Greenbelt 08 Festival Guide

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Greenbelt 08

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Rising Sun 22—25 August Cheltenham Racecourse www.greenbelt.org.uk Festival Guide £7 working with Christian Aid

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27/6/08 16:37:09

Greenbelt 08

Features

Welcome from the Chair Festival of the Sun/Son Interview: Michael Franti Festival Highlights The Kitchen Communion Real Festival Real Presence – John O’Donohue Angels Greenbelt: Handmade Slow walking fast-forwarded us to Asia G-Source Inter-faith Dialogue Trust Greenbelt Accessibility, Sustainability, Generous Interview: Harriet Lamb G-Store Greenbelt Talks The List Festival Partners

Listings

Music Talks Performing Arts Visual Arts Literature Worship Comedy Film The Kitchen The Tank Youth Children’s and all-age Unpigeonholeable Partners, Associates and Supporters Greenbelt messages Thank you

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A welcome from the Chair

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The Sun is Rising

Dear Greenbelter, Welcome to the 35th Greenbelt Festival! After last year’s gloriously sunny Greenbelt, I hope this year’s ‘Rising Sun’ Festival is going to be as equally illuminating for you – what ever the weather!

Of course, with the cycles of the sun, it is always setting for some, just as it is rising for others. Some wonderful people have left our staff this year, and some wonderful Greenbelters too. In particular we mourn the too-early departure that came to John O’Donohue, and continue to remember his family and friends, just as we remember his words, which will resonate with us for many years to come.

This rising and setting sun reminds us of the connections we have that go beyond our surface differences. Whoever you are, wherever you have come from, we welcome you here to this Festival, and to a programme that – from José González and Spearhead to Prem Mitra and Salley Vickers – is once again about celebrating our diversity.

That same sun is of course beginning to turn the heat up on our planet, and we need to be taking heed of this warning. At Greenbelt we are heading towards carbon-neutral status and have introduced an optional levy as part of the ticket price to help us achieve this. We hope that you can also do your bit by being thoughtful about your use of resources over the weekend and by keeping the site litter-free. One person who will thank you for that care of the site, and who I want to thank now, is the Racecourse Managing Director Edward Gillespie. I also want to say thank you to my Fellow Trustees and the hundreds of other volunteers and to our fantastic office staff, who will make the Festival happen, and to our partners Christian Aid and DFID, our Associates, to all the people of Cheltenham and to you for coming together to make Greenbelt such a vibrant place to be, come rain or shine.

Karen Napier Greenbelt Festival Chair

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Festival of the Sun/Son Doug Gay is a long-term Greenbelter who teaches Practical Theology at the University of Glasgow. His current research focuses on emerging church issues and political theology, especially theology and nationalism.

It was one of the lyrical tricks of the late Larry Norman (for whom there is a tribute concert at this year’s Festival – Sunday 17.00, Centaur) that he liked lines where he could write ‘son’ where you looked for ‘sun’. So his otherwise remarkable song The Great American Novel has the rather naff ending ‘Don’t ask me for answers, I’ve only got one, that a man leaves his darkness, when he follows the son.’ Geddit? I can forgive him the ending because back in the 70s his music changed my 14-year-old soul and because the same song also contains the lines: ‘You are far across the ocean in a war that’s not your own; and while you’re winning theirs you’re going to lose the one at home. Do you really think the only way to bring about the peace is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies?’

Writing Son for Sun is a trick that has strong form within the Christian tradition. Augustine echoed both the Psalmist (84:11), Plato and John of Patmos (Rev 1:16) in his sun/son moments, while Dante’s sublime ‘the love that moves the sun and other stars’ was sampled by Greenbelt favourite Bruce Cockburn to make the line ‘O Love that fires the Sun keep me burning’. C.S. Lewis wrote ‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen - not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.’

Son/Sun thinking is also found in the way churches in the West were traditionally built facing East – towards the Holy Land and towards the rising sun. I was struck this year by the way an Episcopal visitor to the worship class I teach spoke of his sense of wonder at standing in front of the great East window of St Mary’s Cathedral in Glasgow, holding up the sun-shaped host during the Eucharist, with the light of the sun pouring through behind – sun on son.

Greenbelt’s theme this year gathers up all these thoughts, but along with them in 2008 come the huge resources and challenges of the new ‘Eastern’ rising global superpowers of India and China, both of them countries where (growing) Christian traditions are involved in intense dialogue with other world faiths.

Both are also rapidly industrialising economies where demand for fossil fuels is heading towards Western levels, reminding us that the image of Rising Sun also carries in our time, the ominous threat of global warming.

Time then for us in our Festival to do justice to this year’s theme of Rising Sun/Son. O Love that fires the sun, keep us burning.

The wanderer returns

We caught up with Michael Franti on his tour and asked him about his travels, his music, his faith – and Greenbelt.

How did your travels to Iraq and the Occupied Territories come about?

To cheer my depression about the news coming from those areas I decided to travel there and see firsthand what life was like. The news that we get comes from generals and politicians with their own campaigns garnering support for war. Their perspectives rarely take into account the conditions of the people who are living and dying. Everywhere I went and played music, people were quick to join in and let go of the stresses of their daily lives – even if for just a few moments.

Are you hopeful about the future of the Middle East, and do you think the forthcoming US elections will bring significant change in that area?

I’m very hopeful for the future but I hope the future gets here quickly! President Bush has led us down a deceitful trail of destruction that it will take us many decades to recover from. I’ve never endorsed a political candidate, only ideas – and the idea I’m endorsing now is that we bring our troops and our tax dollars home as quickly as possible. Of the two candidates running for President, Barak Obama has captured the imagination of America and the world by calling for the same thing.

You made a film about your trip detailing your experiences called I Know I’m Not Alone. How did putting ideas onto film differ from writing songs?

While a song has the ability to move people’s hearts and emotions, sometimes visual images can instantly change people’s minds. After seeing the film, countless people have said it was the first time they’d seen Iraqis – especially Iraqi children, the real victims of our reckless bombings. When you see the basement of an Iraqi family where they hid for weeks, or a heavy metal band using bits of telephone wire for guitar strings, or people who don’t have fresh water to drink and can’t leave their home after 3 in the afternoon – then you get the true sense of what life and war are really like.

One of the over-arching emotions in your gigs seems to be, well, joy. Whereas with the Disposable Heroes you seemed more angry. In a world obsessed with doom-and-gloom, is the joy in your gigs almost a deliberate act of subversion?

To be a rebel means to go against the system, and today the system is bringing us negativity, war, greed and environmental destruction. So, to be a rebel today means to bring positivity and solutions to war. More than anything else, it’s a lot more satisfying to stand on a stage and see 10,000 people smiling than it is to see 10,000 people with their fists in the air in anger.

You recorded Yell Fire (after your travels to war zones) partly in Kingston, Jamaica. Did the musical history of the place seep into the sessions?

Yes. The studio door is always wide open so you have people walking by and when they hear the sound, they come in and start dancing – and you see immediately if it’s a good song or not. The music in Jamaica is never recorded for the iPod, it’s always recorded for

the sound system. It’s recorded to listen to with other people. This is part of why our music does well in a festival atmosphere – because it was birthed out of an experience of bringing people together.

Hip hop began with so much promise in terms of pressing for change. Do you think it has failed, or has the corporate music business failed hip hop?

I think there was a point in hip hop when people stopped writing songs about economic or social justice and started to say, ‘I just wanna improve my own economic condition.’ If a kid grows up broke and his family has been struggling his whole life, it’s hard to tell a kid not to do that. You also have people at record labels serving the corporation who don’t really have any interest in how the music affects life on the street, positive or negative. So, you have the music that you see today.

But I don’t think that music should just be a mirror reflecting the way things are – I think music has the power to be the hands that mould clay and water seeds.

One of your songs says ‘God is too big for just one religion.’ Greenbelters sang their hearts out with you on that. Are you hopeful that people from across the faiths can come together more after some bad years?

I’m someone who believes that all of us are created by one universal energy. Some may call it God, others Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, any number of names for different deities emblematic of that power that connects us all. And if the Spirit created us, why would it leave us after the moment we were conceived? It’s always with us in every breath, and beyond our death. And so as faith is a very personal thing, it could be argued that there are as many religions as there are beings on this earth. And it can equally be argued that there is only one.

In ’06 you played the closing gig of Greenbelt, which some consider their favourite Festival moment of all time. What memories do you have of the Festival, and what are you looking forward to as you return?

Greenbelt was the first faith-based festival I’d ever played at and I really had no idea what to expect. It was the most enthusiastic audience we’d played that summer. As I was singing the words to my own songs I started to hear them in a different way. Some of the lines took on a more spiritual meaning when I sang them at your Festival than I’d intended. My favourite thing about Greenbelt is that it’s a family experience.

I’ve never felt that music should have generational restrictions placed on it just because of the drinking laws of a community. I’ve always enjoyed dancing in my own house with my kids to music that’s played in night clubs. And it means a lot to me to see music bring out the playfulness in all of us. Besides the gig, last time I was there I heard so many brilliant people speaking from so many different perspectives. On a tour that’s filled mostly with festivals, where people are trying to avoid thinking, this was a welcomed relief.

I Know I’m Not Alone Saturday 21.00, Arena

‘I don’t think that music should just be a mirror reflecting the way things are – I think music has the power to be the hands that mould clay and water seeds.’

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Festival highlights With so much to do at Greenbelt, it’s hard to know where to start.

Here’s just a few things we think you shouldn’t miss …

Matthew Herbert’s Big Band Matthew Herbert once made a record that included the sound of 3,255 people eating apples. On Sunday evening his 20-piece orchestra will be performing their fusion of jazz and a little bit of electronica, with a stubborn refusal to be consigned to playing standard instruments. An amazing experience is guaranteed.

Sunday Mainstage

Photo: Bruno Bollaert

Israel-Palestine This year marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we’re exploring this in different ways: Human Rights Lawyer, Jonathan Kuttab, will be looking at it theologically. Stephen Sizer will be discussing the US policy on Israel. Maureen Jack will be looking at non-violent resistance to the Occupation. 26year-old Yehda Shaul will be sharing his story of serving in the Israeli Army. And Garth Hewitt will be telling the tale of a walled nativity that made global headlines.

Kiss The Sun Icarus Leon Varga’s winged bicycles are not only beautiful in themselves as objects, but they invite the viewer to consider the boundaries between the spiritual and physical words, serving up much food for thought – and discussion.

All weekend The Gatehouse

World Music We’ve got more world music than we’ve ever had before at Greenbelt. Daby Touré is on the Mainstage, but we’ve also got some more intimate performances brought to us by St Ethelburga’s. As well as performing in St Ethelburga’s Tent, Mor Kabasi will also play her spine-tingling gypsy music in the Performance Café on Friday evening. Baluji Shrivrastav will be playing the classical sitar in Shine as the sun is setting. And also in Shine Kadialy Kouyate will provide the perfect lunchtime soundtrack with his Senagalese kora.

Festival Highlights

Jamie Catto Although not able to bring 1 Giant Leap this year, we’re really excited to have Jamie join us to play a special acoustic set on Rise on Monday at 16.30. One of the founding members of Faithless, he left in 1999 to form double-Grammy nominated film and music project 1 Giant Leap. As well as performing on Rise, Jamie will be part of a Q&A session after the showing of the film, What About Me? on Monday at 18.00 in Foxhunter.

