Short-term (2 to 4 weeks) "festival" project in United Kingdom

Buddhafield is an English Buddhist collective that is part of the international Buddhist movement, the Triratna Buddhist Community. It emerged out of the confluence of Buddhism and ecological awareness in the 1990s. Buddhafield is inspired by the ideal of living and working more simply and kindly in a community that is informed by awareness of our interconnection with each other and with nature. We run a programme of camping activities in the South West of England and own some land, which we are committed to managing sustainably. We are perhaps best known for organising our own Festival and for the Buddhafield Café, which provides vegan food at festivals like the Glastonbury Festival.

The Buddhafield Festival is held over a period of five days, on a beautiful site in the Blackdown Hills, in Somerset, England. The event brings together around three thousand people for a sharing and celebration of alternative social, cultural, political and spiritual values. The mix of activities around Buddhist, environmental, healing and social change themes together with general festival attractions such as singing, dance, yoga, drumming, live music, comedy, craftwork, chai cafes, saunas, hot tubs and a huge range of activities for children, attracts a wide range of festival goers. The feedback we get is that for many the event is a reminder that a more positive and kind alternative to conventional competitive and environmentally damaging ways of living is possible. In keeping with the Festival's Buddhist ethos the event is a drug and alcohol-free zone.

Needless to say, in order for the Festival to be a life-enhancing and indeed for some a life-transforming experience, much hard work is required. From the day we arrive in an empty field with a small vanguard, our numbers gradually swell until we have around eight hundred volunteers. The set-up crew erect the structures that will act as kitchens and venues. They establish the infrastructure such as plumbing, compost loos, showers and saunas. They make the site beautiful and safe with flags, bunting, paths, fences and lighting. Then during the Festival we have stewards to welcome and guide festival goers, to manage parking and traffic and to attend to people's well-being. Toilet wizards maintain the compost loos. A team of recyclers sorts materials so as to minimize landfill. The café crew feed volunteers and festival goers alike.

VAP volunteers can choose from one of these three areas of work during the five days of the Festival itself (13th - 17th July): cafe, recycling and toilet wizards. As well as this work during the Festival, a full experience of the event will include a week of working on set-up before the Festival (6th July), and two days of take-down, leaving on the morning of the 20th July, working during these periods with either crew kitchen or site crew.

During the Festival the volunteers will have work shifts, but will also have time to enjoy the huge variety of events taking place and facilities available as outlined above. Volunteers are asked to attend daily meetings at 9.30 am. The work is very team-based. The whole enterprise runs on goodwill, awareness of each others needs, good communication and mutual support. During set-up and take-down there will be organised events around Buddhist themes, attendance at which is completely voluntary. There are generally also alternatives such as spontaneous musical gatherings, often around a fire.

Buddhafield will provide food (mainly vegan) and hot drinks are available throughout the day. Canvas covered structures (e.g. geodesic dome) will be provided as on-site communal camping accommodation. Volunteers would need to bring their own camping gear such as sleeping bag, sleeping mat. Waterproof wear is essential (just in case!). This includes waterproof jacket, trousers and boots. Warm clothes are also a good idea as English summers can be cold. On the optimistic side sun cream and a sun hat are also necessary items. There are no shops nearby, so best to come with any luxuries that you might want.

The nearest station is Taunton. Journeys take about 2 hours from London or Birmingham, 1 hour from Bristol and 30 minutes from Exeter.

Taunton is about 4 hours from London and 1 hour from Bristol. National Express run regular services to Taunton.

We can arrange pick-up from Taunton train station, which is about six miles from the Festival site.