Primal Gathering UK

Leaving both people and places better than how we find them

Primal Gathering UK 2023 is a 5-day event on March 21-26th in Somerset, in partnership with The Psychedelic Society, Medicine Festival and 42 Acres, that will bring people together to incoculate mushrooms, plant nutrient dense sea buckthorn and forage to create your own concoctions.

Join us in reforesting the land, take part in yoga, eat incredible locally sourced vegan food, learn about herbalism, how to identify nature, and dance to amazing live concerts with Carrie Tree, Addictive TV, Shaka and more soon to be announced acts.

What will happen

In partnership with 42Acres on-the-ground regeneration team and led by Tasha Stevens-Vallecillo, we will work with the land to:

Learn how to grow medicinal and edible mushrooms on logs

We will learn how to grow medicinal and edible mushrooms on logs, a great skill to have for any fungi lover! This ancient technique of mushroom growing began 2,000 years ago in China. It’s the most nutrient dense, sustainable method there is for mushroom production and the most enjoyable skill to learn.

Forage for wild edibles and make our own concoctions

Join us for a walk around the beautiful land of 42 Acres, as we identify examples of trees bearing summer fruit, and help you understand the physical features you can use to correctly identify useful trees even when they’re not fruiting. We discuss the types of locations where you can hunt for wild edibles in the future, and give you some tips on how to safely prepare and enjoy eating many of the foods we find. Whether it’s through creating your own pasta pesto, an herbal tea, tincture or essential oils.

Learn the principles of beekeeping, apitherapy and bee lore

From the dawn of time, honeybees have been a source of sustenance, health and fertility, as well as rich symbolism, poignant allegory and divine inspiration. But after a century of increased manipulation, breeding programmes, artificial farming techniques and the use of chemical treatments and pesticides, beekeeping has reached a hiatus of challenges. So how might we best keep bees? What ethical decisions can be made? And how can one's relationship with bees become mutually beneficial?

We’ll be supporting 42 acres with their target of planting 100 sea buckthorn trees over the retreat

They are about the most nutritious and the vitamin rich of all berries that you can find pretty much throughout the world. Sea buckthorn berries are high in antioxidants, particularly vitamin C, tocopherols, carotenes and flavonoids, but in addition to that they package all of these different phytochemicals into one small fruit package. So, not only does the Sea buckthorn provide many health promoting, nutritious values through its berries, but also its seed has some very useful, essential fatty acids that can be used for skin care. So, it's a very powerful berry product that contains a lot of very useful phytochemicals.

Talks, workshops, concerts & more

Egalitarianism, Power and Equality with Bruce Parry

Creative a New Climate Narrative with Farhana Yamin, Galahad Clarke & Bruce Parry

Folklore with Sam Lee

Druidry and Bee-keeing with Chris Park

Women's work with Carolyn Hillier

Men's work with Zak Avery

Basics of Herbalism with Dorrie Joy

Concerts with Carrie Tree, Addictive TV, S.O.S and Kokoleko

Nature Identification, Smudge Stick Making, 5Rhythms, Authentic Relating, Flute Circles and more workshops, speakers and artists to be announced!

What's included

- 15 organic vegan meals
- 4 regenerative practices led by industry experts with all tools provided.
- 2 craft workshops - you can take home your creations!
- 5 musical performances from a range of UK & European artists
- wellness session every morning, inc breathwork, yoga & Qigong
- talks from thought leaders
- movie screening

Where it will take place

42 acres is a regenerative and hyper-local establishment in Frome, Somerset, that was started by siblings Seth and Laura Tabatznik as a home for personal, social and environment change after having been deeply inspired by a number of personal retreats and workshops in their lives. Both Seth and Laura are strong advocates that outer change in the world starts with the self, or to quote Gandhi "Be the change that you wish to see in the world".

Powered by 100% renewable energy, at its core 42 acres is the embodiment of regenerative practice, and actively creates spaces to support a reconnection with nature, the self and others. Home to wellbeing and nature based activities, biodynamic farming and an abundant nature reserve -- it's a no brainer why Primal Gathering is taking place there this year!

How 42 acres embodies it’s philosophy:

Through creating new forests and edible hedges we are creating new sources of fuel, food and habitat for both humans and for the wildlife.

100% of our heat and electricity is from renewable energy.

