Roots To Freedom - An evening of live music, community, land & water connection and Freedom Dance.

On 2 January, Roots to Freedom invites you to gather in this special space to honour the land, reconnect with the waters beneath our feet and explore the threads that connect us to ourselves and one another.

The connection between St Augustine’s Church, Preston Park and the waterways beneath Brighton lies in the area's ancient landscape, springs and the lost river known as the Wellesbourne.

Our forgotten wells and hidden waterways remind us that there is so much beneath the surface waiting to be remembered. Through sound, movement, voice and intention, we come together to listen to the land, honour its stories and awaken our relationship with the living world as we step into a new year.

An evening of sound, connection and freedom

On arrival, you'll be welcomed with a warming cup of masala chai, creating a moment to settle in, connect and arrive fully in the space.

We begin with The Sounds of Dusk, opening the gathering through sound and atmosphere, inviting us to slow down, listen and become present.

Aria Delyth will then take us deeper into the experience, creating space for connection through sound, voice and the resonance of music.

As the evening unfolds, Estella invites you into movement for a Freedom Dance, weaving together world sounds, electronic rhythms and ambient soundscapes in a journey that moves between the earthly and the ethereal. A space to let go, move freely and reconnect with the body through music allowing movement to become its own language of expression, release and freedom.

Well-being and our relationship to water

We are delighted to welcome the work of Charlotte Emily Rose, whose book Wellbeing will be available to purchase during the gathering. Her work offers an opportunity to explore wellbeing more deeply, opening reflections around how we nurture ourselves, cultivate connection and bring greater awareness to the way we live.

Alongside this, Estella hopes to bring her forthcoming book, Threads of This Life, to the gathering. (If publication allows)

Woven through personal experience, ancestral connection, pilgrimage and the search for belonging, Threads of This Life explores the many threads that shape who we become ,the stories we inherit, the experiences that change us, and the connections that guide us back to ourselves. It reflects on the journey of remembering who we are, finding meaning in the experiences that shape our lives, and discovering how our own stories are woven into something much larger than ourselves.

Together, these works offer different pathways into the exploration of wellbeing, self-discovery and our relationship with the world around us.

Returning to our roots

Through Roots to Freedom, we create spaces that bring together music, land, creativity and community, remembering that our connection to ourselves cannot be separated from our connection to the world we inhabit.

As we gather beside a landscape shaped by ancient springs and forgotten waterways, we are invited to reflect on what has been hidden, what is ready to be heard, and what we wish to nurture as we enter the new year.

Come as you are. 

Together, we listen to the land, honour the waters, weave our stories and dance our way back to freedom.