On January 1st 2021, I, Melissa Forster, pledged to collect a bag of litter from my local area every day of the year. This became known as The Litter Pick Challenge and what originally started as a personal challenge to improve the local community, developed into an award-winning community action organisation with links to other parts of Wales, the UK and abroad.
Our goal is to protect the environment, engage the community and raise awareness of the impact of a throwaway culture. As well as leading community litter picks, we have cleared fly-tips and removed tonnes of waste from the River Taff as part of our river cleaning events. We attempt to reuse and recycle as much as we can by upcycling materials, creating artwork and collaborating with local metal recycling centres. We have also designed and implemented awareness campaigns to highlight the environmental issues surrounding single-use plastics.
Although primarily based in Pontypridd, we have carried out community events throughout R.C.T. and Bridgend. We have regularly litter picked around the River Ogmore estuary, close to the Between the Trees festival site. Common finds include lighters, vapes, bottle tops, plastic bottles, food packaging and cigarette butts. Many of the found items can be recycled, enabling resources to stay in circulation as long as possible. This not only promotes a circular economy, but ensures a sustainable future. As many of you will know, Merthyr Mawr is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the environmental importance of the area. It has a rich biodiversity and is home to a plethora of plants, insects and fungi. It’s essential we keep it that way and together we can.
Plastic items found on Merthyr Mawr Beach
During the festival, we would encourage you to dispose of your litter thoughtfully and correctly. This year single use vapes are banned and we have a more efficient recycling scheme which includes separate bins for paper, cardboard, plastics and cans. We also suggest that you take your recycling home with you as you can then guarantee that it finds its way into the correct recycling route
REDUCE – REUSE – RECYCLE
The Journey – Y Taith
Thank you to all those who have bought early bird tickets. We’ve had our highest ever take-up of early birds and we are very grateful that you continue to support the festival.
We are busy planning BTT2023 and we’ve got some exciting news about headline acts that we will be announcing through-out November and December.
Just to “whet your appetite” have a listen to the wonderful singer-songwriter, Roo Panes. He has an amazing 10 year back catalogue of music and his new material very much captures the Between The Trees spirit. Here’s a beautiful track that he’s recently released called “The Nightjar and the Nightingale”.
The theme for BTT2023 will be “The Journey” or “Y Taith”.
We are all on life’s journey, with its many twists and turns and that got us thinking about role of festivals and what they mean to us.
Why are they so central to our lives? What do they signify?
Our ancient human ancestors placed great importance on sacred sites, holy rituals and pilgrimage. We believe that the modern day festival is just an extension of these traditions.
Once a year, we leave the comfort of our homes, gather in a special place as a community of like-minded humans. We enjoy the celebration of the creative arts and immerse ourselves in the energy that is generated when people dance, sing and laugh together.
Those moments are precious, energising and spiritual. Special connections are formed and lasting friendships are made, a kind of “morphic resonance” seems to run through the festival and people often comment that they have “noticed a sense of happiness, contentment and joyfulness”.
So this year we want you to celebrate this “journey” with us. We are not alone with this need to travel and congregate. Other species partake in rituals too. Just think about the migration of swallows, salmon and even the swallowtail butterfly.
These journeys are some of the greatest mysteries of nature, which science has yet to fully explain. How can ocean-going salmon, that have been away from their spawning streams for decades, suddenly decide that they need to navigate back to the exact location where they were born? These are innate traits that are in us all.
These miraculous journeys of nature need to be appreciated and will enhance our understanding of the natural world, so we will ensure that the science talks reflect this theme too.
“DREAM” was extremely well received at BTT2022 and I think you will agree that we should have more of it! Its now a well established fact that dance improves health and well-being; its even prescribed as a modern health intervention. We are hoping that Ballet Cymru is able to come back in 2023 and we are planning some communal dance activities deep in the woods.
