Glaux and I are interested in starting a festival/conference/campout for the Hellenic community. This comes from a place of, "We want to attend this festival, but it doesn't exist yet." Not being ones to just sit and sigh about that, we are willing to put our many years of festival and event coordination experience into play to make the thing exist.

We are members (and resident caretakers) of Our Haven Nature Sanctuary in Southern Indiana,  a 175-acre piece of land dedicated to "all positive paths." We practically live there in the summer, and we know beyond a doubt that we can secure a date for the 2011 season. http://ourhaven.info

Glaux and I are both organizers for one of the major festivals that happens at Our Haven and for one of the smaller, newer ones. I was a Coordinator with Indy Pagan Pride Day for years, and I was heavily involved with the largest student programming board on Indiana University's campus as an undergrad. My point: we have oodles of event planning experience. We know how to put together a festival successfully.  

We are both newer to Hellenismos, as you all know. Our experience is that one doesn't have to be an expert to plan the event. You bring in the experts to teach the workshops, lead the rituals, host the discussions, etc. Planners only plan.

Our vision is to host a pan-Hellenic festival -- one in which both the Traditionalist and the Innovator are welcome. Sounds radical and scary, I know. But we've seen amazing results from our pan-thelemic festival -- Babalon Rising. There, magickal groups  who've been in-fighting for a century camp right next to each other fr a week, attend the same classes, speak civilly to each other for a change, and manage to learn and grow.

A Midwestern location offers some benefits. Namely, it is centrally located for US-based Hellenics. And Our Haven offers some great facilities: hot showers, on-site food vendor, a lighted and covered pavilion, a central fire pit, a spacious main field with lots of fire rings, a children's play area, and several shrines to the Gods.

This would be in the summer. Perhaps to coincide with the New Year? It would be an opportunity to present basic and advanced concepts, meet in person with folks we know only from teh Intrawebs, honor the Gods together as members of a larger community, see and experience ritual concepts, discuss and debate in authentic and real-time conversations.

Firstly, are there members here who would be interested in attending this type of festival? And, secondly, are there experienced, knowledgeable members here who would be interested in joining Glaux and I on the planning committee?

Feel free to e-mail me off-list, too. laurelei_lb@yahoo.com

Unfortunately, they have a strict "no blood on the land" policy. They made an exception one time -- for Babalon Rising -- but the group had to take special precautions to make sure that the blood being exposed didn't actually touch the ground.

The thing is, we are very, very close to the owners/elders of Our Haven and stand a better chance than anyone of explaining to them the significance of blood sacrifice from a Hellenic context. I just can't guarantee that they would allow it -- even after a full and meaningful dialogue about it.

We're definitely setting it up. Whether we have a huge attendance will depend on other factors. But if we build it, we're hoping you will come.  

Summer 2011. That will be the first. This summer is too soon, as we know from prior planning experience. But next summer, let the Hellenic Polytheists converge on Indiana, my friends! Trust me, you'll want to be here!

Hey this sounds great, would love to attend the event! Let me know if I can help in any way

I wish I could attend the festival, but its too far for me and my parents wouldn't dare let me travel that far for something like this But ill beg them a lot and see what I can do lol.