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Buddhafield Festival reviews from Festival Eye

BUDDHAFIELD FESTIVAL 2000

When Rural England meets Buddhism magic happens...

The marriage of the Celtic dance and Buddhist serenity created heaven on earth at the most sublime one-off gathering of like- souls in 2000. Held at Shepton Mallet's back- door overlooking the delicious green pastures of Somerset, the setting for the BuddhaField Festival was truly spectacular

The space had been spiritually attuned in the weeks prior to the camp and this energy was strongly felt and sustained for the duration. Extremely well-priced, Buddhafield provided more than enough facilities to go around: a spacious, sing-songy sauna; a hot NB; a hot and cold shower; well-placed compost toilets; the famously delicious and nutritious Buddhafield Cafe; Helen Hat's crazy Kids Area; meditation spaces; a Healing Area with a diverse range of healing; a Chai Tent and more, more, more...

A Festival for Every Age.

The only challenge was choosing in which of the many workshops and activities to indulge, though that's hardly a negative! Among the abundant selection were Five Elements Dance, Afro-Caribbean dance, African Drumming, yoga, sound baths, a myriad of other singing and dance workshops, and too much more to list! Yet again there was great abundance in the evening entertainment which ranged from Bristol's Samba collective, singer extraordinaire Juliet Russell leading the Buddhafield Choir (comprising over 200 festival-goers) and favourite group, Earthsong, on the main stage, to chilled-out DJ's in the Chai Tent. Catering for every age and with a strict no-drugs or alcohol policy (it's Buddhist, remember!), Buddhafield is a Festival for all. Groovy dance areas contrasted wonderfully with spiritual practices. A great variety of choice In idyllic camping areas made the stay even more perfect (as if it could have been...

The Buddhafield Festival is coordinated and run by the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO). Watch for details their 6th Buddhafield Festival 11-15 July 2001, and various retreats and events on their web site http://www.buddhafield.com If you can go to only one camp this mid-summer, make it this one!

BUDDHAFIELD '99 PAGANS MEET BUDDHISTS AND PARTY!!

Given that this small festival was on my favourite site in the West Country - nay - one of my favourites in the whole country - it was off on a winner for me immediately. The weather was glorious and the quiet, lushly green sight was clean and open, with 2 magnificent Oak trees towering over the clear spaces between the camping and holistic areas.

Water was reasonably well provided, but if the participants hadn't been so mellow and friendly, disputes might have grown over the wait for the taps, as I personally only discovered 3 water supplies, although that isn't to say there weren't more in other parts of the sight. Loos were a bit of a problem too as there weren't very many compost bogs on sight, although those that were provided were solidly made, provided with good supplies of sawdust and even toilet paper. In addition, at night (a nice touch this) lanterns lit the way into the edge of the wood were the toilets were to be found. Unfortunately, some scummy people decided to shit in the woods and not cover it up rather than queue for the toilets like rest of the VERY civilised crowd who attended.

Stewarding was well organised, friendly and mellow although organisers were strict about no vehicles on site which meant the walk up to the top of the camping area could be a bit of a drag if you had loads of tat to set up. There was actually a site wheelbarrow to aid in this job, but unfortunately I didn't notice it till to late. However, there were loads of friendly people around who appeared willing to help carry gear up the field, and we even had offers of help to set up the tent and fill the water container!! I can't remember when I last attended a festival when that happened! So, having set up, and become on friendly terms with the neighbours, (many of whom were Buddhists from Brighton or previous attendees of the festival who had come back for more) it was time to explore. Although not a very large sight it had everything one could want - a number of very reasonably priced tat stalls - particularly good clothes and even notices up for two fairly yummy vehicles which I checked out enviously in the car park! Food was good and reasonably priced 'cos the Buddhafield cafe is of course a staple of many festivals, workshops were abundant most of which had a Buddhist or ecologically responsible themes. As an unreconstructed pagan, I did not however feel excluded or unwelcome in any way. I soon managed to find a large contingent of fire dancers/swingers and jugglers with whom I hung out for most of my time at the site, all coming out to play as soon as it got dark.

The kids workshop and entertainments were superbly organised, and a brilliant strap-in gyroscope kept both adults and kids enthralled. Solar /wind powered energy kept the main stage going which had a variety of good bands until quite late in the evening. A second, smaller acoustic stage also kept the music coming and there was definitely a nostalgic feeling reminiscent of old style small festivals around the site! This was particularly noteworthy in the fact that people felt perfectly relaxed walking around with little or no clothes on and knowing that they would not be leered at or objected to. In all a glorious, relaxing few days with time to talk to people, lay around in the sun, practice that fire swinging/juggling or whatever it was you've been meaning to do for ages. Meander down to the stage and catch a band and straggle off to bed after another long conversation on the meaning of life... Oh yes, and the hot tub was good too...

But for me one of the highlights of the entire festival was the appearance of the brightly innovative LIBRARY!! This was a supremely chilled Out space away from the heat of some of the hottest days of the year, with books on every subject you could desire, from motor mechanics to obscure theological doctrines, astrology, tarot, herbalist, sci-fi novels etc. No books could be removed from the library and no bags in the space just in case, but you could lay back and read drink a cup of home-made elder-flower cordial or ginger beer, or even a cup of tea and smoke a roll up whilst debating on this and that with your other bookworm neighbours! I even went to sleep in there one afternoon nice one you people who lent your personal books for the common good - it made everything so civilised!