If you haven’t got your tickets yet, then please do so while they last! It really helps to know that you are with us on this journey and we appreciate the support of all you early birders. We’ve now sold over 50% of early bird tickets and they will stay open until the end of December. So, why not gift your family the experience of Between The Trees this year and join us on “the journey”.
cofion cynnes
Andrew, Dawn and the BTT Team
Things are really shaping up for BTT2022. Schedules are being finalised and the programme is being created. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to offer 4 Cardiff Met University / Santander Bank sponsored internships for the past few years and this year we have; Meg Cox (Artist Liaison), Bekah Stone (Speaker Liaison), Hannah Styles (Graphic Designer) and Adebayo Oyeniyan (Health & Safety). These are great opportunities for the students to practice their newly acquire skills in real work situations and its also a tremendous help to us at this crucial stage of planning.
Spoken Word – Since we spoke last, there have been some exciting additions to the 2022 programme which we thought you’d like to hear about. There are two very distinctive, but related, themes running through this year’s festival spoken word line-up, the first being “Tales from the Land” and the second “Connections to the Land”. In the first theme on Saturday we will hear about the magical stories of Wales and two new additions to this line-up include award winning children’s writers, Claire Fayers (right) and Catherine Fisher (left). Claire’s recent publication “Welsh fairy tales, myths and legends” which answers questions like “why does the Welsh flag have a dragon on it? Should you ever trust the magical Tylwyth Teg? and what happens when you ask witches too many questions?
Catherine Fisher has written numerous best selling children’s fantasy books as has been described as a “writer of rare talent” by the Sunday Times. Catherine has won many awards for her work, including The Cardiff International Poetry Prize. Her book, The Oracle was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children’s Book Prize and Incarceron was The Times Children’s Book of the Year and New York Times Bestseller.
These two amazingly talent writers will be appearing in the Seren Barn on Saturday afternoon to read excepts from their books. It will be so amazing for children (and parents) to delve into this imaginary world of tales and fantasy in the magical ambience of the Seren Barn.
The Seren Barn
Festivals have been described as “thin places”; places where the “magic” happens, places where people can express themselves and allow their creative sides to run freely and places where new friendships between like-minded souls are formed. This year we have a new area called The Nest or Y Nyth, which will be the focus of people coming together to chat and share their stories with others. We especially think it will work as a gathering place for morning coffee.
Our well-being and permaculture area is also taking shape with massage and yoga, but also talks from individuals who practice alternative farming techniques and permaculture. The treatments sessions will be bookable at the Forest Barn during the festival using the sign up sheets and the short talks will be announced on the blackboards at the well-being area.
We also heard today that the Open Mic and Open Choir Sessions are returning to The Cwtch area. These were a great success last year and the great team from Sing Happy will be running the choral sessions again. We cant wait to see the final choir perform their new songs in front of the stage again!
The Cwtch 2021
FOOD and BAR. Lastly, we want to tell you about the Food and Bar provision this year. It takes a while to get this right and we feel that we are getting closer and closer to getting there. Finding good quality food traders is not easy, but I feel that we have source some of the best, including Fresh Rootz, The Bearded Taco, The Greedy Pig, Ice Green, Pwdin and Captain Brown’s Pizza. We are also having an organic smoothie maker on Saturday and Sunday. Drum roll…! now for the exciting bit, we will have what can only be described as a “CAMRA quality” real ale bar with over 15 breweries and cider makers represented over the weekend. This is not an easy thing to do and you have to work with people who understand and love beer, so hats off to Gareth Roberts (The Little Pen-y-bont Arms) and Rob Lilford (Tomos a Lilford Brewery) for making this happen.
The 2022 Food Traders Hall of Fame
Look forward to welcoming you to the forest and please invite your friends. We are nearly sold out, but it would be so nice if you could bring your extended family and friends network along to Between The Trees.
best wishes Andrew, Dawn and rest of the BTT Team.
“Butterflies and shared horizons”
Hope you’ve been out and about in nature enjoying the tentative arrival of Spring and this warmer weather.
Recently, I took a trip to the Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve with Roo and Nicky (Speckled Wood Wildlife) in search of the Grizzled Skipper (below right), a rare butterfly only found in 10 locations in Wales. I wasn’t disappointed and we also spotted some other species including Dingy Skippers, Orange Tips and Brimstones. The intricate wing patterns on these fragile, transient creatures never cease to amaze me, just admire the contrasting patterns seen on the Orange Tip’s top and underside wings – is incredible isn’t it (below left)?
