This actually has me crying. I have been to Greenbelt nearly every year of my life, I'm 17 so not that long a life, but it is truly my home and there is no where else I feel I can be more me as I am at this mad festival.
As someone who has gone to Greenbelt almost every year of my life, starting as a Christian and slowly changing to an atheist, I still feel at home there every year whatever my beliefs are. Every year I hear ideas I had never even considered, and meet people who speak to you honestly and freely despite your age, as it’s a place where you can just “be.” Every year I look forward to the next, and any video that might make our little community grow is amazing to me. P.S I’m one of the youth who spoke in Natalie Bennett’s Brexit debate!
watching this for the millionth time as part of my wild at home gb 20 programming. you perfectly capture the essence of greenbelt and its hitting everything that zoom talks arent. i miss my home here so badly, its like an annual reset for me. making it to the next one is what keeps me going. hoping next year happens is whats my motivation through this mess. this is a weird ramble, but this is filling a big void today. jack monroe, sarah's talk, the glade, the compost loos, the tiny tea tent, the random chats with people you dont know in the portaloo queue, the inspiring conversations, and fabulous performances all round. missing my cheesy tomato nachos too. 'theyre my dorks' 🥺🥺
That's a brilliant video and sums up the Greenbelt experience perfectly. You go and meet up with people who you might only see once a year, but they're always ready for a cup of tea at the Tiny Tea Tent, or a chat about pretty much anything. I'm not a churchy person, but always find something there to take away and think about. If I see you there next year, I'll be sure to say hello!
BUT DECEPTIVE.. SEEMS LIKE A GREAT WOMAN BUT IS FOLLOWING ONE OF THE DECEPTIVE PATHS.. THOUGH NOT AS BAD AS ISLAM WHO FOLLOW ALLAH (AN ANCIENT MOON GOD IDENTIFIED AS SATAN HIMSELF) WWW.CHICK.COM AND WWW.JOSH.ORG
it's wonderful to see someone else's experience of greenbelt, and you sum it up so well. I went on my own this year too, as a volunteer who haven't ever been to Greenbelt before. And it was lovely beyond words. It made me think about things I'd never considered and in ways I haven't thought before, about Christian and non-Christian things. I look at my faith in a whole new way now. I went knowing of some people but not knowing anyone explicitly, but going on my own meant I reached out and met some fantastic new people. I enjoyed it so much that before I even left I knew I'd be going back again next year to volunteer again (in the tank café).
I genuinely enjoyed this way more than i expected. It doesnt look like my kind of scene, but it looks like a place i wish i had a tradition of going to
Thanks for sharing this video. I have been going to Greenbelt for 30 plus years and your reasons for going back echo mine. Greenbelt always feel's like home and the place where I seem most in tune with myself and my family and friends. I love that over the years as a festival we have grown together and are now far more inclusive . There have been so many musical moments and so many great speakers. Yes Jack Monroe was amazing this year as was John Bell ( as usual ) Every year I leave refreshed, inspired, informed , challenged and I hope better informed and a little wiser. Have already bought my tickets can't wait till next year
I've been waiting for this (since bumping into you at the festival!), and thank you! It made me cry. I can't quite put in to words the impact greenbelt had on me going the first time this year. Having been raised catholic until a small rebellion at 16, I was angry at the church for a very long time for preaching me homophobia and untruths. I have now for some years been settled in the fact that I will never know about God and that's cool. I have known that christianity is not just a conservative bunch of weirdos for a while now: I found a christian partner (a vicar's son, no less) and we went to greenbelt this year with his wonderful family. We had chats deeper than we've ever had, ate awesome food, drank SO MUCH TEA, and had such a rich diversity of ideas and experiences shared with us. I am so happy that I went. That sense of community, belonging and connectedness, so completely divorced from judgement and dogma, is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Home is exactly right: I don't think I could ever stay away.
this looks so so fucking lovely. as a person who grew up in fundamentalist evangelical culture and has been deconstructing that faith over the past few years i am really desperate for a place like this. thank you lena for making such wonderful creations!!!