Worship At 06.00 each morning a different group will be bringing us early morning worship to meet the rising sun. But if that’s too early for you, we’ve got night-time Taizé worship in Centaur on Saturday. Or The Garden’s Possibility of the Impossible installation in the Winged Ox venue is open all weekend.

Will Becher As well as showing his own short films, Will, one of Channel 4’s Animators In Residence, will be talking about working at Aardman under Nick Park’s tutelage and answering questions on all things Wallace and Grommit.

Monday

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And last but not least ‌ Tropical Inc. Back by popular demand from both the Greenbelt audience and the Greenbelt staff, if you’d like to stroke a snake or have a meerkat on your shoulder, Tropical Inc. will be educating us in the most real of ways about pythons, tarantulas and more besides.

All weekend around site

Do new things.

The Kitchen

The Kitchen is none of these. It’s not going to be studious or bookish or sterile, and it’s certainly going to be no slouch. The Kitchen is going to be where great ideas are cooked up, where the family gets together and gets practical, where we can gather round a table and properly engage each other on the grassroots issues of everyday living in the light of our faith.

We want this to be your home from home, the next best place to work out how all this is going to work when the Festival is over and you’re back in your neighbourhood. Before Community Centres, kitchens were the centres of community, and so our Greenbelt Kitchen is going to be exactly this: the place to find out about fostering, running an allotment, doing youthwork, becoming a school governor or setting up a community meal.

The Kitchen is a brand new venue for Greenbelt this year, and the name says it all. You can imagine what it would be like if we’d set aside a space and called it ‘the library’, or ‘the study’; ‘the bathroom’ would be popular, and ‘the bedroom’… well…

So, if you’re looking for somewhere welcoming, where the coffee smells good and the chairs look comfy; if you’re looking for a space to dream out loud, get inspired, be re-energised, dig into and chew over the practicalities and the detail; if you want to get beyond the theory and really hatch the plot, with all the information about the agencies you’ll need to do it right there to hand… if you want to get involved, in other words, then The Kitchen is for you. And don’t worry, we won’t even ask you to wash up!

See pages 96 for listings.

Two new things.

Afternoon Communion Sunday 15.00

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Our Sunday Communion service is at the heart of Greenbelt. It’s who we are: a people who gather believing that something holy can happen. In art, word, music, bread and wine, we believe that God is present.

We also know that our Festival audience has changed over past years.

We are now very much an all-age Festival. And we’ve noticed many other all-age festivals use their make-it activity to prepare for and build towards a communal procession. We’ve had campaigning processions and marches in the past, but we got to thinking: could we bring together this processional idea with our focal point, the Festival Communion service? Why not?

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ goes the saying – assuming that things are OK. But Dylan had it right: ‘Everything is broken.’ Including us. Everything and everyone needs remaking every once in a while. Familiarity can breed contempt. Whereas things made strange can often re-enchant both us and our world.

So we’ve moved the time of the service to help that happen – to give more time for all those who want to, to make and prepare things that will feed into the service. We’re also hoping that local churches will come and join us more, having had their own services in the morning.

In the end, this is an experiment. We hope it will work, but it might not. We need you to be with us on this. Let’s make it happen together. And let’s hope and pray that as we gather something holy might happen.

For more on the detail of Communion, see page 86.

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Real Festival Maggi Dawn is an author, and Chaplain and Fellow at Robinson College, Cambridge University.

This year, for only the second time in more than two decades, I am not at Greenbelt. Instead, eight time zones away, I am spending the summer in a beach cabin on the Pacific shoreline, working on my next book.

Despite this lovely location, my heart sank a little when I realised the clash of dates meant no Greenbelt for me this year. By the time the sun rises on my beach house today, it will be afternoon at Greenbelt – a reminder that the world is still a big place, and you can’t be everywhere at once.

I know I’ll be able to listen to the music from every band on stage at Greenbelt on MySpace, and download every speaker’s talk, or buy their book, or follow their blog. But no matter how long I spend doing this, it’ll never be a substitute for actually being there. There is simply no online substitute for festival. As Walter Brueggeman points out in a book on the ancient Israelite festivals, the first rule for making festival is that you’ve got to show up. Festivals are not made by the headline content, they’re hand-made by those who immerse themselves in them by showing up. And it’s this fact that makes my heart sink, knowing I won’t be there to add my own little spice to the recipe.

It’s this pot full of flavours that makes festivals so attractive to us. We don’t go to them for the same old same old that we can get at home. We go there to taste something different, and this is why, despite those who’d rather it preached a simple message, Greenbelt has always been at its festival best as a melting pot of ideas.

But there’s no point smelling the dish from afar.

Throughout the year, by word of mouth, or through books or the internet, you may hear intriguing reports of people living out the Gospel in imaginative ways. What makes Greenbelt so particularly delicious as a festival is that you can meet face to face with people you’ve only heard of or read about, look into their eyes, shake their hands, and share laughter and tears, vision and hope. I often

feel that Greenbelt best embodies the spirit of Jesus not in the amazing talks or music, but in this downplaying of celebrity, where speakers and artists can usually be seen wandering around the site, catching conversation over a tea or a beer with all sorts of people.

Whether Glastonbury or Global Gathering, at their heart, all festivals are actually less about the gazing at bands from the back of a field, and far more about the dayto-day encounters we have around the site. We have a fundamental need for these real-life meetings, because without them, we cannot create or sustain community.

Yet, strangely, that’s one of the paradoxes of this idea of festival: we immerse ourselves in it in order to be able to leave it. Showing up is what makes the festival work, but Greenbelt is also all about not being at Greenbelt, about taking the infection away and breeding it in the day to day communities that really sustain us.

The assumption about these encounters is, of course, that if we are to receive something special from them, then we must ourselves have something to bring from our local spaces. This is something else Brueggeman points out about festivals: they are places where nobody arrives, or leaves, empty-handed. Festivals are simply places where gifts are brought to share.

In ancient Israel, this sharing was done in the light of remembering their dependence on God to sustain them, and so the poor and the marginalized were particularly looked after during them too. As Brueggeman points out, ‘festivals are points when Israel is reminded of the kind of society it is called to be.’

It’s all this that I’ll be missing as you gather while the sun rises and I try to write as the sun sets. Yet this year of absence will only make the heart grow fonder. Fonder for real connection rather than downloaded rhetoric, fonder for live music rather than iPod cocooning, fonder for my annual reminder of the kinds of society we are meant to be. Fonder, in other words, for real festival.

For peace As the fever of day calms towards twilight May all that is strained in us come to ease.

We pray for all who suffered violence today, May an unexpected serenity surprise them.

For those who risk their lives each day for peace, May their hearts glimpse providence at the heart of history.

That those who make riches from violence and war Might hear in their dreams the cries of the lost.

That we might see through our fear of each other A new vision to heal our fatal attraction to aggression.

That those who enjoy the privilege of peace Might not forget their tormented brothers and sisters.

That the wolf might lie down with the lamb, That our swords be beaten into ploughshares And no hurt or harm be done Anywhere along the holy mountain.

John O’Donohue Taken from from Benedictus, A Book of Blessings (Bantam Press)

Festival Trustee Martin Wroe remembers John O’Donohue who died peacefully in his sleep on January 3, 2008

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John O’Donohue Real Presence ‘It might sound old-fashioned but the blessing might be the coolest thing of all.’ John O’Donohue was speaking in London last November, at the publication of Benedictus, a collection of blessings to ‘shelter and comfort us on our journey through life’. ‘It’s a very cool thing, a blessing,’ he continued. ‘It has a democracy and equality in it, a sense of intention and well-wishing that is concerned more with the destiny of someone rather than their destination.’

John himself was one of the coolest things, though he would have laughed off the idea. And he proved a rich blessing to Greenbelt audiences since we first persuaded him to come over from Connemara in 1998, not long after Anam Cara, had become a surprise bestseller.

Last year he arrived on Sunday afternoon, straight from giving a lecture in Oxford on the C13th mystic Meister Eckhart. Dressed for academia not festival, he sat down with a cup of tea and was soon asking anyone who was passing what he should say in his enigmatically titled afternoon talk, ‘Imagination as the Path of the Spirit’.

If he was deciding what to say right up until he climbed on stage, in another way he was always prepared, proceeding to speak from memory to 2,000 people, while conjuring up that profound sense of attention which was characteristic of his public presence.

Ever since his first visit we knew we were in the presence of an original religious thinker, but we were also struck by the comic timing in his spellbinding

stories and that he had the mind of a poet. When he spoke it was as if he had spent hours carefully framing every clause in every sentence – including the silences around them. Walking back through a sea of people after that talk, someone came up and boldly asked John for a blessing. It could have been a surreal, performance art kind of moment but John took it all in his very long stride, looking him in the eye and proceeding to pray over him with the most serious purpose and beautiful words. John contained his own sense of ‘intention and well-wishing’, focussed on someone’s destiny before their destination.

It was later that night, having a drink in The Jesus Arms, that his eyes met those of Kristine Fleck and two destinies met, a remarkable and beautiful story … and heartbreaking. Like other Festival speakers John would stay in the hotel over the weekend and last year he was as usual up till the small hours, enjoying the ‘craic’ and still on the whisky.

‘We smoked a cigar together at every Greenbelt,’ recalls Pip Wilson, one of our Festival Trustees who’s got near-perfect antennae for the presence of the real presence. ‘He made me laugh and think and scratch the surface of my unknown. It feels like he has been with me so often since.’

As John left Greenbelt a year ago, he stopped to say that this time he had ‘really got it’ and he’d be coming back for sure. I like to think he felt Greenbelt had become one of ‘the great shelters of belonging’ that he believed true religion should offer, a place of blessing itself, which might be a cooler thing than any of us realised.

Remembering John O’Donohue Saturday 10.00, Centaur

Greenbelt Angels are the burning core that keeps the Greenbelt sunshine shining throughout the year!

No Icaruses with flimsy wings, these Angels put their money where their mouth is by making regular gifts to the Festival. In the past this has been about safeguarding the Festival’s future; now they are helping us edge away from the unpredictability of rainy days and lift-off towards sustainability. They currently provide nearly 15% of Greenbelt’s income, which is genuinely securing Greenbelt’s future, making sure there will be a Festival here to warm the souls of our children’s children.

But being an Angel isn’t just about the money. Circling close to the core of things, they get the inside scoop on the burning issues via their newsletter – Wing and a Prayer – which is stuffed full of articles and reviews, and an exclusive area on the Greenbelt website.

So don’t let the sun set on your Greenbelt on Monday evening. Fly round to the Angel venue in G-Source and join the shining throng. Or you can download the Angel response form from greenbelt.org.uk/angels, or contact the office on angels@greenbelt.org.uk and we can send you a form out in the post.

Angels can be found in G-Source with their own lounge right next to Pru’s Café and the Divine chocolate fountain – what a heavenly spot! This is the place to meet other Angels, sign up to become one, update your details or sort out any queries with Jo, Steve and their team.