We have around 56 different butterfly species in the UK and the butterfly conservation website is a great online resource to help you identify them and if you want to buy a comprehensive text guide to butterflies of the UK we recommend “Butterflies of Britain and Ireland” by Jeremy Thomas. Butterflies are a really important “indicator organisms”, this means they tell us how healthy a habitat is. Their life cycles are delicately balanced, relying on predictable seasonal changes, specific plant food sources and sometimes the life cycle of other animals such as ants. Many species only thrive in small “wildlife pockets” and if we lose this biodiversity, we are in danger of destroying our own natural habitat. So, make a start this summer to familiarise yourself with one or two of these delightful creatures, learn their names and read about their lifecycles and before you know it, you and your children will be hooked!
The Niche
We have a newly designated, nature & science tent at this year’s festival called “The Niche”. The line-up of speakers at this year’s event, will focus on biodiversity, nature conservation and the “connections” that can be made between ourselves and the natural environment. In fact, “Connections” is the key theme for BTT2022. Returning, will be Drs Roo and Nicky Perkins (Speckled Wood Wildlife) and Dr Leanne Unsworth, Director of Project Sea Grass, who will be telling us all about the vital need to protect our carbon sequestering “Gardens under the sea”. This year we welcome Andrew Mason from the RSPB, who will talk about the “origins of the RSPB” and the inception of wildlife activism. We hope to develop this talk into an afternoon debate entitled, “Eco-activism: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. We also have other conservation organisations contributing to talks, discussions and workshops including Natur am Byth, who are involved with a conservation of the High Brown Fritillary butterfly (below left) and Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC), who do amazing conservation work in Wales, including a breeding program for the Marsh Fritillary butterfly (below right). Joining one or all of these organisations is a great way to support nature conservation and connect you and your family to nature.
In the Seren Barn, we will have a wide selection of authors, writers and storytellers who will be educating and entertaining us with their knowledge, experiences and creative works. The Saturday and Sunday themes will be “Tales from the Land” and “Connections to the Land”, respectively. Starting us off will be local musicians, Gareth Davies on sitar, guitar and vocals and Sarah Dickson on vocals, guitar and Shruti aka Songfisher. They will be performing songs and relating tales of local folklore such as the legend of the Goblin Stone, which sits in Candleston Castle located on the southern boundary of the festival and the legend of Treganlaw, the buried town of a thousand hands, which was lost to the sand dunes in 1607. Dan Mitchell will continue this theme with tales of Welsh mythical fairies; Coblynau (mine fairies), Bwbachod (household fairies), Gwragedd Annwn (underwater fairies), and Gwyllion (mountain fairies)and not forgetting the Ellyllon (elves). Sunday will see us focus more on our physical connection to the land with writers talking about foraging, managing an orchard and maintaining woodlands and forests (More information and details about these and other talks will be in the TreeTalk#3 June publication).
The Seren Barn
We have the privilege of hosting a number of writers who have contributed to the recent collaborative publication “Gorwelion: Shared Horizons”. This is a climate change anthology of poetry and prose edited by prize-winning writer and environmental activist Robert Minhinnick, featuring Welsh, Scottish, Indian and English writers. Five writers from India and five from the UK were asked to consider global climate change and biodiversity issues and introduce ‘future thinking’. This future might be mundane, marvellous or dreadful. Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, commented “This project aims to imagine what life in Wales could look like in the future as seen through the lens of the cultural dimension of well-being”. The considerate and careful planning of the future for our children has never been more important and we have a great responsibility to do the right thing. We hope that this will be the topic of another lively debate in the Seren Barn on Saturday afternoon.
The last of our pre-festival Between The Trees Sessions is this month on Friday 20th May and features Firewoodisland, Our Atlantic Roots and Welsh harpist, Bethan Nia. Tickets can be found on the BTT website. Thank you to everyone who came along and apologies to those of you who live further afield and can’t make the trip to South Wales. One idea we are floating is to have an early spring BTT fringe weekend festival in the Town of Pontypridd, South Wales. This means we can all get together twice a year!!