Going to festivals by myself is one of my favourite things to do!!! I went to Latitude by myself a few years ago and adored it. Also your intro reminded me a lot of invisibilia. But thanks for this a lot. I loved it, especially as someone who was brought up Roman Catholic and left that behind, but still feels like it's a language I can speak and sometimes need to speak. In short: beautiful.
It feels incredible to have thoughts about a festival verbalised and visualised in this way! The Woodford Folk Festival is my home, and that community feeling of "yep, this is what the earth should be like" is there too. Thank you so much for posting this! Very emotional and also timely as I leave for Woodford on the 26th of Decemeber, only to return in the New Year. xx
I love Greenbelt! I’ve been as a performer and then as a writer for Tearfund but never just to enjoy. Hopefully next year is the year. In which case, brew at the Tiny Tea Tent on me?? 😊 (I had a similarly evangelical upbringing, I even worked for an evangelical satellite channel hosting a chat show from age 12-19. I had to shed it like a skin but I still think faith is an incredible and fascinating thing; mine just looks a lot different than it used to!) xxx
EXPRESSION COMES IN MANY FORMS .. BUT THE RESURECTION IS A PROVEN FACT (WWW.JOSH.ORG AND WWW.CHICK.COM).. AND YOU NEED TO COME BACK... AFTER ALL HEAVEN AND HELL ARE REAL TOO ..AND THE MOST IMPORTNT THING IS TO AVOID HELL
I have never ever felt any desire to go to a festival, but you're definitely stirring something in me! Wonderful video x (I usually put two x's, but I remember you once stating on twitter that you didn't get why people go for two instead of one or three, so I'm respecting that!)
This looks so interesting and different ! Tbh I always feel at home in any festival or concert I go to. No one knows each other but I feel like I have something in common with everyone because we all came together to see the same artists and enjoy the same experience. I went to Werchter festival in Belgium with a few friends once and one night we partied a bit too hard, so no one wanted to go to the afternoon shows with me the next day. There were bands I really wanted to see so I went alone. It didn't feel weird at all, in fact it was probably the most memorable moment of the trip for me haha. I don't know if I would do the whole thing on my own, but this definitely inspired me. Quality content !
yeaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh Greenbelt :D I have never quite been able to reconcile my past with religion, but Greenbelt always reaffirms my faith (heh) in at least some parts of humanity. I've always felt respected there, in the same way as you describe.
This is one of my favourite videos on the internet and idk why. I think it's because I can really sense how much this experience means to you, and you capture a feeling so well. It also makes me really want to go to greenbelt, which is something I now have to talk myself out of (or into???)
I usually don't have the attention span to listen to and watch a video (I'll check facebook/emails while listening) but your videos are so beautifully made that I stay watching!
This looks interesting. One of my resolutions for next year is to go to festival, initially I had a music festival in mind but because another one of my resolutions is to do with faith I think I'm definitly going to attend this one. Thank you for this!
My best friend and I watched this video and were so inspired that we have booked to go to Greenbelt this summer - we are very excited! Perhaps we shall see you there :)
I experience something similar with two festivals I go to every year. One's a writers festival, where there are so many amazing panels of people talking about a wide variety of issues. The second is a music festival, where it truly feels like I've entered an alternate world, filled only with that small group of people, and everything feels perfect for a moment. I will definitely have to check out Greenbelt if I'm ever in the UK.
The athmosphere looks soo lovely! It really reminds me of the so called "Kirchentag" we have in Germany..and although its litereally called "church- day" and its organised by the protestant church (there is a catholic equivalent), it is anything but presuring people into a certain faith! I grew up a Chrisitan and would still label myself as such, but the "Kirchentag" is attended by loads of people of different faiths, young and old. During the day you can either explore the city which hosts the days (every time it's a different one) or walk around the stalls that showcase all kinds of organisations, faiths, and cultures. Of course some I don't agree with and thats okay because everyone is always open for a respectful debate! In the evening there are concerts, and sometimes over 50.000 people attend and share the same accepting, democratic values. And that gives me hope! That gives me hope! And seeing that these kind of things exist elsewhere makes me happy. :)
As someone who went to their first Greenbelt 40 years ago, & now go with my kids, only having missed a couple, you have put into words what Greenbelt means to me, better than anyone else ever has. I'll be sixty next year, & will be back. Also, if you're disabled, only 2 UK festivals have awards for the way they cater for people with disabilities across the range. Greenbelt is one, & the other? That's Glastonbury.
