Hello Beltane Family!
Early bird tickets have ended, and regular priced admission will be available until April 21st (aka Easter Monday), so make sure to get your ticket before prices go up! There's so much to discuss, as there has been an outpouring of help for the event. I'm so grateful to the community members who just reached out and said "I want to help make this Beltane successful... what can I do?" I'm also incredibly grateful for the team at the All You Need Institute for working with us to make this event happen! Speaking of All You Need...
Virtual Beltane Discussion + Q&A on April 8th at 6pm
We are hosting a virtual session on Zoom (which I'm going to try to livestream on our Facebook page) on April 8th from 6-7pm. I'll be joined by Traci Van Wyck (known in our community as "Pocket"), who is a regular camper at All You Need and can provide insight on how this campground differs from what you might be used to. We can also talk about amenities available and the activities planned.
Kezia Vida and Jordan Bantuelle, owners of the campground, will join toward the latter half of the session for direct Q&A. If you have questions you want to ask, send them to us in advance by posting on our FB thread here.
The link for the Zoom meeting will be posted on our news/updates page AND on our Facebook page this week, so stay tuned!
For Registered Attendees
Thank you for registering in-advance of the event, but I want to let you know that your registration is only partially complete. There is a registration link in your confirmation email. Filling this out now will give me helpful information for the event, and it means your check-in onsite will be ridiculously fast! Make sure to check your confirmation email. If you don't see the link, please send a message to wyldfirebeltanehunt@gmail.com.
Volunteer Spots Almost Gone
We have had soooo many people reach out to volunteer, including several Beltane veterans, which means we have a limited number of spots available, mainly for Land Stewards and Water Stewards. If you'd like to volunteer, please fill out the volunteer form on our website and remember that you need to arrive onsite on Thursday and stay on Sunday until the campground is pristine.
Vendors Welcome! Applications Close April 18
Our vendor application is available online (price is cost of entry + $30), but will close on April 18th. If you'd like to be a vendor for this year's event, please click here.
Food at the Event
Here's a breakdown of what food will look like for the weekend:
Friday Lunch - Kindred Meal
Friday Dinner - Potluck
Saturday Breakfast - Kindred Meal
Saturday Lunch - Kindred Meal
Saturday Dinner - Beltane Feast (food included with your entry)
Sunday Breakfast - Kindred Meal
Kindred Meals are something new we're planning for this year, and it just means that you (and any others who are interested) would put together a group meal for attendees! We have a fully stocked outdoor kitchen available for the use of our Saturday night feast caterer and the people making kindred meals. Once you are registered for the event, your registration form will ask you if you'd like to contribute a meal for the group. I hope attendees pull out some tasty culinary creations (because our past potlucks
have been WOW!!). The outdoor kitchen includes a stove, oven, griddle, several pots and pans, and there's also a crock pot onsite. If you have extra appliances you want to bring to assist in preparations, feel free!
The Friday dinner potluck allows everyone coming in on Friday to "break bread" together by sharing something a dish for the benefit of the community. It is recommended that your food be pre-cooked before arriving onsite. The outdoor kitchen will be available to reheat something (but not to actively cook).
Serendipity Stations
This is a completely optional, but very fun, opportunity for attendees to offer a gift to the community, whether it's an impromptu magickal class, a pop-up tea bar, a mini hookah lounge, or whatever you can dream up! You can submit your idea on our website or through your entry form! As an example, I have commissioned a beautiful piece of artwork for this year's event, which will be available in a black & white print for you to have an adult coloring session (in a sensory lite area for those who need some quiet space) and take home your own festival poster! Special thanks to Crystal Diaz (@bloodmoonbruja) for the gorgeous artwork.
One Question Answered... This Year's Pricing
I know the question has already come up in people's minds... why is the price of tickets this year more expensive than previous years?
At our previous campground, I orchestrated a deal to manage the campground's website in-exchange for a free rental once per year for Beltane. I always tried to give a portion of the revenue to the campground as a "love offering" each year, but there wasn't a set price to pay. With the change in our location, a fee for the campground and facilities is now built into-the ticket price.
The second, and more relevant, reason for the price increase is that the Wyld Fire Beltane Hunt will be transforming over the next year. This will be a part of our Beltane community conversations, but as a primer:
I will form a legal organization by the end of the year for the benefit of the Gulf Pagan Community.
One of the main objectives of the organization is to find, purchase, and manage land... a campground for Pagans in our area.
The purpose of having the land will be to not only have a central place to share in Sabbat celebrations, but to also provide community members with a place to evacuate during hurricanes (in an effort to strengthen the resiliency and finances of our community members)
The organization will expand to also include a Samhain festival (and possibly other sabbats) in our yearly activities.
There's a lot more involved, but I'm hoping that this little taste of what's to come will be an extra incentive to help support the community-at-large by purchasing your ticket for this year. As a reminder (or for those who don't know me), I make ZERO PROFIT from this event. Any profits made are spent in a thank you package for volunteers and as seed money for the following Beltane. My work in this is simply to provide a net benefit to my spiritual community which has experienced more than its fair share of hurdles.
There will be more posts on other aspects of the event (The Hunt, the Ritual, Cob Building for the Mother Altar), but in the meantime, I hope you follow us on our Facebook page and subscribe to the website to join us on April 8th at 6pm on Zoom for our Beltane Q&A.
In the meantime, CHEERS and enjoy your week! I'll see you soon!
Ty Siddiqui