Ticket Update
Lastly, a quick ticket update, we are closing the extended early bird tickets on Sunday 22nd May, this is also the last day for paying through instalments. Glamping is nearly sold out with just 4 tents left and forest camping has only a handful of pitches available. There is still plenty of room in the field camping area and about 10 pitches left in the family camping area. Remember you can check on your tickets and obtain your car park permits when you register and Log In to “my account” via the website.
best wishes BTT Team.
Lying awake, listening to the howling wind and rain battering on the roof-light, I gave a moment of thoughtful gratitude to science. I was grateful for two things, firstly, for the 3 vaccinations that were helping me fight off this rampant virus, which was making me feel so unwell and secondly, for giving us the foresight and therefore, myself and others, the time to avoid the initial more virulent stains of coronavirus (SARS-CoV2), which would have undoubtedly posed a much more of a serious challenge for our naïve immune systems. I then started to think of all the brilliant scientists over recent decades, who had patiently added fact upon fact and who had contributed to, and orchestrated, these life-giving breakthroughs in medicine.
You can trace the origins of these recent innovations to an event in 1957, when Francis Crick, gave one of the most significant lectures in the history of biology. In this lecture, at University College of London, he outlined key ideas about gene function and in particular, what he called the “central dogma of biology” (1).
At the time, scientists were uncertain about many aspects of gene function, and Crick, in his opening remarks, was cautious to point out that not everyone accepted that nucleic acids were involved in protein synthesis. The function and composition of ribosomes (the protein factories of the cell) were still undefined and messenger RNA (mRNA) was still undreamt of. It would not be properly identified until the summer of 1960. However, in this one brief lecture, Crick profoundly influenced how we think. In The Eighth Day of Creation, journalist Horace Judson went so far as to claim that on that day, Crick “permanently altered the logic of biology” (2)
“Tall, florid, with long sideburns, Crick looked like the Englishman seen in illustrations to 19th century books about Phileas Fogg. He talked incessantly. With evident pleasure and volubly, as if he was afraid, he would not have enough time to get everything out. Going over his demonstration again to be sure it was understood. Breaking up his sentences with loud laughter. Setting off again with renewed vigour at a speed I often had trouble keeping up with…Crick was dazzling.”(3)
In his lecture, Crick gave a disarmingly straightforward definition—information in this context was simply “the determination of a sequence of units”. This highlighted the existence of a link between the base sequences of nucleic acids and those of amino acids in a protein—they pointed to the reality of “the genetic code”. This, in turn, enabled Crick to conceptualize the link between gene and protein. He called this link “the flow of information” and added this concept to the factors that were generally accepted to describe protein synthesis and, indeed, life itself—the flow of matter and the flow of energy.
Fast forward through the decades of the genetic revolution that followed, which amongst other breakthroughs included, the revelation of the nature of the genetic code, the inventions of DNA sequencing & Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and the sequencing of the entire human genome, we now find ourselves in the ages of Bioinformatics and Genomics. These interdisciplinary fields of biology and computer science, are concerned with the determination, storage and analysis of genetic (DNA and RNA) and protein sequences. Reflecting on my own 30-year career in this field, makes me think of my own stepwise contributions to this complex web of discovery – “small cogs in a large machine”.
Bioinformatics has “synergistically” influenced many areas of biology and medicine. Never before have we had the tools and knowledge to study the origins and progression of a viral pandemic and never before, have we had the knowhow to create vaccines so quickly. Bioinformatics has given us the ability to rapidly and precisely decipher the genetic code of any virus and today’s molecular biologists can deliver targeted vaccines in increasingly short turnaround times.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines are predicated on Crick’s 1957 concept of the “central dogma of biology”. They both create “artificial” mRNA molecules that is “translated” by our cells into a piece of a viral protein (in the case the corona virus’ “spike” protein, of its outer coat). Our cells then display these protein sections to our immune cells, which will, in turn, create antibodies and activate other immune cells to fight off any subsequent infections.