Things I loved from this year's festival: Music: It was great to see Newton Faulkner - it was the first time I saw an artist I really knew about and loved before Greenbelt at the festival, instead of discovering someone brilliant Will Varley’s songs were variously wonderfully, ferociously political, gleefully absurd, thought provoking and moving, and sometimes all three at once. La Chiva Gantiva turned Saturday night into glorious exciting dance party. Harry and Chris were so much fun - I think the time I first saw Harry Baker was at his first Greenbelt, and have been a fan ever since - I have subjected all of my housemates (who, like me, enjoy Robot Wars) to “The Ballad of Sir Killalot”. As a budding vegetarian, I also really liked the song “The V-Word” Other highlights included Kate Rusby, Martyn Joseph’s “The Rising”, and Mahalia. Theatre: Lost Dog Theatre’s "Paradise Lost lies unopened Beside Me" was incredible - easily one of the highlights of the festival for me. I only got in late, was one of the people who had to watch from the standing room only space, but it was totally worth it. It’s a performance that manages to slash ship God and Satan, but is also ultimately also a remarkably authentic reinterpretation of Milton’s original poem” I don't think I've seen something so simultaneously hilariously strange and equally profound and moving. Talks: Liz Edmon and John Bell gave incredible talks on Christianity and sexuality - Bell did a wonderful job moving the debate away from what he correctly identifies as “theological ping pong” and towards the personal side - the need to truly accept the people who have been harmed by the Church’s historic homophobia and transphobia. And Edmon’s reading of the gospels as truly scandalous texts, and the need for the church to embrace that scandal, was superb. Jack Monroe’s talk on poverty was heartbreaking, and astobishingly powerful Faith and Worship: I only had time to go to a few of the “Nine beats Collective” sessions, but the ones I went to were wonderful, providing a space to approach worship and prayer in a thoughtful, mindful way. The Sunday service was incredible - emotional, cathartic, incredibly affirming, and probably the best part of an wonderful weekend for me.
This is such a beautiful film Leena. Sounds like a pretty special place I'd like to go someday. I just found your channel and am feeling very inspired! Thank you for creating such beautiful, unique work :)
I go to Greenbelt on my own every year, I meet up with people on my volunteer team and we become a family for 5 days of the year. Almost every one of the 15-20 of us comes on their own or with their partners. I've got brothers and sisters and extra parents, aunts and uncles that I only see once a year but are so special to me! Come and volunteer!
This made me tear up a little bit towards the end? This was weirdly emotionally powerful as well as interesting and the best sales pitch I've ever heard
I'm going this year, on my own, in a similar place with my faith background. This has just made me so much more excited- thankyou! Hope I'll make friends too :)
I am also in the process of letting go of the Christian faith I was raised in...(also evangelical, lots of things to angry about!) and that can be pretty stressful but when I'm at Greenbelt, I always feel as though its okay to not know exactly what I believe about God (or lack of God, for that matter) because their are so many other important things to talk about and think about and believe in! Greenbelt feels like home for me too. Btw, did you manage to see Lost Dog Theatre's performance of Paradise Lost (the one-man show) this year at Greenbelt? Completely blow me away, I've never seen something so hysterically funny and emotionally devastating at the same time.
Lost Dog's "Paradise Lost" was incredible - easily one of the highlights of the festival for me. I only got in late, was one of the people who had to watch from the standing room only space, but it was totally worth it. I don't think I've seen something so simultaneously hilariously strange and equally profound and moving.
this is such a beautiful video and its making me feel so many things!! like how much i miss being my local festivals in the summer but also how much i really want to go to this one now!
