NVC Summerfest: what’s on?

This page hasn’t yet been updated for 2021. For guidance, here’s what you could have expected in 2019.

What can you expect at the Summerfest?

We have a flexible approach to creating a daily programme, starting with Community Circles twice a day, activity sessions, and Empathy Home Groups, both morning and afternoon. During evening sessions we co-create entertainments.

Provisional daily programme at a glance

N.B. All events are voluntary.

Until 8.45am Breakfast.
9 – 9.45am Empathy Home Groups: slot one
10 – 11am Community Circle (connection games/song, announcements, planning the day’s activities).
11 – 11.30 Tea break
11.30 – 1pm Activity Session One — NVC workshops, all age art or other activities
1 – 2.15pm Lunch
2.15 – 3pm Empathy Home Groups: slot two
3 – 3.30pm Tea break
3.30 – 5pm Activity Session Two — NVC workshops, all age art or other activities
5pm – 5.30pm Young Peoples’ Circle
5.45 – 6.15pm Community Circle / Harvesting the day’s experience.
6.15 – 7pm Evening Meal.
7.30pm on: Evening Session (open to offerings from anybody — including dancing, singing, improv, theatre, music making, storytelling etc).
10.00pm on Quiet time.

Morning gatherings: the Community Circle

Each morning we will have a big gathering in our main space. This will be a time for group connection and exploring what people want to request and offer for the day. We’ll plan a daily programme around that, using an adapted Open Space Technology process.

The principle here is that anyone can make an offer on any topic, at any time, including something for children.

We start with requests from the children, considering both pre-planned and spontaneous offers of suitable activities.

Then we move on to any requests from adults. Once we’ve put these all up on a board, we’ll look at our pre-planned offers, and consider those in relation to any spontaneous offers.

Morning & afternoon sessions

NVC workshops and mini-gatherings will be created by us all around the theme of compassionate connection — so come with ideas, offerings and requests for what you would like to happen.

Empathy Home Groups

Each day we will have Empathy Home Groups (two alternative slots). These are a key component of the camp for many people — a safe place, in small groups of 4–6 people — to share and get support on our journey at the camp. They are always really popular and appreciated.

Dance and Yoga

To be confirmed

Evenings

We will have a sound system in the Village Hall (Main Marquee) and live spontaneous music around the fire pit. We hope there will be lots of celebratory activity co-created by all of us! On previous years we’ve had an amazing evening of entertainment on the final night of camp.