Research into the concept of mRNA vaccine started in the 1990s. It was Robert Malone (Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California) who, in 1987, wrote “it might be possible to treat RNA as a drug” (4). Interest in RNA vaccines grew, however there were a number of obstacles that needed to be overcome first, such as a “tangle” of disputed patent claims, the unstable nature of mRNA and the means of delivery to our cells, so their development and application halted (4).
However, ground-breaking research in 2005, by Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman (University of Pennsylvania), showed that a chemical modification to mRNA could “smuggle” the molecule past the body’s immune defences. By rearranging the chemical bonds on one of mRNA’s nucleotides, uridine, to create an analogue called pseudouridine, that solved the issue and stopped the body identifying the mRNA as a foe.
“Everyone just incrementally added something — including me” Karikó.
At the same time, another “linchpin” technology was being developed by Cullis, a biochemist at the University of British Columbia, Canada and Felgner (University of California) which proved crucial for mRNA vaccines — one that had nothing to do with the mRNA. It was the use of tiny “fat bubbles” known as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that protect the mRNA and shuttle it into our cells.
“Looking back, many say they’re just delighted that mRNA vaccines are making a difference to humanity, and that they might have made a valuable contribution along the road. It’s thrilling for me to see this. All of the things that we were thinking would happen back then — it’s happening now.” Felgner.
RNA vaccines have been studied before for Influenza , Zika, Rabies, and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) but in early 2020, the world was faced with the news of a catastrophic pandemic and the search was on to find a suitable vaccine for a mass vaccination program. As soon as the necessary bioinformation about the virus (SARS-CoV2) responsible for COVID-19 was available, scientists were quick off the mark and began designing the mRNA instructions for cells to build the unique spike protein. By March 2020, both Pfizer (together with BioNTech) and Moderna were ready for phase one clinical trials and gained approval for their vaccines in 8 months.
Future mRNA vaccine technology may allow for one vaccine to provide protection against multiple diseases, thus decreasing the number of shots needed for protection against common, vaccine-preventable diseases. Beyond vaccines, cancer research has used RNA to trigger the immune system to also target specific cancer cells.
“Almost all aspects of life are engineered at the molecular level and without understanding molecules, we can only have a very sketchy understanding of life itself.” Francis Crick
Crick FHC. On protein synthesis. Symp Soc Exp Biol. 1958;12:138–163.
Judson HF. The eighth day of creation: makers of the revolution in biology. Plainview: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; 1996
Jacob F. The statue within. London: Unwin Hyman; 1988
Dolgin E. The tangled history of mRNA vaccines. Nature, 2021
We are so excited to introduce our 2022 music line-up to you all. Between The Trees is a festival that focusses on contemporary folk music from all regions of the UK and further afield, and this year we have performers who will be singing in 3 of our ancient Celtic languages; Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernewek)and Scottish Gaelic.
Firstly, we’d like to introduce our headliners but also give you the “heads-up” on who else to look out for in the 2022 line up. One of our objectives at BTT is to promote young, up and coming artists and we love looking for new, original musicians. We also believe that music is one of the vital ingredients needed for good health and well-being and therefore we feel it is vital that we support original artists, whose music speaks of the history, culture, politics and the complexities of human relationships.
The last few years have taught us that we need human interaction and community, as well as a connection with nature. These are all important components of what makes us “human”. Engagement with the sensory stimulation that art, music and nature provide is known to improve our physical and mental well-being. Simply put “it’s good for the soul“.
The Headliners.
So, what do we have in store for you at BTT22?
Our Friday night headliners are a 5-piece indie-folk band from South Wales called Rusty Shackle. We’ve seen these guys live several times, and they really know how to have fun, putting on a captivating, feel-good, live show. Brandishing their distinct, folk-roots sound and armed with an electrifying mix of rampant fiddle, slick guitar, banjo hooks and tight pulsating drums and bass lines.
On Saturday night we welcome back Noble Jacks, who are another lively and danceable folk band from Brighton. They will get everybody on their feet with their high energy, fiddle drive, foot stomping rhythms. The evening is not finished there, as they are followed by the electronic Celtic fusion band Niteworks, from the Isle of Skye. The band are known for writing new songs in Gaelic and melding the bagpipes with techno and house beats. This is such an exciting new sound for BTT and we think you are going to love the uniqueness of their anthemic, celtic electronica sound.