If you’re an Angel already, then don’t forget to pick up your Angel discount card and claim some special offers onsite. And if you regret not buying Festival goodies in previous years, don’t worry – a range of retro merchandise will also be available at the Angels Lounge.

Other special events include: Iona Reunion A time to meet fellow pilgrims, reminisce about a week of peaceful community life (and stunning weather), and renew friendships.

Saturday 16.00

Purls and Wisdom Knitting for beginners and experts alike! Wool, needles and patterns will be provided if you’d like to knit a hat for the Sailor’s Society, or bring your own project to work on.

Saturday and Monday 11.00

Daily News Browse our selection of newspapers, and discuss the events of the day. With Dean Ayres and Alex Logan.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday 17.00

angels

®

Greenbelt Hand-made by volunteers

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Once you start seeing them, they’re suddenly everywhere. Checking wristbands, managing venues, staffing the medical centre, patrolling at night, recording talks… all of these people, over 1,700 each year, are volunteers, giving generously of their time to make Greenbelt happen.

Where would we be without them?

Derek Hill is one such volunteer. He works as the ‘Bob the Builder’ of the visual arts programme, working with a team to book wonderful stuff, set it up and take it away again. ‘I like to make things,’ he says, ‘and love having an idea and then seeing it happen. I have met so many creative people connected with the Festival and it has been great to work with them or give them the opportunity to do stuff.’

It’s people like Derek who make this such a unique Festival. It’s not bought in by corporate sponsors, it’s handmade by passionate volunteers. Last year we did a full survey of their experiences, and were delighted to learn that people thought the team leadership and training were superb, and loved being a part of a friendly community at the heart of the festival.

So if you want to ‘be the change you want to see’, if you want to weave some of your own gifts into the Festival, then think about volunteering in the future. You can find out more about it, and meet some volunteers who’ll be telling their stories on Sunday 18.15 in The Kitchen.

Once you’ve seen them, you’ll see them everywhere.

Slow Walking FastForwarded us to Asia Greenbelt changed my life, and all because I was walking too slowly.

There is an ideal walking speed to use in Greenbelt’s resource fair, G-Source: slow enough to see what it is that the organisation does, but fast enough so that you don’t get invited to sign up to something you might later regret.

Exactly six months on from that day at Greenbelt, my wife, Myn, and I were in Cambodia, trying not to be fazed by our numerous job titles, including ‘Financial Controller’, ‘Construction Manager’, ‘Medical Officer’, and ‘Chief Restaurant Booker.’ The titles were verbose, but the work down to earth: planning the construction of a house over a two-week period using local materials, feeding the 250 families who lived on a rubbish dump and entertaining street children, all while trying to respond with ‘that’s not a problem’, whatever we were asked.

Well, after three days of Greenbelt, I got the speed slightly wrong and before I knew it, someone had invited me to consider giving up two weeks of my life, promising a life-changing experience in return.

We were also able to explore some of the history and culture of Cambodia, finding out about Bhuddism, hearing about the country’s recent history, visiting sites like Angkor Wat, and learning the correct way to address a person who is older than your sister, but younger than your aunt.

Startled, I tried to put them off by saying I’d actually been thinking of something more long term than two weeks, but it didn’t work, and a month later I was meeting with one of the directors about heading to Cambodia for four months. It seems they needed some in-country staff to look after the folk who only had two weeks to give up!

They were true to their word though. That encounter in G-Source, that momentary slowing of my feet, really did end up as a life-changing experience. Mission Direct is a faith-based charity that enables volunteers to travel and bring practical help and spiritual hope to those in desperate need. Going to places where poverty is overwhelming, they work in partnership with local tradesmen to support indigenous businesses and skills, and existing health, education and housing projects to improve their capacity and facilities.

We had four months, but all of us have two weeks. It may be two weeks where you’ll end up exhausted, with sore thumbs and in desperate need of a shower, but you’ll be able to look back and know you’ve built a house for a family who will now survive the rainy season, fed families who would otherwise be putting their lives at risk scouring a rubbish dump for food, and shared smiles with street children who were just simply pleased to see you.

So if you don’t want adventure and hope and action to break in to your life this summer, just walk on by. But if you fancy a change, a holiday that will last a life time, then slow down, and amble through G-Source and you could be surprised by what happens this year.

Rob Cotterill is one of Greenbelt’s volunteer Health & Safety Team

Far left Myn holding threeyear-old Makhara Left Myn and Rob hard at work building Makhara’s house

g–source

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®

Whether you’re interested in a year out, need some insurance or want to find out more about climate change, with over 80 organisations, G-Source has something for everyone.

And this year G-Source includes the G-Stage. Over the course of the weekend the G-Stage gives organisations the opportunity to profile their work. If there are organisations you are particularly interested in, check out if and when they’re doing their stuff and make sure you go and hear what they’ve got to say. Oh, and, as ever, refreshments and the most incredible chocolate brownies are available at Pru’s Café.

Church and Community Anvil Trust workshop.org.uk British Sign Language Bible Translation Project bslbible.org.uk Careforce careforce.co.uk Catholic Women’s Ordination catholic-womens-ordination.org.uk Church Urban Fund* cuf.org.uk Depaul depaultrust.ie Eco-congregations ew.ecocongregation.org Evangelical Alliance eauk.org Faithworks faithworks.info G-Stage Monday 14.00 Freedom Properties freedom.fm Frontier Youth Trust fyt.org.uk Housing Justice housingjustice.org.uk L’arche larche.org.uk The Lighthouse Group tlg.org.uk London Mennonite Centre menno.org.uk Methodist Church methodist.org.uk Oasis oasisuk.org G-Stage Saturday 14.30 OuterSpace outerspacelgbt.org.uk Proost proost.co.uk Speak speak.org.uk Spirited Exchanges spiritedexchanges.org.uk Student Christian Movement movement.org.uk Time For God timeforgod.org Twelvebaskets twelvebaskets.co.uk United Christian Broadcast ucb.co.uk Youth Work Matters churches-together.net YWAM ywam.org.uk

Greenbelt Angels greenbelt.org.uk/angels Volunteers greenbelt.org.uk/getinvolved

International Development

*Greenbelt Associates

Christians Against Poverty capuk.org G-stage Saturday 11.15 Edukid edukid.org.uk G-stage Sunday 13.15 Habitat for Humanity habitatforhumanity.org.uk International Nepal Fellowship inf.org G-Stage Saturday 13.45 Interserve interserveonline.org.uk

Medair medair.org G-Stage Sunday 18.00 Micah’s Call micahscall.org.uk Mission Direct missiondirect.org Progressio progressio.org.uk Retrak retrak.org Robin Hood Ministries robinhoodministries.org Send a Cow sendacow.org.uk Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor servantsasia.org Smile International smileinternational.org Tearfund tearfund.org.uk Tools with a Mission twam.co.uk USPG uspg.org.uk G-Stage Saturday 15.15

Lifestyle Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals aswa.org.uk Campaign for Corporate Accountability newint.org Christian Ecology Link christian-ecology.org.uk Divine divinechocolate.com Ecclesiastical* ecclesiastical.com Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk Operation Noah operationnoah.org The Quiet Garden quietgarden.co.uk Traidcraft* traidcraft.co.uk War on Want waronwant.org

Politics and Human Rights Amnesty International amnesty.org.uk Amos Trust amostrust.org Boaz Trust boaztrust.org.uk Chaste chaste.org.uk G-Stage Saturday 16.45 & Monday 13.00 Chips chipspeace.org CROP crop1.org.uk International Justice Mission ijmuk.org Interpal interpal.org Jews for Justice jfjfp.org Jubilee Debt Campaign jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk Network of Christian Peace Organisations ncpo.org.uk Rediscovering Palestine abcdbethlehem.org.uk Refugee Action refugee-action.org.uk G-Stage Monday 15.00

Vocations Call Waiting callwaiting.org.uk CCC Bath and Bristol Colleges cccbathandbristolcolleges.com Platform 2 myplatform2.com Ripon College Cuddlesdon rcc.ac.uk University of Gloucester glos.ac.uk SOCMS queens.ac.uk/mission

Also on the G-Stage CAFOD Saturday 16.00 Gaia Partnership Saturday 13.00 Stop the Traffik Sunday 14.00 Also check out the dance workshops. See pages 79 for more information.

22 August 2008 / Sunrise 06:10 / Sunset 20:20 / Length of day 14h 10m 08s 23 August 2008 / Sunrise 06:11 / Sunset 20:18 / Length of day 14h 06m 26s 24 August 2008 / Sunrise 06:13 / Sunset 20:16 / Length of day 14h 02m 42s 25 August 2008 / Sunrise 06:15 / Sunset 20:14 / Length of day 13h 58m 58s Greenbelt 2008 / Rising Sun / Tick / Tock.

Inter-faith Dialogue The other week, Kathy Galloway, leader of the Iona Community and long-time friend of Greenbelt, was talking about her religious upbringing in Scotland. She was reflecting on Jesus’ words early in Matthew’s gospel about God ‘causing the sun to shine on the evil and the good,’ and ‘sending the rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike,’ and how it had taken a trip to Palestine itself to realise that rain, unlike in her native Scotland, where her dour ministers had preached it a curse, was actually a blessing there.

Our context is so important. The same sun shines, the same rain pours down; what we mustn’t do is raise our fists and shake them as our parade is rained on, for down the road, or across the seas, a farmer, a thirsty child, is waving their hands in joy.

Richard Holloway, another Scot, comments; ‘the word water is not itself drinkable,’ and continues, ‘words point to things, but they can never be the things they point to. All theology is a doomed but necessary attempt to express the inexpressible. God is the elusive mystery we try to capture in language, but how can that ever be done?’

Water, sunshine and context. Thirst, energy and theology. We so long to be finally quenched, to be penetrated to our core with light, to go beyond speaking about God, and see God. And we can’t. Like the astronaut-messiahs in Danny Boyle’s film Sunshine, we gaze at this orb only through a glass darkly, and even then are unsure of what we see.

This is the mystery of circular motion: relative to us, those in different ships may be heading in totally the opposite direction; relative to the centre, we may be both travelling toward the same goal.

There is no doubt: Greenbelt produces a lot of words, for it is a place so keen to give expression to what we cannot express. But what we hope is that Greenbelt can become polyglot: a place of many tongues, all speaking in different languages from the same fire. This is why we are so warmed when people like Mohammed Imran of Islamic Relief says ‘Greenbelt was an eye opening experience. Here was a Christian festival where I was made to feel welcome and included. Here were people, like me, committed to a better world, where poverty and injustice were no more and who were prepared to put their faith into action,’ and when Ibrahim Hewitt of Interpal reports that ‘the welcome has always been overwhelmingly warm, even on my first visit a few short weeks after the terrible events of 7/7. It is a great opportunity to meet friends old and new, take part in challenging dialogue all in a wonderfully inspiring setting.’

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It’s what the activist Naima Bouteldja found too: ‘The Festival is special as one of the few public platforms where Muslim speakers can exchange ideas and reflect with their brothers and sisters from Christian and other faiths in a welcoming and respectful environment. I urge Muslims to find the time to bring family and friends along to this great Festival.’

