If you’ve not come across COED HILLS before, it’s a Rural Art space, with a community committed to living a simpler, sustainable life.You can visit and have a look around and explore the on site sculpture trail.
Coed Hills is located just outside the beautiful village of St Hilary in the Vale.
In fact, this midsummer long-weekend, they have their very first COED FFEST -a celebration of connection around land, music, food and healing.
The 180 acre site was established around 20 years ago as an artists community. It’s run to be as eco-friendly and sustainable as possible.
A wind turbine and solar panels provide electricity and heat. A biomass boiler burns wood that fuels the under floor heating inside one of the barns. Solar panels heat water for the outdoor showers and there’s even compost toilets.
The community is also home to a sculpture trail and visiting artists create pieces which are added to the trail.
The festival itself will be something very special.
LAND
You will find a huge diversity of perennials, herbs, fruit trees and wild native plants in the 1.5 Forest Garden at Coed. They’ll be running a range of inspiring workshops through out the weekend centred around permaculture, wild food, nature connection and regenerative ways of living gently on the land. Workshops will cover topics range from foraging with the amazing Ben Spice, the magical and mysterious world of mycology with Rich Wright and how to grow a forest garden with the founders of Coed Hills forest garden. There will also be film screenings, stories of the land and land-based performance.
MUSIC
The festival with include a phenomenal range of talented artists this midsummer. Expect an eclectic range of genres from folk to jazz for an incredible experience. Line-up includes diverse sounds ranging from Brazilian soulful funk with our headliner ALEH FERREIRS and his band BLACK RIO, Welsh folk rising talent OWEN SHIERS, Coed’s very own singer-songwriter NANCY ACKROYD who will be sharing her personal and powerful songs flavoured with folk and reggae, talented singer-songwriter SUSIE RO and Cardiff-based band DAN’S PEOPLE bringing their catchy melodies and driving bass.
Friday night they kick off the festival with acoustic and chill vibes. Saturday night will see the energy raising with tasty frequencies for all of you to dance your socks off. On Sunday Night, expect to feel the boundaries blur between audience and artist as they host Blu-Jay’s Open Mic night at the Sunday evening creative feast. Share your performance, be it poetry, stand-up or song, to this all inclusive show! They tell us they welcome you to bring your own instruments.
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
In the healing and well-being area we will be hosting a transformative range of workshops including Hatha and Kundalini Yoga with Iona Hannagan-Lewis and Ali Graham, Qi gong with Emma Money-Kyrle, Sound baths with Carolyn Coles, Family constellations with Rich Buckworth and Daf St Clair.
DANCE
Expect spaciousness, creative explorations and time to play, share and celebrate. Everyone is invited to explore the fundamentals of rhythm, connection and ceremony through movement, percussion and soundscapes. They will be hosting workshops in Zimbabwean dance and Embodied movement with Denise Row, Bangra with J9 and Ecstatic dance with Seagypsee. Ground in the landscape around you, and connect to the elements of the land.
The food will be plant-based delicious and nourishing, using locally sourced ingredients.
Woodland Classroom is a family friendly gathering and there will be a range of kids’ workshops, including bush-craft, willow weaving and lantern-making.
They are also going to be offering a range of craft workshops including pottery and macramé.
This festival is not-for-profit and all proceeds will be going to the Ediculture charity and Trees for Hope.
EDICULTURE is an ducational trust dedicated to promoting edible culture, and creating opportunities for learning around food growing and foraging. We plant trees, save seeds, create edible gardens and show others how to do it in the process.
Ediculture has teamed up with Trees of Hope, a charity working in Zimbabwe in the Domboshava village regions in the Chinamora reserve to help restore the natural forests, educate people about trees, herbs and traditional uses of plants, and create a tree nursery to give out trees for free to the local communities in the region.
All surplus from the festival will go to Ediculture to further the charities aims and objectives. Ediculture team have agreed with Trees of Hope to donate 20% of all profits from the festival to Trees of Hope.
COED FFEST takes place over the weekend of Friday 16th to Sunday 18th June. For more details, and to get your tickets, go HERE.
