We get out and about to promote accurate representation of modern Paganism!
This means everyone who works for Pagan Pride is a volunteer. Our managers, festival team, performers and marshals all donate their time, skills and energy for free. Keeping the festival free means we need to raise funds in other ways such as selling merchandise (everyone loves a t-shirt!) and holding events. Putting on a fantastic music, burlesque or cabaret night both makes a significant contribution to Pagan Pride and means a fun night for everyone.
These events are also wonderful opportunities to come together as a community. We aren't all lucky enough to have a local moot and those of us who do like a change now and then. Pagan Pride events are a great place to make new friends whether you're a Pagan parent wanting to share experiences at our Family Fun day, a burlesque or music fan looking to meet similarly inclined people at the Twisted Teaparty or Saucy Solstice or you simply enjoy relaxing in nature with your community at the Beltane picnic.
Coming together as a community
The events we run play a big role in keeping the festival free, bringing our community together and spreading word of Pagan Pride. We hope you will continue to support us by attending events and promoting them to friends and family (Pagan or not) who might enjoy them. Sharing a link on Facebook is a great five-second way to support Pagan Pride (have a look here for other ways.)
So please have a read below and on the website to see what's going on from the 3rd-5th of May and join us for a fantastic weekend!
Caz ~ Events Manager (events@paganpride.org.uk)
MAY DAY CEILIDH DANCE
To start off the three-day Weekender and to get into the spirit of Beltane we're proud to promote the May Day Ceilidh Dance! The organisers, Whirligig, have kindly allowed us to include their family-friendly Ceilidh in Beltane Weekend. We love this kind of event as it's a fun way to meet others in your local community, learn something new and have some laugha all in one evening!
Find about more about what a Ceilidh is and get tickets here!
The event is open to everyone whatever their age or experience level. So whether it's your first time out dancing or you're a 'Come Strictly' star, join us, Whirligig and live folk band 'Three Legged Dog' for a fantastic night of dance and community!
BELTANE FAMILY FUNDAY AND TEAPARTY
We used to be asked when we would organise a family friendly event in the day-time. Well your wish is our command so last year we went ahead with our very first Beltane Family Fun Day! We wondered how successful such an event would be prove so you can imagine how pleased we were to see plenty of folks come along, play games, get their faces painted and have fun- plus eat cake of course! (See what went on at our behind-the-scenes blog) Even our marshals couldn't resist joining in!
The marshals wanted to play musical chairs too!
This year we've moved to a bigger venue and we're including more than ever while keeping the event low-cost with FREE ENTRY! We're bringing back our favourite PP exclusive games so you and your children can walk the plank with Kevin the Shark, try to Hook a Starfish or Slay the Dragon if you dare!
We'll be running our free party games such as Pass the Parcel and Musical Chairs throughout the day (you can't beat the oldies) and holding a Storybook-themed fancy dress competition at 4pm! You can get your kids ready for that by visiting the lovely Amy who'll be our facepainter again this year. The talented Jacqui will be showing little ones how to decorate biscuits and cakes while our arts and crafts table will be buzzing all afternoon with various projects! For the grown ups, there'll be refreshments available and our cake stall so you can have a cuppa and chill out during the day.
Cake!
We're also coming up with new ways to keep the fun day low-cost and affordable! So we've created our special pre-order GOODY BAGS which are PACKED with activity tokens to keep your child busy and to help you save pennies! They cost only lb3 and you can pre-order them on our website and pick them up on the day.
Each goody bag contains:" 5 x games tokens, 1 facepainting voucher, 1 biscuit/cake decorating voucher, 1 'I'm not out' free game pass, sticker collector card and a sugar-free lolly!" Plenty to do and an easy way to budget for a great day out!
Our Campaigns Manager will be there to talk to Pagan parents about their experiences and the resources you'd like to see in the Pagan Community. NOWS YOUR TIME TO TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS, SO COME ALONG AND LET US KNOW!
TWISTED TEAPARTY: GOTHIC CIRCUS-CARNIVAL
This may be one of my favourite themes yet. I love anything with a Gothic twist but the circus-carnival theme offers so many possibilities for amazing costumes and make-up (those on Pinterest can search for 'Gothic Circus' to see what I mean), brilliant games and of course, exceptional cabaret.
Our Events Staff and performers are getting into it too, I've had messages from various people about the costumes they're planning and great ideas for routines. This event is a little different from our usual Burlesque and Bellydance cabaret (like the Saucy Solstice coming up in June). The beautiful and talented Robyn, Queen Cobra and (all the way from Kuala Lumpur) Beatrice Flowers will be entertaining you all with entrancing dance. But joining our dark circus too will also be Beyond the Dawn, Taren and Ian Moore with three fantastic music sets to make it the greatest show on Earth (or not far off!)
And the fun doesn't stop there. We'll be hosting some beautiful stalls; tempting you with their wares will be Cobweb Designs, Positively Pagan Crafts, Silver Crow Jewellery, Swashbuckle Fairy Crafts and of course the Pagan Pride Merch table! We'll have a raffle with some fabulous prizes, our circus skills corner, Aurora Tarot to read your cards and Pagan Pride's carnival folk will be circulating with mysterious wares (hopefully not goldfish but you never know what they'll find!)
After the cabaret don't go away! We'll be having a fantastic DJ and disco so it's a great time to take to the ring and demo your dance skills! There'll also be a bar and our costume competition. Dressing up isn't mandatory but we do encourage it! Do you want to be an acrobat? A tight-rope walker? The world's strongest man, a bearded lady, a human cannon ball, a lion tamer, ring master or one of the spooky carnival folk? And of course there are the clowns...
Advance tickets are a bargain lb5 here! Or you can pay lb6 on the door. Every penny goes towards helping Pagan Pride keep the festival FREE and supporting us in presenting a positive image and accurate representation of modern Paganism. There's lots of work going on behind the scenes to give you a great show so roll up, roll up and join the our circus for the night!
BELTANE PICNIC
After the jam-packed weekend, we'll be after jam-sandwiches and probably cake at the Pagan Pride and Nottingham Pagan Network picnic! It's a free event and a chance to relax with your local community at the beautiful arboretum. See where the festival will be taking place in August and join us near the bandstand from midday.
We'll be having a family-friendly Beltane ritual at 2:30pm but otherwise it's just a chance to chill out, make new friends and hopefully enjoy the sunshine (remember the mantra: warm and dry!) Bring some food and a rug to sit on, plus musical instruments, drums, poi and maybe your juggling balls from the Twisted Teaparty!
We're so excited about the Beltane Weekend and hope you are too! Thank you for your continuing support and wishing you a Merry Beltane!