This inter-faith dialogue, this sharing of words, this pooling of our drops of metaphor, helps slake all our thirsts, and we must pursue it like those searching for oases, both here at the Festival, and when we return home. How? you might ask. Always, and using words only when necessary, as the wisdom goes. Holloway continues: ‘all great art […] breaks through the frustration of language and unites us with that which language only usually signifies. Art, music and poetry are all priestly in their ministry because they unite us with transcendence and place us in its midst, rather than talk about it.’

So let us pursue this often-silent dialogue with our fellow travellers. Let us whisper poems, and wonder at form and pattern, and listen together, and be taken together into transcendence, where the sun shines equally on us, and casts no shadows.

Far left Marc Ellis , Ibrahim Hewitt and Garth Hewitt in conversation at Greenbelt 07 Left Naima Bouteldja speaking at Greenbelt 06

Love all.

Trust a few.

Do wrong to no one.

— All’s Well That Ends Well Old Bill is right again. Loving everyone sometimes means trusting a few special people doing ordinary things in some extraordinary situations. That’s what you do when you dig deep and put your giving into trust with us: you’re trusting us to find those special projects that just need someone to trust their vision.

The following pages list a few recent examples where Trust Greenbelt has shared your love, from road trips to homeless projects to supporting emerging arts festivals and expressions of faith in our traditional urban centres.

They want to thank you, and so do we; with a bit more love and trust, all may not be well, but it’ll be a lot better.

Trust Greenbelt to support…

Street Children in Nicaragua Casa Alianza is an NGO dedicated to the rehabilitation and defence of street children across Latin America.

They work with 12,000 street children a year, most of whom have been orphaned, abused or abandoned.

Founded in 1981 amidst the violent conflict, Casa Alianza was awarded the Conrad Hilton Humanitarian Award – the highest honour for ‘extraordinary contributions towards the alleviation of human suffering.’

Trust Greenbelt

We’ve only highlighted a few stories here.

For more, go to greenbelt.org.uk/trust You can give to Trust Greenbelt at the Festival through the Communion offering, in the Angels Lounge or at the Box Office.

Gift Aid envelopes are also available at the Information Desk. And you can give at any time online via greenbelt.org.uk/trust Trust Greenbelt to support…

Harmony among Muslim Women Divine Aubergines are a group of female Muslim artists and musicians from Birmingham who explore faith through performance and music. Conjuring up the feel-good factor of their faith, they also sing about the reality of growing up in Britain and the role of faith in their lives. They are part of the Ulfah Arts network, who work to engage different faith groups as both artists and audience members.

Trust Greenbelt to support…

HIV/AIDS Education in Eastern Africa Act for Africa use sport and theatre as routes in to educating people in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania about HIV and AIDS. Teams from the UK go to work alongside local people, and together they deliver education programmes and encourage young people to take control of their sexual health. In a continent where 1 in 5 of teenagers are HIV positive – and most of these will not live beyond 21 – this is hugely important work in the face of a terrifyingly large problem.

Trust Greenbelt to support…

A Christian arts festival in Poland Slot Festival serves up a fantastic platter of music, visual and performing art, film and multi-media for young people in and around Poland. Like a strange particle physics experiment, around 5,000 people gather each year to smash together faith and culture and see how each can react with the other. The results are weird and wonderful, and truly lovely for it.

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Trust Greenbelt to support‌ A tender documentation of Street Life Now I am a Person is a unique photographic project with a simple vision: by photographing some of the faceless street children of South Africa, and documenting their stories, these people that society sees as invisible irritants might become worthy and precious. Following the work of Umthombo, a well-established project helping get children off the streets, designer Wilf Whitty listened as children spoke of being given that greatest of gifts: the ability to see themselves as persons.

Because we believe the things we do, these are the things we do.

Actions speak louder than words: Greenbelt tries to model generosity.

Access All Areas Because people who come to Greenbelt know how amazing it is, they are keen to share it with others, which is why Greenbelt has always tried to lead the way in making a Festival that is as accessible to as many people as possible.

In other words, we think diversity rocks. Wherever people are found along spectrums of rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, believer or atheist, we believe our faith demands that we work to make all feel welcome.

On one axis, that’s about making it easier for people with disabilities to come to Greenbelt and get as much out of it as possible. On another it’s about keeping ticket prices affordable, and offering all sorts of concessions.

But it’s also about creating a Festival space that inspires rather than preaches. Being hugely proud of our Christian heritage means feeling horrified if someone of another faith, or of none, does not feel at home with us.

Some will never feel at home camping. As Festival Trustee Jason Barnett cheekily points out: ‘Black people, by and large, don’t camp. It strikes me as torture!’ So Jason hires a caravan. And one of the beauties of our Cheltenham Racecourse site is that there are non-tented options – which is another contributing factor in making the Festival more accessible to more people.

We keep on working on it, trying to do things better, because this is what we believe in. Don’t listen to those who preach a gospel of exclusivity. The word that we try to make flesh is about a wild celebration of diversity.

So make help us make it happen. Speak to someone different. Tell us how we can improve. And pass the word on that there’s an amazing place created in Cheltenham each year with a heavenly taste, diverse, inclusive and affordable.

You never know, it might catch on.

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Sustainability

Go Generous

Let’s get the obvious fact over with: putting on a festival is not a sustainable, green or environmentally friendly activity. People have to travel to festivals, and we can’t expect them all to walk. Or swim the Atlantic. And people need to hear and see and eat when they get there, which all requires power. And, amazing as those candle-powered boats are … well, you get the picture.

So what can you do? Well, for starters, you can join Generous, an online community of souls now numbering some 1,800. Born one rainy Sunday night at Greenbelt four years ago, this adventure has spread around the globe and is fast approaching the 10,000th cumulative ‘action’ on its site at generous.org.uk

So, if festivals aren’t as green as we’d like them to be, why is it that Glastonbury and Greenbelt have been at the forefront of promoting environmental issues? It’s because we know the power that festival gatherings have in changing people.

At Greenbelt we are educated, informed, challenged and inspired to the extent that, when all the small changes to people’s habits and lifestyles are taken into account, we hope that Greenbelt actually works out at being Carbon Negative.

That hope isn’t good enough though. Talk never is. We address the issues in our programme, but we also have to model them as an organisation. It’s taking time, but we are making progress. See greenbelt.org.uk/footprint/ This year we also introduced an opt-in carbon levy at ticket-booking. The money raised will go to Lighthouse, a locally-run NGO in Bangladesh that helps destitute families living on sand islands to build plinths, protecting themselves from flooding and rising sea levels.

Because we know that it’s not us who will be hit first. It is the poor and dispossessed, the animals who cannot speak, the plants that do not store up in barns or slash and burn forests, who will suffer before we do.

It’s always our duty as people of faith to make sure that the voiceless are heard. So, before the stones are forced to cry out, let’s gather as lightly as we can, and leave more committed than ever to save the planet. It’s the only one we’ve got.

It started in one of those ‘what if…’ conversations between friends. What if the world wasn’t loaded in favour of a small minority of its people? What if we could look after the planet as well as looking after ourselves? What if a bunch of people tried to exploit the power of new technology to live a little more generously?

And this is what it came to: people, families, households across the UK and in other countries, embarking on small everyday but sustainable lifestyle changes in favour of all the people and the whole of the planet.

One person might decide to turn off the tap when cleaning his teeth, another might start filling the kettle with only enough water for that single cup of tea.

Someone will check their light fittings – and decide to switch to energy saving bulbs – someone else might decide to go meat-free one day a week.

What we can do will depend on our circumstances.

Generous is about community not compulsion. It’s about getting somewhere together, rather than feeling it’s all hopeless, what difference can one person make?

Those of us who’ve been on the Generous trip for a while have not just found wisdom in the crowd – but inspiration too. As the anthropologist Margaret Meade put it, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’

Generous is a small group of people intent on changing the world. And you’re welcome to join in. Go to generous.org.uk and go Generous.

Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, goes bananas about trade, development and whether to buy local, organic or Fairtrade…

Greenbelt’s Commercial Manager Phil Smith spoke to her.

Tip the balance How would you describe what Fairtrade is all about?

All Fairtrade seeks to do is to ensure that disadvantaged farmers worldwide get paid enough to live by, that they have enough for clean drinking water, food on the table, and, importantly, sending the kids to school. I think it’s rubbish that in 2008 there are still women picking tea – the classic British drink – who have to choose between sending their kids to school and having an evening meal.

Below Harriet Lamb speaks with a Dominican banana farmer

So does Fairtrade work?

Absolutely. For example, Sainsbury’s are now buying all of their bananas via Fairtrade from the Windward Islands. Before, the small island growers couldn’t compete with multinationals and the economy was in ruins. This led to people leaving the islands and others turning to gangs and drugs. Now, the Prime Minister of Dominica has said that Fairtrade has been the saviour of the island. The farmers used Fairtrade premiums to

buy lawn mowers and set up sports pitches, they put up street lighting and because hope came back to the island the gangs and drugs went away. This is what Fairtrade can do.

Are more multinationals coming on board?

Yes they are, but it is a slow process. We worked for two years with Tate & Lyle, who have announced that all their sugar will be fairly traded by next year. One reason it is slow is because we are constantly checking that everyone is meeting the standards required of the Fairtrade mark.

So, should we be buying Fairtrade, or locally produced, or organic?!

I hope you do buy locally produced organic stuff, but if you’re buying tea or coffee or bananas, we don’t grow many of those in the UK, so buy Fairtrade!

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G–Store And what about the environment?

Climate change and poverty are connected. For example, the Fairtrade Brazil nuts collected by the gatherers in the Amazon forest enable those gatherers to get a decent livelihood from the trees and therefore they have an economic stake in preserving the rain forest. And what many people don’t know is that Fairtrade standards include some very strict environmental standards too. However, the bottom line is that it’s us in the West who have the major share of responsibility for action. Most of our growers don’t even have a bicycle, and some have never been to their capital, let alone hopped on and off planes.

How do you think Greenbelt is doing?

I think Greenbelt is showing real leadership in putting Fairtrade right to the heart of the Festival in everything that people eat, drink and wear. It’s really setting the pace for others to follow. Faith communities really were the first to take Fairtrade forward and you can feel immensely proud. There are some 4,000 Fairtrade churches and mosques and synagogues, but there are many more to go and sometimes it’s surprising when you still go into churches and they have the same old big company coffee! Now is the time to stick our necks out though, and not be shy of demanding Fairtrade.

So what are the future challenges for Fairtrade?

I think we need to ‘tip the balance.’ In India recently I met some cotton farmers who had just spent their first premium, and were lovingly unwrapping an amazing set of shiny digital scales. They explained how they used to be cheated by the local buyers, and saw these scales as a symbol of justice. But it’s also a symbol of where we are trying to take Fairtrade – to tip public awareness of it, but also help people go from awareness to action.

That’s the future.

Greenbelt is a member of the Trade Justice Movement

‘The bottom line is that it’s us in the West who have the major share of responsibility for action.’

At Greenbelt, we pride ourselves in not mimicking the best retailing practice, but actually trying to model it, and once again, G-Store is the living, breathing incarnation of all we think merchandising should be.