Amazing initiative. Amazing place. P.s. Have you ever thought of trying powerlifting or weightlifting? Since you have a genotype similar to mine, why leaving so many young muscles untrained?
Thank you so much for making this, it was a beautiful video that captured perfectly what a wonderful festival this year's Greenbelt was. For me, it was a really affirming few days that came at just the right time after a really stressful year, and a period where I'd really been struggling with my Christianity. I really needed to be reminded that there are other Christians who share my belief that the faith can be about embracing and truly accepting people of all backgrounds, regardless of their faith (or lack of it), sexuality, gender identity, race and ethnicity. Greenbelt really is a place that models that vision of Christianity (and as you say in the video, so much beyond that). The Sunday service was particularly powerful and cathartic for me in that regard - it was explicitly open and inclusive, led by and for marginalised groups, and felt utterly authentic as a model of Church (shock horror, a religion founded on principles of helping those who are marginalised and in need actually works best when it's genuinely inclusive to everyone). And that's something I can carry with me when I have to come back to the real world. Because most days aren't going to be like the wonderful four and half days I spent at a festival in Kettering. But those four and a half days gave me a model for how to live in the world for the rest of the year. I really must go back next year.
![[Full] 4 ต่อ 4 Celebrity EP.910 | 22 ก.ย. 67 | one31](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4TR3MVpOiw8/mqdefault.jpg)
This actually has me crying. I have been to Greenbelt nearly every year of my life, I'm 17 so not that long a life, but it is truly my home and there is no where else I feel I can be more me as I am at this mad festival.
As someone who has gone to Greenbelt almost every year of my life, starting as a Christian and slowly changing to an atheist, I still feel at home there every year whatever my beliefs are. Every year I hear ideas I had never even considered, and meet people who speak to you honestly and freely despite your age, as it’s a place where you can just “be.” Every year I look forward to the next, and any video that might make our little community grow is amazing to me.
P.S I’m one of the youth who spoke in Natalie Bennett’s Brexit debate!
watching this for the millionth time as part of my wild at home gb 20 programming. you perfectly capture the essence of greenbelt and its hitting everything that zoom talks arent. i miss my home here so badly, its like an annual reset for me. making it to the next one is what keeps me going. hoping next year happens is whats my motivation through this mess. this is a weird ramble, but this is filling a big void today. jack monroe, sarah's talk, the glade, the compost loos, the tiny tea tent, the random chats with people you dont know in the portaloo queue, the inspiring conversations, and fabulous performances all round. missing my cheesy tomato nachos too. 'theyre my dorks' 🥺🥺
I just teared up and i actually don't know why, ffs Lena!
lol me too
help
me too????
ITS JUST A VIDEO CHAI TOUGHEN UP ❤️
That's a brilliant video and sums up the Greenbelt experience perfectly. You go and meet up with people who you might only see once a year, but they're always ready for a cup of tea at the Tiny Tea Tent, or a chat about pretty much anything. I'm not a churchy person, but always find something there to take away and think about. If I see you there next year, I'll be sure to say hello!
LOVE THE FESTIVALL BUT LETS NOT FORGET BASICS BECAUSE IF WE DO WE WILL BE AT GREAT LOSS (WWW.JOSH.ORG WWW.CHICK.COM
What a beautiful video and wonderfully spoken 💜
BUT DECEPTIVE.. SEEMS LIKE A GREAT WOMAN BUT IS FOLLOWING ONE OF THE DECEPTIVE PATHS.. THOUGH NOT AS BAD AS ISLAM WHO FOLLOW ALLAH (AN ANCIENT MOON GOD IDENTIFIED AS SATAN HIMSELF) WWW.CHICK.COM AND WWW.JOSH.ORG
it's wonderful to see someone else's experience of greenbelt, and you sum it up so well. I went on my own this year too, as a volunteer who haven't ever been to Greenbelt before. And it was lovely beyond words. It made me think about things I'd never considered and in ways I haven't thought before, about Christian and non-Christian things. I look at my faith in a whole new way now. I went knowing of some people but not knowing anyone explicitly, but going on my own meant I reached out and met some fantastic new people. I enjoyed it so much that before I even left I knew I'd be going back again next year to volunteer again (in the tank café).
