Springfield Sanctuary Festival

'Celebrating Herbs' Festival - 10th to 12th September 2021

The theme this year is 'Continuity'.

The planning for the Herb Festival 2021 at Springfield Sanctuary to celebrate herbs and all their uses is now under way and once again we hope to have some talks and activities planned for the weekend.

Last year's event didn't happen due to the pandemic, but we hope to get back into doing SOMETHING this year! The Festival is funded and managed purely from donations received and has so far just about covered all the (quite significant!) costs each year. Thank you to all those who have donated (or will be donating for this year!) either your hard earned money or time, or even both! It is all very much appreciated, thank you!

Please feel free to contact us about anything herb related, and if you are interested in the festival for 2021 (or even 2022) as either an attendee or a stall holder, or even providing a further demonstration or talk, please get in touch! Our programme is currently in the planning stage so a preliminary draft version will be available very soon! We aim to be flexible where we can.

To see what we did in the 2019 Programme please click here

For a pdf printable version of the 2021 programme - CLICK HERE.

We will be having a marquee set up for us on the Wednesday, and hopefully the toilets will also be on site during Wednesday as well! So if you wish to arrive a little earlier, all facilities should be in place! (but please let us know beforehand)

See the speakers listed below.

HOW TO FIND US!

MOST IMPORTANT! IGNORE satnav instructions once through Lower Swell. Use your satnav to get you to Lower Swell, and to take the road signposted 'The Slaughters', left out of the village just after the red telephone box (which is on the right, if you have come down the hill from Stow on the Wold). HOWEVER, once you get to the next fork in the road (about 500 metres out of the village), take the RIGHT hand fork. The Farm is about half a mile along this road. If you are coming for the Festival, you should be able to follow the 'Herb Festival' signs from Stow on the Wold anyway!

Photos from previous Festivals

New pictures from 2015 and 2016 now added! (19 to 24 below). If anyone has any good photos from past Festivals please send them to us!

Click a thumbnail to enlarge and then PREVIOUS or NEXT (move your mouse to left or right of photo) to view the other pictures.


1. A rainbow during set up!	2. Marquees and gazeebo all set up	3. People arrive and camp!	4. Stalls are set up - plants for sale ...	5. ... and things to buy!	6. There were speakers - This is Lynne Tynan Cashmore ...


7. ... and here is Nick Jones	8. There were kites to watch too!	9. More speakers - Trish Fearnley	10. On the Saturday evening we had a lot of music!c!	11. The night time festival lighting	12. There is plenty of stuff around for the bitters workshop


13. Sarah enthuses everyone to have a go	14. An attentive audience ...	15. Adele telling us all about bees and the hives she keeps at the Sanctuary	16. There was more synchronised kite flying ...	17. ... from Sky Symphony Kite Display Team	18. We even had a pole lathe for people to try their hand at!


19. Some ciders to try - and buy!	20. Penny Thomson with her Lyme Cottage Industries	21. Some wooden and pottery wares made for sale	22. The 'Sound Bath' experience	23. A load of balls from Sky Symphony Kite Display Team	24. Kathryn leading the music in the evenings!

Information and Programme for the 2021 Festival

The 2021 Festival will once again have Workshops, talks, crafts, live music, and maybe even some kites (a display choreographed to music - but not yet confirmed) all set in the beautiful Cotswolds!

Please book in for the weekend (see below) for the Celebrating Herbs Festival 6th to 8th September 2019 and put the dates in your diaries, and don't forget to tell your friends! As always there will be talks and demonstrations on all aspects of herbs from medicinal and culinary to craft and arts.

Speakers and Contributors for 2021 (hopefully!)


Ali English	Lynne Tynan-Cashmore	Anne Patterson	Sarah Head

Once again for 2021 we hope there will also be someone from Sky Symphony Kite Display Team! (see photo). He/they will be happy to talk kites and give 'hands on' sessions to anyone interested at various points throughout the weekend!

FOOD - There will be no caterers on site, but if everyone is able to bring something to share, we should all be able to eat together in the main marquee. We will have facilities (i.e. small gas rings) for heating or re-heating saucepans etc. However, we do intend to have tea and coffee facilities freely available throughout the weekend (any donations gratefully received!). Bring something to share (e.g. cake or biscuits) with the tea and/or coffee.

Please note that breakfast on Saturday and Sunday will be up to yourselves! Lunches on all 3 days and both evening meals are being done on a 'bring something to share' basis. We will have gas burners available to heat or re-heat anything that has been brought in a saucepan.

Tea and coffee is freely available (as already mentioned). There are a couple of local pubs within about a mile from the site. There is also Tesco's up in Stow on the Wold if you need to stock up on sandwiches or other food options.

The programme should allow a suitable 'lunch' time for everyone to sit and eat together in the main marquee, while possibly being entertained by a little music!

CAMPING? - Not a problem, but please contact us in advance so we know how many tents and/or caravans we need to accommodate on site (basic facilities only - water tap and portaloos!)

Music - There will be music and entertainment both Friday and Saturday evenings. Please bring your instrument and/or 'party piece' (story, poem, dance, juggling, unicycle etc etc ...) to join in the fun! There may also be some live lunchtime music while you eat.

Got a stall? - If you would like to exhibit something herbal or crafty, please let me know to book a table in the craft tent.

Sponsorship - If you feel able to sponsor a toilet (or even a shower block!), please let Chris know at chris@headology.co.uk.

For the 2019 Programme please click here

To book a place at the weekend for this year we are asking for donations, and the suggestion is for a donation of about £50 for the weekend, or £25 per day. To make a donation for attendance at the Festival please click the DONATE button below. The amount is left open to your discretion, although we are suggesting a donation of £50 for the weekend, or £25 per day. All proceeds will go towards expenses we incur for the weekend, any remainder going towards upkeep of the Sanctuary.

You can make your donation online by clicking the DONATE button below - this will link securely to our PayPal account. PLEASE ENSURE you see the https: prefix on the address AND that the little padlock symbol (top or bottom of your web browser) is shown 'locked' before commencing any payments. The address bar of the page you go to will usually also show a yellow background - this is yet another indication that the connection is secure.

Note: this will link you securely to PayPal.

(You can if you wish donate by cash or cheque before or at the Festival itself)

Springfield Sanctuary is reached by walking through two fields and is a sloped site with limited disabled facilities. For further details please contact:-

Sarah Head, Tel 0121 707 8269 or email sarah@headology.co.uk

Sarah Head B Soc Sci, Dip SFT, MNFSH is a member of the Herb Society and has been studying the medicinal uses of herbs for the past thirteen years, growing over eighty different varieties of herbs in her two herb gardens. She is a solution focused therapist and trainer, helping to support distressed individuals on a local and national basis through her work with a leading personal injury law firm. Sarah is also a spiritual healer, providing healing to the public with Solihull Healing Group and helping others to develop their healing capacity through Solihull Healer Development Group. Sarah is a published writer on health service and complementary therapy issues and regularly contributes articles for the Herb Society website.