The Green Gathering, formerly known as the Big Green Gathering is a

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

with an environmental and social justice focus, including workshops and talks on permaculture, politics, ecology and crafts, as well as art, live music and spoken word performances. The first Big Green Gathering was held in 1994 and the festival is currently held in

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...

although it has previously been held in various locations in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

History

The event grew from the Green Fields area of the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

. And in their turn, the Green Fields at Glastonbury Festival had evolved from an earlier series of Green Gatherings held from the late 1970s until 1983 at two Somerset venues, some being formally associated with the Ecology Party, as the UK

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

was then named. The first Big Green Gathering was held in 1994 at Watchfield, north east of

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

. In 1995, the event moved to a site at Lower Pertwood Farm, about 10 miles (16 km) south of

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church o ...

, in

, and the event was repeated at that site in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. The next Green Gathering took place in 2002 at Winchester Farm on the

Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south a ...

Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...

. In 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 the BGG was held at Fernhill Farm, a 160-acre (65 hectare) site which can hold up to 20,000 visitors, in the

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

. No festival was held in 2008. In 2009 the festival was scheduled to return to Fernhill Farm, 29 July to 2 August. Mendip council granted a licence at the end of June. According to The Guardian: "On 23 July, the organisers were suddenly confronted with a list of demands that they believed they had already met". Two days before it was due to open, the organisers surrendered their licence to hold the event, following the threat of injunction proceedings in the High Court by

Mendip District Council Mendip may refer to: *Mendip District, a local government district of Somerset, England *Mendip Hills, a group of hills in Somerset, England **Mendip Way, a footpath across the Mendip Hills ** Mendip TV Mast, a transmitter in the Mendips area *Fore ...

, supported by

Avon and Somerset Police Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the county of Somerset and in four districts that used to be in the defunct county of Avon: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and So ...

. The Guardian stated: "Festival directors accused the police of taking a politically motivated decision to shut down the festival..." and quoted the police as saying "The organisers voluntarily surrendered their licence... therefore it was their decision to cancel, not ours." The Guardian article further stated "The Big Green Gathering ... has been running in its present form since 1994 without complaints about public safety or crime". Organisers were able to arrange ticket swaps but not refunds for all ticket holders. The event re-launched as 'The Green Gathering' in 2011 at

Piercefield Park Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about north of the centre of Chepstow. The central block of the house was designed in the very late 18th century, by, or to the designs of, ...

, near Chepstow in the

Wye Valley The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; cy, Dyffryn Gwy) is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. The River Wye ( cy, Afon Gwy) is the fourth-longest river in th ...

where it has run annually since. At the UK Festival Awards 2017, The Green Gathering was presented with the top UK accolade for green events – The Greener Festival Award, for outstanding commitment to reducing its environmental impact and creating positive social impact.Gathering Wins The UK Greener Festival Award 2017!
''www.agreenerfestival.com'', accessed 5 August 2022 Further national and international awards followed in 2018 and 2019.

Events

The Green Gathering is described by its organisers as being "A festival beyond hedonism - a place to party, then wake up the next morning and put the world to rights with your new mates from the night before." In 2015, an

eFestivals eFestivals is a website listing music festivals; hosting information on line-ups, interviews, photographs and live reviews. The website boasts an active discussion board with over 225,000 registered users, which now runs on a separate server fr ...

Review described The Green Gathering as "An inspiring modern festival with a refreshing old school edge". Many environmental and social justice groups such as

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, Green and Black Cross (GBC was founded in November 2010 to provide legal support for protests against the government’s wave of massive spending cuts.), Refugee Community Kitchen and Reclaim The Power (Reclaim the Power is a UK based direct action network fighting for social, environmental and economic justice.) have had a presence at the festival. The Gathering has pioneered renewable energy with every Gathering being powered by wind, sun and people. Between 2011 and 2019, Green MEP and economist

Molly Scott Cato Sarah Margaret "Molly" Scott Cato (born 21 May 1963) is a British Green politician, economist and activist. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 2014 to 2020. From 2012, until her election as an M ...

, Baronness Jenny Jones, Green Party leader

Natalie Bennett Natalie Louise Bennett, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (born 10 February 1966) is a Australian-British politician and journalist who served as Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. Bennett was given a peerage in ...

and Green MP

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elect ...

shared the bill in the festival's Speakers' Forum with radical activist Ewa Jasiewicz, Guardian journalist Rob Evans,

Radical Routes Radical Routes is a UK-based network of housing co-ops. The organisation supports new and established co-ops through loan finance, training workshops, practical support, and national gatherings. History Radical Routes emerged in 1986 from a ne ...

co-operators, anti-GM campaigner

Hector Christie Hector Christie (7 December 1881 – 4 April 1957) was a New Zealand lawyer, local politician and scouting leader. He was born in Wanganui, New Zealand, on 7 December 1881. In the 1946 New Year Honours, Christie was appointed an Officer of ...

and Simon Fairlie, editor of The Land magazine - amongst many others. On the festival site there are several distinct areas including: *Permaculture Zone *Crafts Area *Campaigns Field *Low Impact Village *Healing Field *Ethical Markets *Assisted Camping *An extensive Kids Area Although The Green Gathering is not primarily a music festival, live music is performed across several small stages and venues. Past performers have included

3 Daft Monkeys 3 Daft Monkeys are a world music-influenced acoustic band from Cornwall, UK, consisting of Tim Ashton, Athene Roberts, Rich Mulryne, and Jamie Graham. The instrumentation consists of vocals, fiddle, twelve-string guitar, bass guitar and percuss ...

Banco de Gaia Banco de Gaia is an English electronic music project, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks (born 1964, South London, England). The music of Banco de Gaia is mostly categorized as ambient dub and downtempo. Marks works to cross genres, often using Ar ...

Nik Turner Nicholas Robert Turner (26 August 1940 – 10 November 2022) was an English musician, best known as a member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner played saxophone and flute, as well as being a vocalist and composer. While with Hawkwind, T ...

, Martha Tilston,

Radical Dance Faction Radical Dance Faction (RDF), originally Military Surplus, is an English band from Hungerford, Berkshire, England. History Radical Dance Faction (RDF) were founded by Chris Bowsher in Hungerford in 1987. Originally known as 'Military Surplus', ...

, Seize The Day and

Transglobal Underground Transglobal Underground (sometimes written as Trans-Global Underground) is an English electro-world music group, specializing in a fusion of western, Asian and African music styles (sometimes labelled world fusion and ethno techno). Their f ...

References

External links

Green Gathering official website
{{coord, 51, 39, 31, N, 2, 41, 09, W, region:GB_type:event, display=inline,title Music festivals in Wales Music festivals in Somerset Music festivals in Wiltshire Counterculture festivals Chepstow Environmental festivals