Sunday, brings us the inquisitive truth-seeker, the devoted song interpreter, the enchanting writer, the genius folk singer, John Smith, with his full band, followed by the Welsh mega band NOGOOD BOYO, who are sure to keep the party going with their blend of welsh indie folk. Their award winning high energy performances have been causing storms and breaking dance-floors all around UK and Europe. The balance of paying tribute to their welsh heritage with a touch of all out recklessness will bring a perfect end to the festival weekend
Ones to Watch out for!
We love it when people tell us they have discovered new music at BTT and the band they have seen for the first time have gained new fans. Supporting original musicians is a great way to sustain the grass roots music industry and besides, we need it! We have some great, young musicians to tell you about, who are creating the new indigenous folk music of this decade. So please have a listen to Tina Boonstra, The Drystones, Sam Brookes, Ollie Dixon, Honey and the Bear, Long for the Coast and Our Atlantic Roots. These are all young artists playing their own original music, with strong, soul-searching lyrics and feel good melodies. You can find their music and others on our Spotify playlist and the full BTT2022 line up can be found here BTT2022.
Early Bird Tickets.
Early Bird Tickets* are limited and are available on the BTT website and this year we have also introduced a pay-by-instalments scheme. So grab yourselves a bargain and spread the cost ! We’ve also teamed up with Pitch Luxury Tents, who are providing high-quality glamping in the forest and this is by far the best way to enjoy the festival.
*Any ticket purchases made in January will receive a Free BTT and WE ARE NATURE sticker bundle!! – And who doesn’t love a decal sticker? (Stickers made by Sticker Mule).
Roedd planhigion, coed a phryfed ar y blaned hon ymhell cyn i bobl gyrraedd ac maent yn debygol o fod ar y blaned ymhell ar ôl i ni adael.
Yn y bôn, byddai bywyd ar y Ddaear yn goroesi hebddom ni fel rhywogaeth, ond nid heb y Fflora a’r Ffawna eraill.
“Dim ond un ymhlith myrdd o rywogaethau dirifedi eraill sy’n byw rhwng y coed yw’r Homo sapiens.”
Mae’r rôl a chwaraewn wrth gadw a gwarchod pob ffurf o fywyd sy’n bodoli, yn golygu popeth i BTT . Ein nod penodol yw annog cenedlaethau’r dyfodol i barchu eu Planed a mwynhau harddwch natur drwy ymchwiliad gwyddonol a chelfyddyd amgylcheddol.
Yn ystod y blynyddoedd diwethaf, mae cenedlaethau iau wedi treulio llai o amser yn chwarae ac yn archwilio yn yr awyr agored ac yn gwylio bywyd gwyllt yn ei gynefin naturiol. Yn anffodus, collodd y genhedlaeth iau rai geiriau penodol o’r byd naturiol o’u geirfa – geiriau megis mesen, dyfrgi, mieri, dant y llew a llawer mwy. Mae tirwedd gyfoethog dychymyg gwyllt a chwarae gwyllt yn cyflym bylu o feddyliau ein plant. Yn hytrach, mae plant yn treulio gormod o’u hamser o flaen sgriniau.
“Ydyn ni’n caniatáu i’r cyfryngau cymdeithasol a gemau cyfrifiadurol herwgipio eu plentyndod gwerthfawr?”
Credwn, drwy ryngweithio cymdeithasol, chwarae, celf ac addysg ymchwiliol, y gallwn ail-gysylltu â’r byd naturiol.
“Rydym yn aml yn anghofio maiNATUR YDYM NI. Nid yw natur yn rhywbeth ar wahân i ni. Felly, pan ddywedwn ein bod wedi colli ein cysylltiad â natur, rydym wedi colli ein cysylltiad â ni ein hunain.” Andy Goldsworthy.
Hoffem eich gwahodd i fod yn rhan o “Between The Trees”, i fwynhau amgylchedd ysbrydoledig y goedwig gyda ni, a cherddoriaeth, celf tir, a’r gair llafar ac i gael eich ysbrydoli, eich adfywio a’ch adfer.