This looks like such a wonderful yearly tradition!
I genuinely enjoyed this way more than i expected. It doesnt look like my kind of scene, but it looks like a place i wish i had a tradition of going to
You have the power to start that tradition
Thanks for sharing this video. I have been going to Greenbelt for 30 plus years and your reasons for going back echo mine. Greenbelt always feel's like home and the place where I seem most in tune with myself and my family and friends. I love that over the years as a festival we have grown together and are now far more inclusive . There have been so many musical moments and so many great speakers. Yes Jack Monroe was amazing this year as was John Bell ( as usual ) Every year I leave refreshed, inspired, informed , challenged and I hope better informed and a little wiser. Have already bought my tickets can't wait till next year
That place looks like it has a vibe I could get into. Thanks for sharing again , Lena. And you always do it so well!
This festival feels like home and im going to 100% check it out next year, thank you :) :)
did you get your ticket?
I've been waiting for this (since bumping into you at the festival!), and thank you! It made me cry. I can't quite put in to words the impact greenbelt had on me going the first time this year. Having been raised catholic until a small rebellion at 16, I was angry at the church for a very long time for preaching me homophobia and untruths. I have now for some years been settled in the fact that I will never know about God and that's cool. I have known that christianity is not just a conservative bunch of weirdos for a while now: I found a christian partner (a vicar's son, no less) and we went to greenbelt this year with his wonderful family. We had chats deeper than we've ever had, ate awesome food, drank SO MUCH TEA, and had such a rich diversity of ideas and experiences shared with us. I am so happy that I went. That sense of community, belonging and connectedness, so completely divorced from judgement and dogma, is unlike anything I have ever experienced. Home is exactly right: I don't think I could ever stay away.
This touched my heart :) hearing you talk also feels like home kind of
Looks awesome. I defs feel this kind of home and family feeling at certain festivals 😊 haven't been to one in a while, can't wait til Feb
Cried at this, I love greenbelt so so so much and you have summed up every word I could have into one video
this looks so so fucking lovely. as a person who grew up in fundamentalist evangelical culture and has been deconstructing that faith over the past few years i am really desperate for a place like this. thank you lena for making such wonderful creations!!!
I just want you to upload more!! Favourite videos to watch
Oh wow this festival sounds amazing and what everyone needs in their life once a year.
AND WHAT YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE EVERYDAY WWW.CHICK.COM
Going to festivals by myself is one of my favourite things to do!!! I went to Latitude by myself a few years ago and adored it. Also your intro reminded me a lot of invisibilia. But thanks for this a lot. I loved it, especially as someone who was brought up Roman Catholic and left that behind, but still feels like it's a language I can speak and sometimes need to speak.
In short: beautiful.
Latitude is on my hit list for next year. You're right I love referring to it as a 'language', that's a good way of putting it. LY long time xxxx
I love that, a language I sometimes need to speak. That resonates with me and my relation to faith as being raised Christian. :)
It feels incredible to have thoughts about a festival verbalised and visualised in this way! The Woodford Folk Festival is my home, and that community feeling of "yep, this is what the earth should be like" is there too. Thank you so much for posting this! Very emotional and also timely as I leave for Woodford on the 26th of Decemeber, only to return in the New Year. xx
your description and title rhyme and that pleases me.
I haven’t been to greenbelt since it moved from Cheltenham but this made me really miss it!