Finally, this festival is very realistically priced and, whilst deserving to become better known, I hope it does not change the character too much as a result of growing to a larger size, as it inevitably will! Speaking personally, we'll be back. Margaret.

BUDDHAFIELD 1998: AS FLUFFY AS IT GETS!

Buddhafield festival is nestled cosily on a hillside, which hosts a variety of events, including the Tribe of Doris. This site is quiet, green and perfect for a Buddhist festival. The organisers of the event had just finished a ten-day retreat so the gate crew were dishing out 'big love' as well as wristbands to new arrivals.

This is a fairly new event in the festie calendar but I think it's set to stay as it has all the right ingredients and a lot of good karma. It's organised by a group of Buddhists based mainly in Brighton. A lot of the crowd, there, were also from Sussex and had gone the year before, so most people seemed to know each other. But the warm, openness extended by everyone there meant no one was an outsider.

There were the usual elements of any festival: kid's area, healing area, workshops, and cafes The Buddhafield organisers do catering at other festivals so the food was tops, varied, vegetarian and reasonably priced. If you're not shy try the open air, mixed hot tubs. Not much live music was planned but there were spontaneous bursts of music during the camp, the best being a wake up call from a soulful saxophone one morning. Blissful notes echoed around the site, symbolising the whole theme of the camp.

But this wasn't the sort of event where getting a copy of a programme was important, or even necessary. The emphasis was on being social rather than active, so most people just sat and talked to each other. I mean really talked to each other. None of your banal, bland chitchat, this was about caring and sharing, loving and living, laughing and crying, feeling at peace with your self and the world. I know that sounds like an advert for a bank, but it really was like that.

It's the place to go if you want to spend a few days wrapped in a virtual duvet. But they do need to sort out their loos, a problem the organisers are dealing with in time for the next event.

Buddhafield Festival 1997

PILTON BECOMES THE BUDDHA'S LAND

Buddhafield heads to Buddha's Land. Mellow as Glasto is hectic and only a stones throw from Pilton's famous swamp bash. This was the second innings for this beautiful little event were rain didn't stop play, not that it had either when it poured at Pilton Mega City, the fortnight before. Buddhafield was a stark contrast to Glastonbury Festival and was more like a camp than a festival. Lots of happy faces, sorted utilities, pleasant friendly crew, reasonably priced vegetarian/vegan food, children well catered for, I can't actually think of anything bad to say about Buddhafield. All in all I think the event was well planned and the organisers got the balance just about right. If you are looking to go to a safe, enjoyable, children friendly camp/festival then you would be pushed to find a better one. Attendance under 500. AS

1996

The 1996 BuddhaField Festival took place at Shepton Mallet in August. It was organised by Lokabhandu from Friends Of The Western Buddhist Order, and originally set up as a movement to teach meditation at festivals and camps across Britain. Around 400 people gathered together for one week.

The previous week there had been a Buddhist retreat, and many of those religious folk remained camping on the site for the festival. However, I am not a Buddhist and many others were not, and although there was the odd person who tried to encourage you to join the movement, you could more or less do what you wanted to.

The activities there ranged from hourly debates on... guess what? Buddhism, protests, drugs, society, etc, as well as creative workshops (eg. lamp making), spiritual workshops (eg. Tai chi, Reiki Healing etc), acoustic music workshops, sweat lodges, conscious cinema showings (footage on protests and festivals) etc. You get the general picture?

There were various provisions and workshops for children, who put on a play for everyone which explored deforestation. There were a few clothes stalls and food stalls which were fairly cheap for a good veg stew in the evening, but during the day there was a choice of vegi sausages and vegi sausages. Firewood was provided and you could always cook your own food this way. If you wanted to sell, cook, protest, teach or perform music, then the site was all yours to play with. The field was situated in beautiful countryside and it was at the peak of the hot weather. Everything, I seem to remember, was golden.

The most interesting part of this festival was the diversity of people apparent in the hourly debates, held in one of the tents. It seemed to be a positive centre for spintualists and environmentalists to meet up. Towards the end of the week, a gathering of people from Newbury, Tepee Valley and the Buddhist movement swarmed the tent arguing the best ways to combat capitalist greed (which seemed quite ironic to me).

If you couldn't afford entry then Lokabandhu was pretty willing to sort out something so that you could come and join the festivities and the arguments. The last night of the festival, Parallel Youniversity put on a rave which was very enjoyable and was, incidentally, advertised on the flyer. However, many were surprised and angry by the noise of techno and they created such a fuss that I doubt there will be a sound system this year. At the same time, there was a large tent each evening with lots of drum beats, guitars and acoustic sounds, so it wouldn't really matter.

Overall this was an immensely enjoyable experience, one not to miss. Despite all the debates, the general spiritual vibe showered a degree of respect on most people, and when I left the festival I felt as if my energy had had a thorough clean out. There was abundant love, peace and smiles, stemming from the many rituals performed in that glorious field.

On the last hour the entire group of 400 or so met up around the tree and performed a ritual of thanks to the Universe. For me, this was not a festival, but a retreat and marriage between the spirit and the environment.

Emma