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