Although they haven't invented electric tractors yet, all of their other vehicles are 100% electric, including our 4x4 buggies and quad bikes

Protect thought extinct species to this region, including beavers, wild boar, pine martens to name a few, as well as offering a home to barn owls, otters, hares, kestrel and buzzards supporting these animals with plenty of habitat for them to thrive.

Where you will stay

There are multiple rooms, therefore you will be allocated randomly. You can let us know if you’d like to be located nearby to friends in the checkout form.

Ticket Options

Shared Bedroom / Single - £625

Share a twin room with one other person

Shared Bathroom / Private Single - £700 per person

Enjoy a private bedroom with shared bathroom, with lovely views overlooking the estate lawns you can enjoy the wildlife with your morning cup of tea.

Camping / Live In Vehicle - £350 per person

Each person must bring their own tent and/or live-in vehicle

Children 5 to 15 - £150 per child

Children between the ages of 5 and 15 come at a discounted rate of £150

Children under 5 - FREE TICKET

Children under 5 join for free

Local Resident - £250 per person

For local residents that have their own accommodation

Weekend Camping (NEW) - £250 per person

We've opened up a limited number of spaces from Thursday evening (arrive for concert) to Sunday (after closing)

EACH TICKET OPTIONS INCLUDES ALL MEALS

Who are Primal Gathering

Primal Gathering is an environmentally, socially, and psychologically regenerative culture design consultancy with a mission to restore people, forests, and ecosystems all over the world. We hold educational in-person gatherings where people learn various restorative practices, such as mindfulness and communication skills, to integrate into their day-to-day lives whilst regenerating and reforesting land. Each gathering is guided by the needs of the local landowners. Primal also works with organisations to build cultures of care that foster empathy as a way of working, as we believe empathy is a catalyst towards climate action, and a happier and fulfilled workforce.  Our mission is to leave people and places better than how we find them. 

Nicole Bosky

Nicole Bosky is a regenerative culture designer, community builder, and seasoned event producer. In the last decade, she has organised 150+ events on four continents focused on creating and fostering cultures of belonging as a force for implementing meaningful and actionable change for the benefit of society. Previous projects include a global hackathon, in nine countries with the United Nations that incepted 90 startups around the Global SDGs and Primal Gathering, a gathering that restores people, forests, and ecosystems simultaneously in both Portugal and UK that annually plants 1.5-2,000 trees a year. Nicole's passions lie in re-inventing the future of community, sustainability, and mental health. 

Zak Avery

Zak Avery is an event producer, community builder, menswork facilitator and nature-based practitioner. His work has largely focused on sustainable fashion and community oriented events.  Zak runs a co-created men's rites of passage pilgrimage called The Menspedition and is the Cofounder and Codirector of Medicine Festival, a not-for-profit, alcohol-free gathering to inspire authentic connection and regeneration for people and planet. Zak's passion lies in interweaving communities, bridging cultures and inspiring a deeper understanding of how to tread lightly and live harmoniously on our planet.

Bruce Parry

Bruce Parry is a filmmaker, award-winning documentarian, author, indigenous rights advocate, explorer, trek leader and former Royal Marines commando officer.  He employs an ethnographic style and a form of participant observation for his documentaries.  His documentary series for the BBC entitled Tribe, Amazon, and Arctic have shown Parry exploring extreme environments, living with remote indigenous peoples and highlighting many of the important issues being faced on the environmental frontline.

Bruce's latest film; “TAWAI – A Voice from the Forest, is about how humankind has shifted its connection to nature with devastating results and suggests how we might return to the egalitarian structures we lived in for 95% of our time on the planet before the agricultural revolution.

Carrie Tree

With a troubadour free-spirit and creative passion for life, singer-songwriter Carrie Tree sings with an honesty and devoted love for this earth and our human journey, touching a deep place inside the heart of listeners. Calling on inspirations from African music to the magik of the English forests, she draws us into a world of powerful storytelling and sublime melody. With a captivating voice and guitar style, she often touches on poignant subject’s and melts borders within us.

This artist has been a known name in Europe’s acoustic music scene for many years and has toured in countless retreats, festivals and concerts across the world. She has collaborated live and in the studio with Damien Rice, Carly Simon, Fink, Albert Mazibuko (Ladysmith Black Mambazo), Rumer, Aukai, Mirabai Ceiba, Murray Kyle, Martha Tilston, Andy Barlow of Lamb, as well as countless other beautiful musicians.