That means top class, head-turning designs on the clothing, which is all sourced from sustainabilityminded, Fairtrade companies. It also means a huge selection of Greenbelt goodies, from recycled stationary to mugs and badges, all to remind you of the fabulous times you’ve had at the Festival. And if your memory isn’t so great, why not back it up with one of our USB sticks?! There really is something for everyone.

Of course, every penny of profit is driven straight back into the Festival, so a little spicing up of your wardrobe or desk is not only going to make our producer partners in the developing world happy, but make for a better Festival next year too!

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G–Store

A word in your heart Greenbelt Talks

One of the best things about Greenbelt is having so much choice. One of the worst things is having to choose.

If only you could get to all the talks you wanted to, catch up with all your friends, and hear all the bands on Mainstage… We’ve all been there: wishing we were Doctor Who, or rushing about like Paula Radcliffe.

Well, we can’t make you a Time Lord or a super-athlete just yet, but we reckon we’ve got the next best thing. All the talks in the Festival Guide are recorded, so even if you’re not there in person to let that speaker have a word in your ear, you can listen at your leisure after the Festival, and let them have a word with your heart too.

Talks are sold in the G-Talks venue in front of the grandstand, either on CD or, for the first time this year, on a USB stick. After the Festival you can buy them via the Greenbelt website too.

So relax! Enjoy Mainstage and the Tiny Tea Tent and everything else you want to do. Then drop in to G-Talks, or click on greenbelt.org.uk/talks and browse for all the things you missed, and more. Your heart will thank you.

The list

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greenbelt.org.uk/thelist Books

Online

Film

Take This Bread – Sara Miles See page 64 (talks headliners page)

laughinghens.com/ Knitting emporium as the craft has a revival

Olive the Other Reindeer Olive the dog volunteers to replace one of Santa’s injured reindeers.

Classic family fun.

The Clock of the Long Now – Stuart Brand A mini-manifesto for long-term thinking and responsibility.

Seven Days to Live – Nick Yarris The story of a former death-row convict and Greenbelt speaker.

Things fall apart – Chinua Achebe Nigerian classic about the great wrestler Okonkwo.

The Tyranny of numbers – David Boyle The history of counting as it relates to social policy development.

Dreams From My Father – Barack Obama Frank insight into the mind and life of the potential next US president.

The Mystery of Capital – Hernando De Soto De Soto is heralded by the likes of Kofi Anan and Bill Clinton.

Hell and High Water – Alastair McIntosh Climate change and humanity.

The courage to teach – Palker J Palmer Speaks directly of spiritual things to informal educators everywhere.

Leith’s Vegetable Bible – Pru Leith How to cook the weird stuff in your veg box.

Girl meets Boy – Ali Smith A retelling of Ovid’s myth of Iphis about truth and transformation.

Everything Must Change – Brian McLaren See page 62 (speaker headliners)

generous.org.uk/ See page 31. popurls.com/ Don’t miss anything on delicious, flickr, youtube and digg last.fm/ Bored of your own taste in music?

Enjoy someone else’s. rejesus.co.uk/ Jesus’ life, character, & spirituality. ffffound.com/ Post and share your favourite images here and get recommendations back. itdg.org/ Sustainable technology to reduce poverty in developing countries. howies.co.uk/ The fashion may not always be spot on. But the ideals nearly always are. freecycle.org/ A way of life: reduce, reuse, recycle. epicurious.com/ Recipes and menus for the most fabulous dinner parties. sensibleunits.com/ How many Belgiums can fit into Alaska?

Happy Gilmore A rejected hockey player puts his skills to the golf course to save his grandmother’s house Kandahar An Afghan-Canadian woman returns to Afghanistan to find her sister. Beautiful and tragic.

Kenny Spoof documentary about a man whose job is to provide portaloos to festivals.

Freedom Writers A teacher inspires her at-risk students to learn tolerance and pursue education beyond school Funny Kinda Guy The remarkable story of the transition from female to male of transgendered Scot, Simon de Voil Once Unlikely romance between a Dublin busker and a Czech immigrant.

Great sound track.

Koyaanisqatsi No dialogue, no plot. Just expertly photographed environmental scenes. Genius music by Philip Glass.

No Country For Old Men Or anything by the Coen Brothers.

postsecret.blogspot.com/ Post a postcard-sized image anonymously to unveil a secret.

Shared confessions in art form.

Riding Giants Documentary detailing the origins and history of surf culture.

tedblog.typepad.com/tedblog/ podcasts/ Leading thinkers and doers share their inspirational thoughts.

Dekalog – Krzysztof Kieslowski Echoing the 10 Commandments, each short film is a masterpiece in observation and storytelling.

Partnerships As you’ll have no doubt noticed in the coverage of the Beijing Olympics, there’s not a single thing that can’t be sponsored these days. If there wasn’t actually an Official Nut-based Pool-side Snack Provider™, then there probably will be next time around.

Greenbelt doesn’t do that sort of sponsorship. We do partnership. We forge links with organisations who genuinely share our ethos, and who can provide direct access to on-theground work around the world to inspire us, feed us, and challenge us.

Our main partners remain: Christian Aid, who are ‘inspired by the dream of a new earth where all people can secure a better and more just future’ and have been showing us glimpses of that dream with their excellent work at the Festival for many years; and the Department For International Development (DFID),

*Greenbelt associates

who we are thrilled to continue our partnership with, and who return with their own venue again this year. It’s a great affirmation of our faith and politics that these two hugely influential organisations are working with us.

YMCA, CMS, Church Urban Fund and Traidcraft are also associated with us to promote mission, fight poverty through trade and work for the whole person. The media is one of the ways these messages can be disseminated, and we are pleased to have The Church Times as our associate in this area too. And for when things don’t go to plan, we’re glad that Ecclesiastical Insurance are behind us to help put things right!

Corporate sponsors just buy into a piece of the action.

Our partners generously support us financially – bringing in the second biggest income stream after ticket sales – but we’re sure you’d agree that they give us so much more than that.

There’s countless branded festivals you could have gone to this summer, and we’re glad you’ve chosen Greenbelt. We hope it’s not just the great music, talks and atmosphere, but because of the grounding in transforming this world that our partners and associates give us. So let’s join in thanking them for assuring a great future, not just for Greenbelt, but for countless people around the world too.

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Greenbelt visitors will be among the first people Christian Aid will be asking to sign up to its new ‘Countdown to Copenhagen Pledge’.

Christian Aid volunteers will be offering copies of the pledge to visitors to its café, and in and around their Greenbelt venue. It’s part of the charity’s big push to campaign on the new international climate change agreement which governments will be under pressure to finalise in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Christian Aid is calling for the deal not only to tackle global warming but also to enshrine poor countries’ right to economic development.

On average, each person in the UK emits 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide every Countdown to CO2PENHAGEN and stopwatch icon. year, while in Bangladesh, where climate change is already having severe effects, the figure is 0.3 tonnes. Christian Aid believes that any deal to curb global warming must not prevent poor countries from developing.

The pledge is a way of individuals making their own commitment to campaign for a just international climate deal – as well as sending a message to the Prime Minister that the UK should take a stance on the Copenhagen deal that will require the developed world: – to take the lion’s share of carbon emissions cuts – and to supply the funding and technology that developing countries need for clean development.

The grand total of pledges will be delivered to the Prime Minister next year to emphasise popular demand for these calls to action.

Paul Langley, Head of Innovations at Christian Aid, said: ‘Time and again, committed Christian activists have been vital to the movement for change, as the Fairtrade, Jubilee 2000 and trade justice campaigns proved. Their campaigning commitment is needed once more, to ensure climate justice for the world’s poor.’

Greenbelt visitors who want to deepen their commitment to campaigning after signing up to the pledge have the opportunity to attend Christian Aid’s autumn Transformation events These will offer workshops on campaigning skills, such as how to lobby MPs and MEPs about the new climate agreement. There will be the chance to hear directly from people in the poor countries where Christian Aid works, and activities and challenges for children and young people. Transformation events will also include time to debate the causes and solutions to international injustice with Christian Aid directors and local politicians and journalists.

The day-long Transformation events will take place in Perth, Exeter, Lancaster, Belfast, London, Wrexham, St Albans, Birmingham and York in September and October.

For more information and to book places at a Transformation event, visit: www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved.

Families are welcome at Transformation events, which will include lunch and a crêche. Christian Aid is suggesting a donation of £5 to £10 from each adult.

Absolutely everyone’s invited Join us for The Mad Hatter’s Tea Time Picnic 12.30pm, 25 August 2008, The Arena Whether it’s Lapsang Souchong or a mug of builders’, gourmet cuisine or a bacon butty, come along to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Time Picnic. Watch Alice in Wonderland on the big screen and bring a cuppa to enjoy with your picnic to celebrate Christian Aid’s Tea Time, raising funds to help people in the world’s poorest communities work their way out of poverty.

Why not sign up to hold your own Tea Time at 4pm, 19 September 2008 and receive a FREE Tea Time event pack Call 0870 076 7766 (quote ref: A005449) Visit www.christianaid.org.uk/teatime See Christian Aid representative

UK registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scot charity no. SC039150 NI charity no. XR94639 Company no. NI059154

NEW FREE ONLINE GAME

WANT TO ENGAGE YOUNG PEOPLE IN WORLD POVERTY ISSUES?

The Department for International Development’s Race Against Global Poverty Game is a great way for young people to learn about what’s being done to tackle world poverty.

The game is designed to play in a group or individually.

Have fun and learn more at:

www.direct.gov.uk/ raceagainstglobalpoverty INST PLAY THE RACE AGA ARD GLOBAL POVERTY BO D GAME – VISIT THE DFI TENT AT GREENBELT

greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival greenbelt_festival

JESUS CHANGING All this and more at the CMS tent!

Come join us and experience:

LIVES

Registered Charity No 220297

SHARING

www.cms-uk.org

Breakdancers from Tajikistan: Back by popular demand, you’ll flip for their performance and be inspired by their testimonies

Faith, hope and elephant dung: Meet the amazing artisans of Neema (Grace) Crafts, Tanzania…you’ll love their work and their stories

blah…. space to explore Christian spirituality, network with emerging church leaders and discuss pressing issues like business as mission, climate change, Christianity in multifaith Britain

PLUS worship with Aradhna, Mike Aremu and Modele and so much more…

check your schedule for details! - visit us next to G-source Caring for God’s world together

CMS, Watlington Rd, Oxford, OX4 6BZ Tel: 01865 787400

THREE FANTASTIC FESTIVAL OFFERS

Church Times, the best-selling Christian weekly, and Third Way, the Christian current-affairs journal, are offering two fantastic subscription deals. Both will be available for half the price off our normal subscription plus a FREE GIFT. Caris is a glossy handbag-size magazine for girls aged 12-16 years old. Subscriptions are only £8 for a year. Huge discounts are available for youth groups and churches, and sample copies can be picked up from us over the festival weekend.

We also have The Church Times Guide to Greenbelt — to bring the best of the festival to you. We will feature some of the music, worship, and speakers who feed into the festival. In addition, there will be a page dedicated to our cartoonist Dave Walker, as well as pre-festival coverage of news, arts, and current affairs.

As always, you can also read all the reviews and analysis of Greenbelt 2008 in next Friday’s Church Times.