“Maerhywbeth mawreddog yn y syniad hwn am fywyd, gyda’i grymoedd niferus, a anadlwyd yn wreiddiol i mewn i nifer fechan o ffurfiau, neu i un ffurf; ac wrth i’r blaned hon droelli yn ei blaen yn unol â deddf disgyrchiant, o gychwyniad mor syml mae ffurfiau diddiwedd mor brydferth ac mor wych wedi esblygu, ac yn cael eu hesblygu” –
Charles Darwin
S’mae pawb hi everybody,
Dawn and I would like to say Merry Christmas to you all, and to thank you for all your support for Between The Trees. Together we all made this beautiful and memorable event happen.
Last year’s festival exceeded all our expectations, words like “magical, wonderful and life-changing” have all been used to describe the weekend. We had amazing performances from all our artists and some incredible talks and films in the Red Film Barn. Volunteers and festival-goers became more like family and friends.
Although we said we’d have a well earned rest, we’ve already been planning next year’s event. We’ve booked some great acts so far, such as Noble Jacks, Sam Kelly, Flight Brigade and Luke Jackson, to name but a few. We hope to increase the amount of science in the festival and are going to explore the “Biodiversity” theme. We want to offer all of you the opportunity to do some real science at the festival and, at the same time, learn about the wonderful flora and fauna of the area. We are also really happy to announce that the wonderful people at Merthyr Mawr Estate are making some great improvements to the Candleston site for 2019 , which will make it an even better experience for everyone.
Merry Christmas and a see you all next year at Between The Trees x.
We will be showing the Bruce Parry documentary film “Tawai” at this years Between The Trees Festival. We first heard about the film from our neighbour, Isaac Collyer (age 14) and he has kindly provided a review of the film.
“ We need to look at ourselves and take responsibility for all our actions no matter how small ….in the knowledge that what we do to each other, to nature, we ultimately do to ourselves…..” Bruce Parry, Tawai, 2017.
Bruce Parry’s film ‘Tawai’ , while beautifully shot using cinematography that invokes adream like quality, also makes for uncomfortable and thought provoking viewing. The film had a profound effect on me when I watched it at a Q & A session with Bruce at Chapter Arts centre last year.
The film sends a strong message to the viewer that we must look beyond ourselves and our immediate environment to consider the impact our actions have on all species and the planet that supports us; if we do not do this we will run the very real risk of irreparably destroying ourselves.
During the film we are introduced to The Penan Tribe (who Bruce lived with during his documentaryseries Tribe) the family of Mahant Jagadeshi Giri and the Pirhaha People of the Amazon. We hear fromJeffrey, Selapan, Kulat and others who share with us their livedexperienceof the destruction of the forest in which they live by the Malaysian government and various global corporations.
During the film the Penan people express their fear for their future.‘Tawai’ is a term used by them to describe emotional connection inspired by the forest, their ancestral home in which they have lived for thousands of years. Their love of the forest is real, they compare its shelter and abundance to a mother nurturing her children.
Until recently the Penan people lived nomadic lives with everything they owned on their backs. In ‘Tawai’ Bruce returns to visit them just as they have take on their first ever permanent dwelling on the outskirts of the forest and we witness the compromises this brings to their close community.
There are a many brilliant scenes throughout the film. One of my favourite being a scene near the end where we witness thousands of pilgrims running into the river Ganges. Bruce Parry describes it as the first time he had truly felt the same as everyone else:
“It allowed me to view myself very differently… I saw myself as the same as everyone else. Me became a we not a him andI …for the first time… and a feeling that suddenly everything made sense” .
I urge you to watch ‘Tawai’ with an open and enquiring mind. I am grateful that Andrew and Dawn have included it in the Between the Trees festival line up.Theunderlining message of communityspirit and mindful care of the planet on which we live is the shared vision of the film and theBTT festival.
I hope you enjoy the festival in August and the opportunity to watch Bruce Parry’s ‘Tawai’ – one of my favourite films.
