I am aware of many lives being changed through what people have tried out on the BGG Green Crafts field – and my life for one will certainly be the poorer without it.

I hope that you too are able to give them both the thanks that they deserve.

Yours,

Kate Doody

Kate the Blacksmith

cc: Nic & Marie Piper

eFestivals: festival forums

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petethewaggon Newbie

petethewaggon

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Hey folk,

Anyone been to the Big Green Gathering before and/or going this year? There doesn't seem to be much talk on the forum about it. I can't afford festival tickets this year so I'm applying to steward at a couple... This one caught my eye as it looks really interesting but chilled out aswell. And it's 5 days long :D

Would be interested to hear your views! I'll probably go for it regardless as i'll be getting it for free if i'm stewarding anyway!

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