Come and find us by Talks 1 to pick up a FREE copy of Church Times, Caris and Third Way; or, should you be festival-weary, contact us at our London office on 020 7776 1072 or email marketing@churchtimes.co.uk.

CHURCH TIMES

THIRD WAY

CARIS

13-17 Long Lane, London EC1A 9PN www.churchtimes.co.uk www.thirdwaymagazine.com www.carismag.co.uk

Stirring stuff!

Stirring Stuff is the theme for Traidcraft’s presence at Greenbelt this year.

Why? Well, supporters of Traidcraft are passionate about improving the lives of producers and their families overseas.

As ever, we’ll have loads going on. Our wine tasting and pub quiz are back by popular demand (see the Daily Diary for timings). We’ve got an Ethical Panel debate with lots of exciting guests, and we’ll have something daft for people to try out on our stand in G-Source!

So come on, ‘stir yourself’ and come and see what we’re up to. We’ll be opposite Pru’s Café in the G-Source exhibition venue!

For more details see www.traidcraft.co.uk/getinvolved

not just a quick-fix response

At the YMCA, we take a holistic approach to the welfare of young people, providing the tools they need to build a positive future.

There are over 130 YMCAs across the UK, that aim to provide professional and relevant services to make a real difference to the lives of young people in over 250 communities.

Our Christian ethos and values influence everything we do and form the basis of our vision of an inclusive Christian Movement, transforming communities so that all young people truly belong, contribute and thrive.

“

The YMCA has been my lifeline and I honestly don’t know where I’d be without it. When I had nothing, they reached out to me and gave me guidance, strength and hope. Thanks to the YMCA I’ve regained my confidence, feel empowered to shape my own future and become the person I am proud to be.

”

To find out more about the YMCA’s work, visit us at the festival or online at: www.ymca.org.uk National Council of Young Men’s Christian Associations (Incorporated). A Limited Company registered in London. Reg office: 640 Forest Road, London E17 3DZ. Reg company no.

73749. Charity no. 212810. Housing Corporation Reg Number: LH2204. Designed by YMCA England © July 2008

it u e out vis c d r ab e an u e or om So ut m C - o G find

d an

n si

insuring, investing and protecting Ecclesiastical is proud to be an Associate Partner of Greenbelt for the third year.

With a long heritage in church insurance, we’re proud to protect those who care about the community, of which the Church is a central part. Today we offer a wide range of insurance and financial products and services. So whether you’re looking to insure your church or home, get some financial advice, or find out more about investing with ethics in mind, we can help.

To find out more call

0845 777 3322 email information@eigmail.com visit www.ecclesiastical.com

•

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• •

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Home insurance Wedding insurance Travel insurance Savings & Investments Socially Responsible Investments Church Hall insurance Charity insurance Life Assurance & Protection Retirement planning Mortgages Church insurance Care insurance Education insurance Heritage Commercial insurance Bespoke Commercial insurance

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Listings

Music

José González

Mainstage / headliners Michael Franti and Spearhead If the words ‘protest singer’ conjure up worthy-butdull diatribes listened to in reverential silence by men in chunky sweaters, take a look at Michael Franti and Spearhead and think again. Franti’s music faces the demons of racism, militarism and globalisation head on, whilst a Spearhead gig offers ‘part booty-shaking funk jam session, part soul deliverance, part cosmic transformation, and part social activism assembly, all rolled into one sweaty, sexy, raucous good time’. After headlining the closing night of Greenbelt 06 – one of the most memorable and infectious gigs the Festival has ever experienced – we’re

delighted that Michael Franti and Spearhead have agreed to return, this time to play the opening night headline slot. We can’t wait. Franti’s music is shot through with life-affirming optimism. ‘My role is as a storyteller and a songwriter. I’m somebody who is trying to keep the spirits of other people up, despite all the chaos and fear around us’, he tells us. On the title track of a 2003 Spearhead album, Franti sings ‘Even our worst enemies deserve music.’ And you can imagine a certain carpenter from Nazareth saying something not dissimilar.

In a word: frugtastic Friday

Also showing: Michael Franti’s 2004 film I Know I’m Not Alone about his travels to the war zones of Iraq, Israel and Palestine, armed only with his guitar and video cameras.

Saturday 21.00 Arena

José González José González’s story is rare in modern pop – a heartening case of the artist resisting the vicissitudes of musical fashion to carve out a unique, intimate style that is all his own, then defiantly following his muse all the way to the top of the charts.

His achingly emotional melodies and thought-provoking lyrics combine in a manner at once familiar (think Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Will Oldham) and subtly exotic (shades of Brazilian Tropicalia – early Silvio Rodríguez, Cuban Nueva Trova).

Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1978, José was bought up in a house that teemed with all kinds of music. After dallying with various shades of rock, however, José returned to the voice and six-string, and, after a series of lessons in classical guitar, the beginnings of a very personal style. By the time

Greenbelt 08 Music

the debut album Veneer was released in April 2005, word had spread like wildfire. One particular track, Heartbeats, gained wide UK currency thanks to its use in the high profile Sony Bravia TV campaign. Still full of energy, José is currently hunkered down with his other project, the band Junip, working with a premier league UK production duo (details to be unveiled in the very near future).

In a word: smörgåsbord Saturday

Roll Jordan Roll With the combined might of Abram Wilson & The Delta Blues Project and The Kingdom Choir, Roll Jordan Roll is a powerful musical drama telling a remarkable true story.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers – a group of freed slaves from Tennessee – drew vast crowds around the country in the

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Abram Wilson

Beth Rowley

Fightstar

Seth Lakeman

late eighteenth century and invitations to sing for Gladstone and the Royal Family. Queen Victoria was so moved by their voices that she commissioned the Singers’ portrait, which today hangs in Fisk University in Nashville – built with the proceeds of their historic tours.

Roll Jordan Roll celebrates these extraordinary events from the perspective of the group themselves – their sheet music archive of spirituals inspiring a new suite by award-winning contemporary jazz and gospel composers, Abram Wilson and Nicky Brown.

Abram Wilson The incredible trumpeter and vocalist Abram Wilson was born in Arkansas and raised in Louisiana, where he attended the famed New Orleans Center for the Performing Arts, like Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr before him. He moved to London in 2002,

where he has since become an essential part of the Dune Records roster, alongside Soweto Kinch, Denys Baptiste and Jazz Jamaica. In April 2006, Wilson was judged (by Sonny Rollins and John Scofield, no less) the winner in the jazz category of the International Songwriting Competition.

The Kingdom Choir A collection of outstanding singers drawn from various churches in the London area, The Kingdom Choir have performed with Elton John, Luther Vandross, the Spice Girls, Alexander O’Neal, Andrae Crouch and Jessy Dixon.

In a word: jazztastic Sunday

Fightstar Splicing emo and metal influences, Fightstar’s music encompasses the delicate

and the dark. ‘That blend of aggression and tenderness is the most important thing to us,’ says frontman Charlie Simpson.

Drop in some good looks and great musicianship and you’ve got yourself an unbeatable formula. Fightstar know that what’s important isn’t where you’re coming from, it’s where you’re headed. OK, no denying that Charlie cut his musical teeth with teen sensation Busted, but that was then.

Fightstar are now with Gut/ Institute records and producing an altogether more mature sound – but one that still rocks.

Their latest album One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours draws in part on emotions stirred up by the break-up of Charlie’s longstanding relationship. The record was produced with Matt Wallace (Faith No More) at the helm and recorded in a mere six weeks. And they’re a band with a conscience. Recent single Flood was inspired by watching

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Al Gore’s global warming movie An Inconvenient Truth.

Influential webzine Drowned In Sound reckons that Fightstar play with ‘a gritted sheen and dexterity that their mothers would be proud of.’ Their mothers are obviously a lot groovier than ours.

In a word: huge Monday Mainstage & Performance Café accoustic set Some explicit language.

Emmanuel Jal After his storming set at Nelson Mandela’s Birthday Party bash in Hyde Park and with the release of an acclaimed new album, Emmanuel Jal is back to play Greenbelt again on the same bill as Michael Franti.

And his story is every bit as amazing as his performances.

Jal was born in war-torn Sudan, but he doesn’t know exactly when – he believes the early 1980s. He was taken from his family home in 1987 when he was six or seven years old, and sent to fight with the rebel army in Sudan’s bloody civil war. For nearly five years, he was a ‘child warrior,’ put into battle carrying an AK-47 that was taller than he was. After a series of harrowing events, he was rescued by a British aid worker who smuggled him into Nairobi to raise him as her own. To help ease the pain of what he had experienced, Emmanuel started singing. In 2005, he released his first album, Gua (‘peace’ in his native Nuer tongue), which among plenty of other things won him a place on the Live8 stage. The Daily Express calls his music ‘ethical rap with a fresh sound and an important political message’.

In a word: righteous Friday

Also showing: War Child, Emmanuel Jal’s film about how he learned to fire an AK47 at the age of eight, after being taken from his family and forced to fight in the Sudanese civil war.

He was rescued by a British aid worker. His film shines a spotlight on the plight of child soldiers.

Sunday 21.30 Film Foxhunter

Seth Lakeman Seth Lakeman, the West Country-born singer and songwriter credited with bringing folk music to a whole new audience since his 2005 Mercury-nominated album, Kitty Jay, has just released his eagerly anticipated fourth album, Poor Man’s Heaven. The new album captures the raw, rhythmic energy of Seth’s live shows. Having taken the leap of signing to a major label off the back of his first two selffinanced albums, Seth’s third album Freedom Fields sold over 100,000 copies following its release in 2006. Since then Seth has toured constantly, performing to a heaving mass of 15,000 in the New Band Tent at last year’s V Festival as well as on two stages at Glastonbury.

On Poor Man’s Heaven he continues to take his own brand of ‘indie-folk’ to a whole new generation. Seth also continues to develop the lyrical themes from the traditional West Country-inspired storytelling of his previous work. The often-historical contexts are bought sharply up to date when pivotal track, Solomon Browne, recounts the real-life story of the ill-fated Penlee RNLI lifeboat which perished in 1981 while trying to salvage a shipwrecked Union Star coaster. The track is a modern take on the truest tradition of folk music.

In a word: heavenly Saturday

Schlomo One of the world’s leading beatboxers, Shlomo has worked for years to push the boundaries of beatboxing as an artform, making music with his mouth that you cannot begin to imagine. His ability to create all manner of drum sounds, vocal scratches and complex rhythmic beatbox techniques have seen him perform all over the planet and work with a whole host of international artists (among them Mr Scruff, Damon Albarn and the Specials). Also a talented

Emmanuel Jal

MxPx

jazz drummer and classicallytrained percussionist, Shlomo treats the art of beatboxing as a form of music and a means for creative expression. In 2007, he was appointed Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre, where he is currently running a concert series called Music Through Unconventional Means which has featured collaborations with Martha Wainwright, among others.

For Greenbelt Shlomo has created a special collaboration alongside multi-percussionist Pete Lockett, bassist Jon Cox and rapper Orifice Vulgatron from Foreign Beggars.

Expect a raw mix of vocal wizardry, tabla beats and freestyle rap from the man who Björk describes as ‘the new bright hope of the hip hop scene’.

