We love a festival and among Forests Without Frontiers’ summer 2022 highlights were two brilliant events: Wellbeing in the Woods, which we hosted in a woodland in Essex in July, and the brilliant Into the Wild festival in Sussex in August where we were invited to take part in.
Held on the beautiful Chiddinglye Estate, Into the Wild celebrates the natural world, over a joyful four days filled with music, yoga, talks, workshops, therapies, wild crafts and lots more!
Nico DJ'-ing with forest visuals - check out the bear!
Forests Without Frontiers founder Nicoleta Carpineanu headlined the silent disco on Saturday night playing an eclectic Nico de Transilvania set of global music, along with Forests Without Frontiers DJ Davey Wavestar. The session took people on a journey around the world, from Romania to the Middle East, with incredible visuals of Forests Without Frontiers’ work reforesting the Carpathian Mountains. Nico also included songs from her own work, featuring traditional musicians recorded in Transylvania, who appeared in the footage.
“It was a highlight of my DJing career playing at Into the Wild with the forests visuals and taking people on a global musical journey”, said Nico. “Showing the devastation of the landscapes we work in, but also the ways in which we are helping them come back to life during my music sets, fills my heart with a sense of purpose.”
“Music is a powerful way to spread the message – and unite people. It was a joy to see everyone on the dancefloor, having fun and witnessing our work – people were really moved.”
A great programme of talks was held over the weekend in the Wilderlands tent. Nicoleta was in conversation with author and poet Nancy Campbell, talking about the wildness, conservation and art. Nancy has spent residencies in the Arctic which led to books Fifty Words for Snow and The Library of Ice and has a new memoir out Thunderstone. They discussed Nancy’s work and its parallels with Nico’s recent trip to Romania for her new Interbeing multi-media project. Funded by Cambridge University’s Endangered Landscape fund and the Romanian Cultural Arts Fund, Nico worked with traditional musicians, recorded in local natural settings. The two discussed the importance of using art – whether it be writing or sound – as a means to connect people to nature and find ways to protect and regenerate it.
“It was a pleasure to meet Nancy and hear some of her poetry – the arts are such an important means of communicating the beauty of nature and ways of relating with it, as well as protecting it,” said Nico.
Nico, Nancy and Jeremy during their talk
Dalia and a young fan
Among other acts we loved at Into the Wild were Afriquoi and Seckou Keita on the Wild Woodland Stage, while on the beautiful wooded Spirit Stage the soulful voices of musicians like Dalia and Liz Ikamba kept people entranced.
There were many workshops and craft sessions, from foraging to jewellery making, and the packed kids programme had everything from making dens to lessons on wild food. Such wonderful coming together of like-minded spirits right in the heart of the forest. We hope to be back next year as Into the Wild festival truly feels like our kind of festival. thank you Huw and team for inviting us. Get your tickets here!
Earlier in the summer Forests Without Frontiers joined forces with forest friend and travel writer Amanda Statham to run Wellbeing in the Woods. Held in beautiful private woods and meadows owned by Amanda and husband Mason in Essex, it was a glorious weekend of yoga, gong baths, meditation, music, DJs and more – and helped raise over £1,000 to plant trees.
A huge thanks to everyone involved!
With love from the Forests family