Fall Under Nature’s Spell
For three glorious days this July, Feanedock woodland in the National Forest came to life with wild music, rousing talks, lively debates, performances, installations tucked away in hidden glades and late-night DJs perched in a treehouse.
Our annual Timber Festival is a celebration of music, art and ideas, where visitors are invited to fall under nature’s spell and to re-think our relationship with the natural world.
Talks and debates
Talks and debates are central to Timber, and this year we were delighted to welcome leading figures from the climate justice movement to our Field Notes stage.
Environmentalists Clover Hogan, Ellen Miles, Noga Levy Rapoport and Phoebe Tickell sat on a panel titled From Anxiety to Action, exploring the impact of climate anxiety and the power of collective action.
Raynor Winn’s conversation with journalist and podcast host Liv Bolton was another highlight, with the Field Notes stage packed to the rafters to hear all about Raynor’s most ambitious journey yet, and Landlines, her account of the adventure.
Collaboration and exchange of ideas
We see Timber as the centre of a great ecosystem, with the festival weekend a chance for our network to connect, grow, and exchange ideas. There are many opportunities for people to join in conversations and discussions around our campfire, opening up new connections and forging new friendships.
We programmed a whole host of workshops where people could learn new skills; from wood-turning to cooking on an open fire with The Wilder Kitchen, writing with Helen Jukes, botanical print-making and guerilla gardening.
Green wristbands
With sustainability at the heart of Timber, we were keen to experiment with new ways to encourage our audience to travel to and from Timber in an environmentally conscious way.
We introduced Green Wristbands for 2023, with festival-goers who arrived via foot, bicycle or public transport awarded a special wristband which meant they could enjoy on-site discounts and be entered into a draw to win a pair of boots, kindly donated by our 2023 partner, Blundstone.
‘All that’s good in the world’
This year’s festival was one of our favourite to date. The atmosphere on site as the sun set each evening was indescribable, to see people connected to one another and to nature, fully immersed in the environment we throw everything into creating, is a feeling like no other.
Timber was described as ‘a celebration of all that’s good in the world’ by Janet Ellis, one of our Wilderness Tracks guests this summer; this ambitious statement is one we’ll keep in mind as we begin plotting and planning for our 2024 festival!