In a word: beat-ific Sunday

MxPx Who’d have thought 15 years ago that a three-piece punk rock band from small-town America would be one of the most recognisable trios on the scene today? Flashback to the early 90s and you’d find MxPx wearing out their NOFX cassettes while making it initially on Seattle-based indie label Tooth & Nail. Fast-forward to the present and MxPx are still making music together, still wearing out their NOFX cassettes, and they’ve even returned to the Tooth & Nail label. Always true to their punkpop-rock roots, MxPx serve up exhilarating slabs of melodic guitar music that stir the soul.

Their latest album, Secret Weapon, is packed full with infectious anthems, catapulting the band right back to the top of their tree. ‘We’ve always been a band that’s tried to focus on the sunny side of life,’ says lead

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Howe Gelb and Giant Sand

Daby Touré

singer Herrera. ‘But we try to do it in a way that’s real to people and not cheesy. We kind-of embrace the dismal and the uplifting at the same time.’ And their song Here’s To The Life embodies this: ‘Here’s to the life that we always never wanted.’

As Herrera explains: ‘This may not be how we planned it, but it is what it is. We might as well enjoy it.’ So, Greenbelt stands ready to enjoy life with the irrepressible MxPx. In a word: tattooed Monday

Starfield With their last album, Beauty In The Broken, these young Canadians achieved their best radio success to date, sold twice as many records in half as much time, and had their best touring season in their six-year history. Starfield’s follow up offering is I Will Go, a collection of big-guitar, radio-friendly

cuts with an unashamedly Christian message. Starfield’s songs are accessible enough for corporate worship while offering listeners a potent combination of substance and style. ‘We are so privileged, yet we’re so dissatisfied with our lives no matter how well we’re doing’, lead singer Tim Neufeld says. With I Will Go, Starfield’s musical mission has never been clearer. Instead of offering the masses yet another CD, the band ventures out into a hurting world with a message that encourages listeners to step beyond the confines of comfort to a life of faith that is truly extraordinary.

In a word: driven Friday

Howe Gelb & Giant Sand Inaccurately, yet affectionately, dubbed ‘the Godfather of Alt. Country’ by the British press, Tucson, Arizona-based

musician Howe Gelb has remained the epicentre and creative force behind the everfluid configurations of Giant Sand for over a quarter century now, giving birth along the way to an extended musical family tree that includes Calexico.

Many Greenbelters will have fallen for his Sno Angel Like You release a few years back.

Made with the Chicago Gospel Choir, its rootsy melding of rough-and-ready acoustic americana with the big vocal sweeps of the choir made for a deeply spiritual record. Now Howe is back with Giant Sand, set to release proVISIONS, their first album in four years, just after Greenbelt. Ruminating on love and loss in the sociopolitical climate of a modern world at odds with itself, his new songs take the listener on a creeping cruise down a dark desert highway, forging another surprising byway in the completely unique musical legacy of Giant Sand. And be warned: because the band relies heavily on improvisation, no two Giant Sand shows are ever the same. Prepare for the ‘yippity and happenstance’ that is birthed whenever Howe Gelb takes the stage.

In a word: prolific Saturday

Matthew Herbert Big Band Restless innovator, sampling wizard, classically trained pianist and superstar collaborator, Matthew Herbert is one of electronic music’s most versatile and prolific figureheads. Recording under his own name as well as Doctor Rockit, Wishmountain, Radio Boy and others, Herbert has also produced and remixed artists as diverse as Björk, REM, John Cale, Roisin Murphy, Yoko Ono and Serge Gainsbourg.

An alchemist of avant-garde sound in the tradition stretching from Stockhausen to Aphex Twin, Herbert combines playful pop sensibility with a strictly imposed experimental agenda.

In his increasingly conceptual and political albums he has emerged as a unique figure in

modern music: a kind of oneman Radiohead, or a Brian Eno for the 21st century.

In a word: groundbreaking Sunday

Beth Rowley Fusing her vintage sound and sensibility with a joyous, contemporary edge, Beth Rowley has this year become essential listening. A diminutive 26-year old singer-songwriter, she defies expectation with her towering, sophisticated, gospeltinged vocals. Her debut album Little Dreamer – co-written

by Beth and saxophonist Ben Castle (Duke Special) – was released earlier this year and has been in the Top 10 Album Charts since. Smouldering with a seductive charm that blends blues and soul with the spirit of a New York gospel choir, Beth’s songs are captivating, warm yet understated affairs. First spotted at an open mic night in London’s Ginglik, Beth then trained at Brighton’s Institute of Modern Music – gigging all the while. Now Greenbelt welcomes Beth back – but this time to play the stage she has always merited: the Mainstage.

Her album includes the Willie Nelson classic Angels Flying Too Close (with Greenbelt favourite Duke Special guesting), and our guess is that this is what Mainstage will feel like, late on Sunday afternoon: like angels are flying too close.

In a word: angelic Sunday

Daby Touré Music stole the life of Daby Touré, the Paris-based, Mauritanian-born virtual oneman band who has supported Peter Gabriel and been a hit mainstage act at Womad. Now he’s back to wow Greenbelt (after first playing Centaur in 2005) and he invites us to join him in pursuit of the Holy Grail of new Afro-centric pop. ‘If the idea of an African Nick Drake or Cat Stevens appeals, then Daby Touré is your man,’ says The Times. But Daby shuns any obligation to be more ‘African’

Greenbelt 08 Music

than his heart and soul tell him to be. Collaborating with electronic musician and digital wizard Cyrille Dufay, Daby’s first Real World album Diam earned him a nomination for Best Newcomer at the BBC Awards for World Music back in 2006. And Stereo Spirit, his second release, is now out on Real World Records. He sums up his freewheeling approach to creativity like this: ‘I get up in the morning, I pick up my guitar and I start working. I don’t know where I’m going to go.’

But we know that Greenbelters will want to go with him.

In a word: infectious Sunday

Julie Lee Embracing gospel, bluegrass, Maryland jazz and folk roots, Julie Lee has a smooth, lilting voice that gracefully slips across the borders of genre.

Assembling melodies and stories like a patchwork quilt, her music is homespun and timeless. The life of Nashvillebased singer/songwriter Julie Lee has always been a lesson in assemblage art. She grew up in Maryland on a steady diet of family stories, jazz and folk music, learning early the connection between history and the creative act. She began her career as a visual artist and taught English for two years in Budapest, Hungary, yet was always mesmerised by the raw ability of music to convey and preserve a story. After relocating to Nashville and experiencing the rich heritage of Southern blues, bluegrass and folk music, she has been experimenting ever since. And, as a songwriter, her material has recently been recorded by no less than Alison Krauss.

In a word: homespun Saturday

Linchpin They met four years ago at a South London skate park. They have lovely hair. And 33,000 people downloaded their first music video. Linchpin have a tight, rocking, Foo-Fighters-

meets-Fall-Out-Boy sound that belies their tender years. Now approaching late teenhood and singing songs about life, lurve, self-confidence and ‘getting screwed over by so-called friends’, Linchpin are on a one-band mission to get inside the brain of everyone they meet. Their debut Small Town Theory was released to rave reviews. Since their last visit to Greenbelt they’ve supported Good Charlotte, met Robert Plant and been declared ‘f***ing awesome’ by Dave Grohl.

In a word: youthful

Julie Lee

Monday

[dweeb] High-octane, low-sanity Coventry band [dweeb] may put their name in parentheses but they are no wallflowers.

A good-humoured musical onslaught, [dweeb] originally met in 2002 at the Nexus music college, and are known for their scintillating stage show. They have built up an enviable fan base across the UK following five years of gigging including a recent appearance on BBC3’s Singing With the Enemy. They’ve just released their first album, It Came From Outer Space.

If you’re wondering what they sound like, the band proffers the following: ‘autumn leaves falling upon the dew soaked meadow in Provence at dawn. As the sun rises the native Ortolan bird begins to sing its melodious song of joy and beauty’. That clears that up, then.

In a word: crazee Friday Also Sunday 21.50 Humanic

yFriday With their last album Universal released back in 06, yFriday are keeping themselves busy (with relentless touring), and the nation’s youth entertained, with their infectious brand of rocking worship. They’re from Newcastle, the city that brought you Fog On The Tyne and Viz magazine, but don’t let that put you off: yFriday’s performances are renowned for their passion and energy. Cross Rhythms

The Ian McMillan Orchestra

gave the ‘organic, stripped down rock sound’ of their last album 10 out of 10, calling it ‘simply excellent’. So come on, join the Y-Front (their words, not ours).

Do say: Why Friday? Don’t say: Why aye Friday.

In a word: canny Monday

The Ian McMillan Orchestra Take an ensemble of weird and wonderful instruments, add some charming, wistful, haunting tunes, stick a Barnsley-accented poet on top, and you’re halfway to imagining what the Ian McMillan Orchestra sounds like. Their leader is something of a Renaissance man: a poet, comedian and broadcaster of whom comedy/folk legend Mike Harding has said ‘he’s such a talented bloke, I could kill him’.

Mr McMillan has surrounded

himself with some equally talented musicians toting such oddities as a hurdy-gurdy, nyckelharpa and mandocello.

The poems he recites over the top of this musical mêlée are on subjects ranging from the Russian weather to talking animals via reminiscences about the milkman. The whole thing feels a bit like a Tardis ride to 1346 with Kate Rusby, Stephane Grappelli and Ivor Cutler for company. The Orchestra believe that words and music ‘inhabit the same tent. And it’s a big tent’. There’s always room for one more tent at Greenbelt...

In a word: eclectic Sunday Rise

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Centaur Aradhna Aradhna play songs of devotion and complete surrender, in a style that will wake your senses. A unique blend of India and the West in music that builds true bridges of art, culture and worship between seemingly unconnected worlds.

In a word: haunting Sunday 18.30

Iain Archer As a solo artist of great depth and resonance, Archer continues to reinvent the singer-songwriter genre. He got a deal with Sticky Records in the mid-90s. His work was well received but Iain was afraid of the temptation to write ‘decorative’ music and effectively quit music for four years to work with homeless young people. Coaxed back into music, he hooked up with Snow Patrol during which time he wrote the award-winning Run. His most recent work, Magnetic North, showcases a confident, spiky pop edge.

In a word: 4real Saturday 15.30

Larry Norman Tribute Larry Norman died in February this year. A Christian music pioneer, the godfather of Jesus rock, he melded the spiritual, political and social in his songs. Larry appeared at Greenbelt several times in the 1970s, 1980s and made a brief reappearance in the 1990s. This tribute concert will feature a variety of performers delivering their take on Larry’s songs – with thoughts, reminisces, stories, and more besides.

In a word: reverential Sunday 17.00 Centaur

Martyn Joseph What would Greenbelt be without him? A lot quieter, for starters; noticeably less radical; and considerably less Welsh. Tom Robinson calls him

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‘one of the most charismatic and electrifying performers in Britain today’. The grit in the oyster of respectable churchianity, Martyn Joseph is also a flag-bearer for authentic Christianity. His latest album, Vegas, delivers all you’d expect – the chocolately voice, the warm acoustic guitar, the deep concern for his fellow human and adds some rootsy, rocking arrangements. The final word goes to Mojo: ‘Joseph proves that the path to integrity is a celebration not a chore’.