Carrie has self-released 3 studio albums - The Kitchen Table, 'Home To The Invisible', and her latest ‘The Canoe' produced by Markus Sieber (Aukai/MIrabai Ceiba), with a follow up single Sweet Earth. She is committed to the path of healing and connecting music to projects with the intention to bring ourselves and the environment into harmonic symbiosis.

Sam Lee

Mercury Prize nominated folk singer, writer, conservationist, song collector, award-winning promoter, broadcaster and activist. Sam Lee plays a unique role in the British music scene. A highly inventive and original singer, folk song interpreter, a passionate conservationist, committed song collector and a successful creator of live events. Alongside his organisation The Nest Collective and fellow collaborators Sam has shaken up the live music scene breaking the boundaries between folk and contemporary music and the assumed place and way folksong is heard. He’s injected a renewed passion into this old material, helping to develop its ecosystem by not only inviting in a new listenership but also interrogating what the messages in these old songs hold for us today. With his forthcoming album, Old Wow, he’s summonsed up a truly compelling and emotional album that takes his work to yet another level.

Carolyn Hillier

Carolyn has been creating and guiding workshop journeys for women, on Dartmoor and beyond, for thirty years. Her workshops, circles and gatherings at Lower Merripit Farm are part of the tending, sustaining, protecting and sharing that have been offered since 1995 in this place of wild sanctuary. Her workshops and teachings in the wider world have woven powerful and empowering threads of sisterhood and connection between many women and the source of her work in this ancient landscape. Sometimes she creates and hosts larger events for women, including the international women’s festival, Thirteen Moons. Most workshops take place on Dartmoor but she has also taught in Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, and the USA. Over the years, many thousands of women have participated in her workshop journeys. The workshop experiences that she shares are fed by all the strands of her own creative work: with words, paint, song, drum, craft, ritual and relationship with ancient land.

Jemma Foster

After an MA in English Literature (with philosophy and international law) at Edinburgh University, I began a career as a journalist (The Guardian, Time Out, The Times) and scriptwriter (Alexander Berberich, Rachel Rose Seely), publishing a series of short stories (The Cardboard Book Project) before turning to food and drink as a medium for storytelling on board narrowboat Xanadu.

This gave rise to a decade of in-depth study into plant and vibrational medicine - herbalism, wildcrafting, ethnobotany, homeopathy, astrology, alchemy, sound healing, sacred geometry and energetic practices - that evolved into experimental botanical studio Mama Xanadu. 

As a response to, and vehicle for, distilling our experience in a time of crisis, I founded mixed-media publishing house, arts collective and curatorial agency, Wild Alchemy Lab, and co-founded independent film studio Semantica Productions, at the intersection of nature, science and esoterica.

My own creative practice explores the mysterious architecture of creation to look beyond the human experience, through myth, ritual, plant neurobiology and interspecies communication. I lecture and consult for institutions on developing sacred eco-awareness from an alchemical and ethnobotanical perspective.

Chris Park

Chris Park lives on an organic farm in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire. His work is wide and varied, from arts and craft, ancient technologies, experimental archaeology and educational projects to eco-building, professional storytelling, folk music and raising the awareness of the heritage of beekeeping. Check out his ancient and aged website. He is also a skep beekeeper, skep-maker, apitherapy student and a practicing Druid. Looking to the past to look to the future. Through lockdowns he has been working with friends on a podcast about all things bee. Find him on instagram along with beautiful photos of bees, wildlife and more, @chrischarlespark.

Sophie Yates

Sophie is a certified authentic relating facilitator passionate about supporting people to connect with themselves and each other. Having grown up in a culture where mind takes precedence over body, she struggled with feelings of emptiness and disconnection. Today Sophie is a firm believer in the body’s inherent intelligence and envisions a future where relational skills are taught as an essential part of our upbringing. A trainee of integrative psychotherapy and counselling, also trained in holistic health, Sophie enjoys working with a variety of creative modes and media and is based in London, UK.

Irene Miranda

Da Lua is a sustainable and conscious project started by Guardian of the plant realm, daughter of the moon, mother of Da Lua (@dalua.irene) in Portugal. It’s founder, Irene, is a certified herbalist and therapist specialised in women’s health. All Da Lua’s ingredients are organic, wild-harvested or cultivated locally in Portugal. Our production is artisanal and deliberately small-scale and slow.

Irene is fascinated by holistic health and herbal medicine, ancient wisdom and craftsmanship, self-sustainability and the return to our roots. Irene is a space-holder, therapist, event organiser and herbalist. Multiple and One.