I love Greenbelt! I’ve been as a performer and then as a writer for Tearfund but never just to enjoy. Hopefully next year is the year. In which case, brew at the Tiny Tea Tent on me?? 😊 (I had a similarly evangelical upbringing, I even worked for an evangelical satellite channel hosting a chat show from age 12-19. I had to shed it like a skin but I still think faith is an incredible and fascinating thing; mine just looks a lot different than it used to!) xxx
EXPRESSION COMES IN MANY FORMS .. BUT THE RESURECTION IS A PROVEN FACT (WWW.JOSH.ORG AND WWW.CHICK.COM).. AND YOU NEED TO COME BACK... AFTER ALL HEAVEN AND HELL ARE REAL TOO ..AND THE MOST IMPORTNT THING IS TO AVOID HELL
I without fail am always pleasantly surprised by your videos even though I always expect them to be amazing
I have never ever felt any desire to go to a festival, but you're definitely stirring something in me! Wonderful video x (I usually put two x's, but I remember you once stating on twitter that you didn't get why people go for two instead of one or three, so I'm respecting that!)
Greenbelt is my fav festival everr so happy you go and love it too
Beautiful. Thank you!
This is so lovely! Esp. nodded my head along to you talking about what you gain from seeing multi-age groups discuss their views together
What a great video! thank you for making it and sharing it with the world!
This looks so interesting and different ! Tbh I always feel at home in any festival or concert I go to. No one knows each other but I feel like I have something in common with everyone because we all came together to see the same artists and enjoy the same experience. I went to Werchter festival in Belgium with a few friends once and one night we partied a bit too hard, so no one wanted to go to the afternoon shows with me the next day. There were bands I really wanted to see so I went alone. It didn't feel weird at all, in fact it was probably the most memorable moment of the trip for me haha. I don't know if I would do the whole thing on my own, but this definitely inspired me. Quality content !
Thank you for sharing this. I love these kind of videos and genuinely enjoy them the most! :)
yeaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh Greenbelt :D
I have never quite been able to reconcile my past with religion, but Greenbelt always reaffirms my faith (heh) in at least some parts of humanity. I've always felt respected there, in the same way as you describe.
This is one of my favourite videos on the internet and idk why. I think it's because I can really sense how much this experience means to you, and you capture a feeling so well. It also makes me really want to go to greenbelt, which is something I now have to talk myself out of (or into???)
Thanks for creating many insightful and pretty videos! This was just so calming and full of hope. ❤
GREENBELT!! I GO EVERY YEAR
This made my heart warm. I go to a teen meditation retreat very year, and thought it definitely not a festival, I get all the same feelings. ❤️
I usually don't have the attention span to listen to and watch a video (I'll check facebook/emails while listening) but your videos are so beautifully made that I stay watching!
This looks interesting. One of my resolutions for next year is to go to festival, initially I had a music festival in mind but because another one of my resolutions is to do with faith I think I'm definitly going to attend this one. Thank you for this!
Plenty of music here, too.
Trevor Coultart I'm determined to go, all there's left to do is save up :).
Absolutely brilliant video. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! 😊
This is so so beautiful. I want to go there so badly. Saved this video to my "important stuff" playlist , so that I don't forget it
I cry about a lot of things so it may not mean much but: I cried. This is wonderful.
My best friend and I watched this video and were so inspired that we have booked to go to Greenbelt this summer - we are very excited! Perhaps we shall see you there :)
Thank you for this video! I think I’m gonna go this year solo:) hopefully I can meet people.
Leena you're the best! Such a heartwarming little vid
I experience something similar with two festivals I go to every year. One's a writers festival, where there are so many amazing panels of people talking about a wide variety of issues. The second is a music festival, where it truly feels like I've entered an alternate world, filled only with that small group of people, and everything feels perfect for a moment. I will definitely have to check out Greenbelt if I'm ever in the UK.
What is the writers festival you go to?
Thanks for sharing, it's so interesting and I wish we had this kind of festival in my country, here everything is pop music, money and noise.
