Samhuinn Fire Festival is going to look a little different this year, and we’re sure you all have lots of questions about what taking part will involve. To help get you all better acquainted with the festival, we’re holding a digital Open Meeting. 

This will be a chance for you to get an overview of the festival, what taking part will involve, and how we are managing social distancing. We’ve tried to make joining the meeting as easy as possible, but if you’re not sure about anything do let us know and we’ll do our best to help. 

Read on for more information about how to attend and what to expect once you’re there. 

THE WHEN, THE WHERE AND THE HOW

Date: Sunday 13th September

Time: 2pm-4pm (with a half an hour break in the middle, and some five minute tea breaks dotted in between)

Where: Discord – click here to access the Open Meeting server

You will need to register an account with Discord to attend the meeting. We will then post a link to the Samhuinn server in this blog post and our Facebook event closer to the day of the meeting – please keep an eye out for this update.

WHY SHOULD I ATTEND THE OPEN MEETING?

In ordinary times, our Open Meetings are an opportunity for performance and production groups to share their vision with our community and to recruit volunteers. 

If you’re an old-hand in our community, this is a good opportunity to find out what’s new, and what’s going on this year. If you’re new, the Open Meeting is a good time to find out some of our festivals’ history, what taking part involves, and generally what makes us all tick. 

This time around, things are a little different – we anticipate there being more closed groups (meaning they are not open to recruits) than usual, so this Open Meeting is as much about getting to know the festival as a whole as it is finding a group to join. 

If you are already in a group (or “pod”, as we’re calling them for this festival), do come along and hear what everyone else has planned. We know we’re all missing that special connection that remote working doesn’t quite fulfil, so the more we can get that holistic sense of what we’re all working on together, the better!

If you’re new to our community or not in a group yet, don’t worry! We want this festival to be an opportunity for people to take part who haven’t previously, so there will be a place for you. 

You’ll also get to hear more about how we will organise the festival in its run-up (including Walkthrough dates!) and what we have planned for the night of Samhuinn. 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE OPEN MEETING

Our Discord server will be active between 2-4pm. There will not be a general live discussion, so when you first arrive on the server be sure to watch our compilation of pre-recorded videos by our pods and supporting team. You’ll hear from our coordinator about how the lead-up to the festival will work, and get an overview of each pod concept. These videos are pre-recorded and will be captioned for accessibility. 

From there, head over to the chat channel for each pod you’re interested in. Each pod has their own designated channel, which you can navigate between in the list of channels on the left of your screen. Use the text and audio functions inside these channels to ask questions, and our pod organisers will be on hand to answer them.

If you have any further questions that you don’t get to ask in the chat channels, you can email each organisers after the Open Meeting. We will publish group emails here on our website before the Open Meeting. 

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE OPEN MEETING?

We will upload each of the pre-recorded video pitches to our website and keep them here for two days, so you’ll be able to watch them back if you miss anything. 

You can then note your interest with the group you would like to participate in, either by email or (if you feel immediately persuaded by one) in Discord. 

If you’re already in a group, well then you can get straight to the making and creating! Your GO will be asked to attend a GO meeting online once a week, which will be led by our Event Coordinator. 

We look forward to seeing you all on the 13th next month! If you have any questions in the meantime, please get in touch at festival[at]beltane[dot]org.

Featured image by Gilliard Lach for Beltane Fire Society. All rights reserved.