Paul Powlesland

Paul Powlesland is a barrister and founder of Lawyers for Nature, which aims to transform the relationship between law, lawyers and nature. He acts to protects trees and rivers in the courts and campaigns for the Rights of Nature. He lives on a boat on the River Roding in East London, and set up the River Roding Trust, through which he carries out hands-on restoration and protection of the river.

Paul will be speaking about Rights of Nature; the idea that trees, rivers and wildlife should have legal personhood, self-ownership and legal rights; and why people should become guardians for nature and how we can do this. He will then lead a walk out in to nature to identify trees and talk about why tree planting and protection benefits both us and nature.

Addictive TV

Addictive TV has spent 12 years recording musicians around the world, during tours and performing internationally. Their aim was to create a project that brought together as many musicians as they could from all backgrounds, both cultural and musical – an impractical task in the real world but not in the world of digital sampling.

Filming over two hundred musicians in countries from Brazil, Kazakhstan and China to India, Senegal and Indonesia, all across Europe, even Egypt during the revolution. We also became artist-in-residence with a few venues in France over the years, connecting us with dozens of artists from Togo, Cameroon, Rwanda and Algeria. Cutting up literally thousands of recorded samples, creating new music, re-contextualising musicians as if they played together, when in reality none of them ever met or heard recordings from each other.

Orchestra of Samples is about bringing people together, connecting cultures, blending instruments that wouldn’t normally be heard together and introducing audiences to instruments they may not know. Working outside of normal musical conventions has opened their eyes and helped discover incredibly unexpected combinations of sounds!

The S.O.S

The S.O.S is one of the many monikers of enigmatic creative artist and visionary. A well respected Dj in the London scene for over a decade, known to work his way through places, spaces, eons and genres with class, sophistication and feeling. Weaving the lines between Old school and New Cool, expect to be taken on a journey of electronic excellence and moved in a way you never have been.

Matteo Tangi

Matteo is a facilitator and trainer, that offers safe spaces of transformation that include deep ecology, embodiment and emotional empowerment.

PLAYFIGHT, is a transformative body practice that combines playfulness, non-violence and conscious relating work, where one can observe the reactive patterns and forge new conscious behaviours, incorporating them into flash and bones, breathing and voice. The ancient tribal game to rediscover our primal power.

Imagine conscious and compassionate way of fighting, a game where the act of ‘winning’ is in the journey of playfulness, feeling what’s real in the moment, and has nothing to do with scoring points. 

Ana Torres

Ana is a portuguese photographer with a love for capturing all moments raw, simple and candid. She uses her abilities as an observer, creative and storyteller to produce natural images that tell stories and highlight the most meaningful moments. Many of Primal Gathering’s 2021 photos were taken by her. Her mission is to support a more conscious world by capturing its essence though photography.

During the gathering she will be offering intentional photoshoots: These portrait sessions are intended to honor your natural beauty and support creative self-expression. They are an invitation to express your own truth. She will guide individual sessions where you will feel safe and be at ease whilst enjoying the moment. A beautiful gift for yourself.

Co-creation with people who share the same values is what moves Ana. That is why she devotes her art to areas such as nature conservation, arts, consciousness and social good.

Alex Doering

Alex Doering is a Martial Arts teacher and Dj/Producer from Germany. He studied Sport Science and Linguistics and he’s been practicing Kung Fu for about 12 years, exploring different systems. For him it offers the perfect balance of soft and hardness in order to develop the body, the mind and the spirit. He has been teaching Chi Kung (Holistic energy work, Tong Ling System), Shuang Yang (White Crane soft Art, similar to Tai Chi), Sum Chien (Internal Strength Training) and Tiger/Crane-Combination + traditional Shaolin weapons since 2015. He seeks to build bridges on a small scale and bring like-minded people together in times of massive technological, environmental and societal transformation. He believes the interconnection of healing arts is essential for the realisation of a sustainable way of living. It's about exchanging knowledge, sharing passion, cultivating energy and bringing people together on a primal level beyond the concepts of race and religion. Alex aspires to take part in this.

REFUNDS POLICY: Please note, we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. When possible we encourage reselling on Ticketswap.

ACCESS:  We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of health circumstances. If you have access requirements please email the event organiser directly to discuss. Many facilitators are able to offer reduced ticket prices for those truly unable to afford the ticket price. If this applies to you, do please get in touch with the event organiser.

For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website. 

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