The athmosphere looks soo lovely! It really reminds me of the so called "Kirchentag" we have in Germany..and although its litereally called "church- day" and its organised by the protestant church (there is a catholic equivalent), it is anything but presuring people into a certain faith! I grew up a Chrisitan and would still label myself as such, but the "Kirchentag" is attended by loads of people of different faiths, young and old. During the day you can either explore the city which hosts the days (every time it's a different one) or walk around the stalls that showcase all kinds of organisations, faiths, and cultures. Of course some I don't agree with and thats okay because everyone is always open for a respectful debate! In the evening there are concerts, and sometimes over 50.000 people attend and share the same accepting, democratic values. And that gives me hope! That gives me hope! And seeing that these kind of things exist elsewhere makes me happy. :)
As someone who went to their first Greenbelt 40 years ago, & now go with my kids, only having missed a couple, you have put into words what Greenbelt means to me, better than anyone else ever has. I'll be sixty next year, & will be back. Also, if you're disabled, only 2 UK festivals have awards for the way they cater for people with disabilities across the range. Greenbelt is one, & the other? That's Glastonbury.
this video is wonderful! I really really wanna go now
It looks like a nice place to call home :) I've never been but I'm kinda intrigued...
I'm new to this channel but I loved this video. Very relaxing just watching it. Gonna check out this festival! 😊
I don't know what this was but I really liked it!!!! And that end scene. A gem of inclusion.
This. Is. Beautiful.
Just came on over from Tessa's channel. Glad to be here :)
"chip off part of my ignorance" woah there!
Things I loved from this year's festival:
Music:
It was great to see Newton Faulkner - it was the first time I saw an artist I really knew about and loved before Greenbelt at the festival, instead of discovering someone brilliant
Will Varley’s songs were variously wonderfully, ferociously political, gleefully absurd, thought provoking and moving, and sometimes all three at once.
La Chiva Gantiva turned Saturday night into glorious exciting dance party.
Harry and Chris were so much fun - I think the time I first saw Harry Baker was at his first Greenbelt, and have been a fan ever since - I have subjected all of my housemates (who, like me, enjoy Robot Wars) to “The Ballad of Sir Killalot”. As a budding vegetarian, I also really liked the song “The V-Word”
Other highlights included Kate Rusby, Martyn Joseph’s “The Rising”, and Mahalia.
Theatre:
Lost Dog Theatre’s "Paradise Lost lies unopened Beside Me" was incredible - easily one of the highlights of the festival for me. I only got in late, was one of the people who had to watch from the standing room only space, but it was totally worth it. It’s a performance that manages to slash ship God and Satan, but is also ultimately also a remarkably authentic reinterpretation of Milton’s original poem” I don't think I've seen something so simultaneously hilariously strange and equally profound and moving.
Talks:
Liz Edmon and John Bell gave incredible talks on Christianity and sexuality - Bell did a wonderful job moving the debate away from what he correctly identifies as “theological ping pong” and towards the personal side - the need to truly accept the people who have been harmed by the Church’s historic homophobia and transphobia. And Edmon’s reading of the gospels as truly scandalous texts, and the need for the church to embrace that scandal, was superb. Jack Monroe’s talk on poverty was heartbreaking, and astobishingly powerful
Faith and Worship:
I only had time to go to a few of the “Nine beats Collective” sessions, but the ones I went to were wonderful, providing a space to approach worship and prayer in a thoughtful, mindful way.
The Sunday service was incredible - emotional, cathartic, incredibly affirming, and probably the best part of an wonderful weekend for me.
This is such a beautiful film Leena. Sounds like a pretty special place I'd like to go someday. I just found your channel and am feeling very inspired! Thank you for creating such beautiful, unique work :)
i will definitely try to say hi if i see you next year! i was sitting right next to you in Jack Monroe's talk but I was too shy to speak up :(
This is why I'm subscribed! 💗
Beautifully made and wonderfully narrated
Had such a great time playing here in the 90's with my fellow band (Hope Springs Eternal) members.
I did not expect to see me in this lovely video!
(Singing WW1 trench songs)
I go to Greenbelt on my own every year, I meet up with people on my volunteer team and we become a family for 5 days of the year. Almost every one of the 15-20 of us comes on their own or with their partners. I've got brothers and sisters and extra parents, aunts and uncles that I only see once a year but are so special to me!
Come and volunteer!
