QAN at Greenbelt 2024
This is the 50th year of the Christian-based Greenbelt festival, to be held at Boughton House near Kettering, from 23rd to 25th August.
We were very excited to be hosting a gazebo at this year’s Greenbelt festival over the August Bank Holiday, which was a welcoming space for exploring, creating, reflecting and finding out about Quaker spirituality and witness.
Our aims were to:
1. celebrate and raise the profile of Quakers, our spirituality, witness and creative arts practices 2. provide information about Quakers and invite festival attenders to Quaker Meetings 3. support Quakers in Northamptonshire 4. encourage Friends to share their Quaker faith with others 5. explore the feasibility of a continuing association with Greenbelt.
All in all the project went very well, with around 500 folk visiting the gazebo, joining in quiet activities such as board games, arts and crafts, poetry and conversations and 200 people attending Meeting for Worship in the Shelter. Several visitors shared how they first encountered Quakers at Greenbelt and have since become members.
It was good to have a mix of newer and seasoned Friends of different ages, including some who were involved in other parts of Greenbelt.
Our presence created a significant outreach opportunity with roughly 300 copies of Advices and Queries distributed. A two-hour looped slide show and catalogue, curated by Kirsten Lavers, submitted by Quaker artists of images by particular queries filled a large screen (provided by Jesus Lane Quaker Meeting) at one end of the gazebo.
An exhibition of Loving Earth Project panels was also very well received and participants in our two workshops were so enthusiastic that we held a third informa one, which was particularly enjoyed by a group of young teenagers.
You can find out public report on this year’s Greenbelt here.
While QAN has underwritten the hire of the Gazebo, this would take a large slice of our reserves and we hope that Friends, Quaker Meetings and others will make donations towards this. If you are interested in this or future events please email qanevents@gmail.com.