WOW I live in Canada but I am GOING next YEAR I swear my LIFE on it thank you Leena thank you
This made me tear up a little bit towards the end? This was weirdly emotionally powerful as well as interesting and the best sales pitch I've ever heard
So beautiful and calming. 💜
this is so adorable I love it
This is great!
Brilliant! It's my home too. my spiritual home. it keeps me sane. flexible. teachable.open to God. trying to catch up.
I'm going this year, on my own, in a similar place with my faith background. This has just made me so much more excited- thankyou! Hope I'll make friends too :)
I am also in the process of letting go of the Christian faith I was raised in...(also evangelical, lots of things to angry about!) and that can be pretty stressful but when I'm at Greenbelt, I always feel as though its okay to not know exactly what I believe about God (or lack of God, for that matter) because their are so many other important things to talk about and think about and believe in! Greenbelt feels like home for me too. Btw, did you manage to see Lost Dog Theatre's performance of Paradise Lost (the one-man show) this year at Greenbelt? Completely blow me away, I've never seen something so hysterically funny and emotionally devastating at the same time.
Lost Dog's "Paradise Lost" was incredible - easily one of the highlights of the festival for me. I only got in late, was one of the people who had to watch from the standing room only space, but it was totally worth it. I don't think I've seen something so simultaneously hilariously strange and equally profound and moving.
That is brilliant. Love it.
i never knew about this festival, and it's quite close to where I live! I might go, thanks leena :-)
this is so lovely
LOVE THIS :) all of this, the video, the festival, your views, you have sold it to me, I'm in hahaha ;) xx
And the ending hahahahah 😂
Cool video Leena!
How refreshing.
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
this is such a beautiful video and its making me feel so many things!! like how much i miss being my local festivals in the summer but also how much i really want to go to this one now!
One day I'm going there!
I am from the UK this festival looks interesting 👍
This looks awesome. And interesting - I always thought Greenbelt was a Christian festival.
It is. At its very core, in its outlook, it is.
Take look at this blog post from Greenbelt's artistic director from before this year's festival: www.greenbelt.org.uk/dont-say-says-lot/
isn't the start of the video an excerpt from the book a night train to lisbon ?
We all need some Muslim grime in our life
This girls talents are wasted on TH-cam
U need to go hard. EDM
why are you so cool?
K and an e and a t and a t...
Amazing initiative. Amazing place.
P.s. Have you ever thought of trying powerlifting or weightlifting?
Since you have a genotype similar to mine, why leaving so many young muscles untrained?
This festival looks boring.
Very cool channel and video ✨🌺✨
Wow, this looks and sounds incredible! This video was beautiful, I loved the voice over. You’re great!
well this looks wonderful, I may go next year. if you enjoyed the palastinian (spelling?) fusion band you might like 47soul, really interesting band.
It took a moment for me to realise you are actually wearing tihgts and don't have a tattoo on your leg. :) A thigh tattoo would look sick on you.
Omfg this looks incredible
Sounds like my kind of crowd. It looks and sounds like you partook in a fantastic journey.
Thank you so much for making this, it was a beautiful video that captured perfectly what a wonderful festival this year's Greenbelt was.
For me, it was a really affirming few days that came at just the right time after a really stressful year, and a period where I'd really been struggling with my Christianity. I really needed to be reminded that there are other Christians who share my belief that the faith can be about embracing and truly accepting people of all backgrounds, regardless of their faith (or lack of it), sexuality, gender identity, race and ethnicity. Greenbelt really is a place that models that vision of Christianity (and as you say in the video, so much beyond that). The Sunday service was particularly powerful and cathartic for me in that regard - it was explicitly open and inclusive, led by and for marginalised groups, and felt utterly authentic as a model of Church (shock horror, a religion founded on principles of helping those who are marginalised and in need actually works best when it's genuinely inclusive to everyone).
And that's something I can carry with me when I have to come back to the real world. Because most days aren't going to be like the wonderful four and half days I spent at a festival in Kettering. But those four and a half days gave me a model for how to live in the world for the rest of the year. I really must go back next year.
This sounds so good! Thank you for sharing
I read a lot of comments and u have some very emotional fans.