In a word: rugged Monday 14.15

The Rising: Martyn Joseph The best singer-songwriters onsite join Greenbelt favourite Martyn Joseph to talk about their musical inspirations, the way they go about writing their songs, and to play their songs.

If you’re a songsmith or aspiring musician of any sort, you know you have to be there. Essential Greenbelt fare.

Performance Café Aaron Roche Part of a Nashville collective of artists and musicians, his recent musical work is best described as ‘an experiment in the folk music tradition.’ Never settling on a particular genre, Roche is as content strumming away on a guitar as he is scoring a horn section.

In a word: multi-talented Sunday 20.00

Andy Yorke Over the years since quitting Unbelievable Truth for the final time, Andy found, ultimately, that writing solo was a liberating experience. With saintly levels of forgiveness, his former bandmates provided musical and production assistance on his latest album, which finds Andy in a happier place. Greenbelt welcomes back a rare talent.

In a word: lush Monday 19.00

Saturday 13.30

Anna Elias and the Forlorn Hope AE&TFH were formed to explore what would happen if you write and perform music with a simple desire to create moments of musical beauty. Mojo magazine calls them ‘delicate and enchanting’, has appeared many times at Greenbelt fronting Leeds band Bodixa.

In a word: gentle Sunday 13.30

Brian Houston Acoustic sparks on stage.

Brian offers up intense live performance with melodic dexterity. Championed by Radio 2’s DJ Bob Harris, Brian is a must-see for any budding singer-songwriter. He will keep you transfixed to the end with his well-crafted songs and searing lyrics. Influenced by Bob Dylan, and even taking inspiration from Elvis Presley, Brian’s songs have been recorded by producers who have worked with such

diverse artists as Mike and the Mechanics and Tanita Tikaram.

Performances have drawn consistent and loyal audiences after extensive touring of the US, Canada, the UK and his native Northern Ireland.

In a word: passionate Sunday 22.00 & Monday 13.30

Captain Cameron Captain Cameron stole his brother’s guitar and started to play it. He’s never looked back.

He has two self-titled EPs to his name – the action-figure-snail version, which sold out in 2006, and the action-figure-ice-cream edition.

In a word: leftfield Monday 18.00

Cathy Burton A firm fixture on the list of Greenbelt favourites, Cathy has a voice of emotional resonance and tender fragility that recalls pop goddess Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays. If you like music in monochrome, stay away.

In a word: captivating Saturday 18.00

Danny Cope According to Acoustic Magazine, Danny ‘ought to have the record companies queuing up.’ Sound on Sound magazine would have you imagine Jack Johnson jamming with Randy Newman.

Danny is also a lecturer at Leeds College of Music on the Popular Music Studies Degree, and he practises what he preaches: catchy tunes a-plenty.

In a word: infectious Friday 19.00

David Clifton Way back when, David Clifton’s indie band, Sensible Jerseys, were discovered by John Peel and signed to Virgin Records.

Since then he’s played and recorded guitars and mandolin with everyone from Madness to Matt Redman – as well as writing worship songs with Andy Piercy.

In a word: sacred Monday 17.00

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Dumb Instrument

Foreign Slippers

Categorising themselves on their MySpace site as folk, jazz and experimental, Dumb Instrument write songs tinged with melancholy and poetic lyrics that are enriched with simple yet poignant accompaniment from piano and bass. Beautiful, strange and touching.

In a word: experimental

Foreign Slippers, otherwise known as Gabi Froden, children’s illustrator and songwriter, hails from Norrköping in Sweden and is now resident in London. Her songs are haunting folk lullabies; gospel-tinged ruminations on love and loss that make you think of snow-deadened forests during long, dark Scandinavian winters. Sounds like Gillian Welch and Leonard Cohen having a picnic on a snowy mountain. A world of music boxes and elfin hymns awaits you.

In a word: rustic

Sunday 21.00

Ed Sheeran Ed recorded his first album at the age of 14 and now, aged 17, has another under his belt.

Having supported Nizlopi and with a place in both the National Youth Music Theatre and National Youth Theatre, this young man has experience beyond his years.

In a word: genius Saturday 15.15

Edwina Hayes

Foreign Slippers

Sunday 18.00

Gareth Davies-Jones Gareth Davies-Jones’s songs deal with issues of global importance, as the title of his 2005 EP, Faith, Folk And Fair Trade, spelled out. And in case you think this sounds worthy-butdull, your fears will be dispelled as soon as you hear him.

In a word: committed

Dividing her time between the UK and America, Edwina’s second home is Nashville where she is much loved as a songwriter and artist. Edwina has opened several shows for Van Morrison, twenty-six shows for Jools Holland and three UK tours for Nanci Griffith. She also played at last year’s Greenbelt in Hummingbird alongside Cathy Burton and Amy Wadge.

Edwina’s second album Pour Me A Drink was released in spring 2008.

In a word: tender

Saturday 19.00

Saturday 22.00

Jim Jones

Garth Hewitt Garth performed at the very first Greenbelt and since then has produced nearly 40 albums.

His latest CD Hidden from View – Songs about Bethlehem, Palestine is produced by Paul Wilkinson of The Amazing Pilots and released at this year’s Festival.

In a word: troubadour

Jim Jones

Juliet Turner

He’s not the Bishop of Liverpool: pouring his life into his music is what this South West-based acoustic singer-songwriter does best. Honest, emotional glimpses caught in song, played with simplicity and soul.

In a word: heartfelt

Saturday 21.00

Saturday 12.30

Helen J Hicks

Julie McKee

Writing songs about life, love, the stars and the sea, Esther calls herself a less jazzy version of Norah Jones and a more acoustic version of Beth Orton. With a solid background as a session vocalist, she’s performed with Steve Winwood, Ruby Turner and the London Community Gospel Choir.

In a word: honeyed

Once a Cambridge choral scholar, Helen now delivers jazzy tunes with intelligent lyrics in the vein of k.d. lang and Elkie Brooks. Ex-HoneyRiders member Helen won Best Newcomer at the Marlborough Jazz Festival in 2005. She wrote and recorded a Christmas single for War Child and in 2007 recorded the single Love’s Not For Sale in aid of CHASTE antisex slave trafficking.

In a word: mellow

A classically trained pianist and songwriting chanteuse, dazzling the music scene with her quirky, jazz-toned pop. Think Randy Newman played with a Tori Amos feel, a slap of Ben Folds irreverence and a voice reminiscent of Annie Lennox.

Drawing on her experiences of life in a big city and a fascination with the foibles of others. The results range from compassionate and tender to downright funny.

In a word: wry

Starting on a guitar left mysteriously on her front porch: would the giver have envisaged she would go on to open shows for Tracey Chapman, Sting, U2, and Bob Dylan? With three studio albums, a live album, double platinum sales and a Meteor Music Award under her belt, HotPress Music Magazine call Juliet’s latest album, People Have Names, ‘an intoxicating example of an adventurous artist moving forward’.

In a word: delicate

Monday 16.00

Saturday 17.00

Esther Alexander

Saturday 20.00

Friday 22.00

Justine Berry Justine describes her work as a ‘Janis Joplin meets Led Zeppelin’. She used to be in Hey Gravity!, performing across Europe, supporting Muse, Razorlight, and the Libertines.

In a word: rootsy Sunday 19.00

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Miriam Jones

Mor Karbasi

Yvonne Lyon

Mor keeps alive Ladino and gypsy songs from Andalusia.

Descended directly from both Moroccan and Persian Jews, Mor is an avid supporter of flamenco, which provides a strong flavour throughout all her songs. She performed at WOMAD in Charlton Park in 2007 and BBC Radio 3’s World Routes proclaimed her‘fantastic!’. Mor is playing this evening with the silverfingered Joe Taylor on flamenco guitar.

In a word: firey

Singer-songwriter Yvonne Lyon is among the best and brightest talent emerging from Scotland right now. Her songs combine poignant lyrics with strong, creative melodies, demonstrating a voice that can be both fragile and intense. She has consistently stirred crowds across the UK with her emotive performances.

In a word: uplifting

Friday 20.00 Friday 21.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Miriam Jones Often likened to Suzanne Vega, Aimee Mann, and Eva Cassidy, Miriam Jones has a way of singing the soul back home without putting it to sleep.

Miriam comes from Vancouver where last year she released her second record, Being Here.

In a word: mellow Monday 21.00 Woebegone Brothers

Karen Grace

Les Passagers

Hopeful and intoxicating the lyrical world of Karen Grace’s songs journey from farmland to funerals, from defiance to dedication. Delicate fingerpicked guitar, with touches of bewitching violin and the magic of a full-sized harp. Both enchanting and fragile.

In a word: spell-binding

Les Passagers are a firm fixture on the Christian music scene in France. They started out supporting church outreach campaigns across France with concerts in venues as varied as the music styles represented in their repertoire of original and cover songs.

In a word: formidable

Monday 20.00

Saturday 13.30

Nikko Fir Named after a tree, Nikko Fir gives you ‘music that is sharp and pungent and cleansing, with a slight air of loneliness and high places’. You’ll be pining for more. Touting ‘acoustic-folkrock’, influences range from Queen and Tree63 to Del Amitri and Duke Special.

In a word: evergreen Monday 15.15

Michael Weston King

Woebegone Brothers

She’s been called a musical magpie – her music spans folk, jazz, rock, country, latin and gypsy – but her Tanita Tikaramesque delivery and solid songcraft bring a cohesive whole to this wide range of influences. Her debut album, Going Just To Be Going, is out now on Polkadot records.

In a word: tremulous

Former leader of alt-country pioneers The Good Sons, Michael is now a highly acclaimed solo troubadour. He’s toured the world with the likes of Nick Cave, John Cale, Roger McGuinn, Steve Earle, Nils Lofgren, Guy Clark, Chris Hillman and Ron Sexsmith, and has released five beautiful, articulate albums along the way.

In a word: classic

These rabblerousers enjoyed a brief but rapturous heyday at Greenbelt back in the 1980s, and now they’re back. Their mission was and is to spread the gospel of Gospel, and their sound still centres around a raw, acoustic buskability with three part call-and-answer vocals and the unique closeness of a true brotherly ensemble.

In a word: yee-haw!

Saturday 16.00

Friday 21.00

Monday 12.30

Kinzli

Sunday 12.30

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Underground

plan is simple: tell the truth as it is, and never compromise.

In a word: gritty

Andensum

Saturday 14.40

Andensum are a six piece heavy rock/metal act, playing a fusion of Eastern melodies with heavy metal undertones.

Formed out of a group of best friends six years ago, they’ve carved a sound all of their own, which they sum up as ‘mystery, melancholy and malice’.

In a word: overdriven Monday 11.20

The Austin Francis Connection Formerly known as Shambles, AFC have now got it together, with catchy hooks, humorous lyrics and flatout banging beats. Less Eminem, more Morecambe & Wise, The Austin Francis Connection follow in the grand English tradition of taking americana and hitting it for six.

In a word: fingerlickingood Sunday 17.00

The Brute Chorus The Brute Chorus combine garage, blues and folk music with Biblical stories, nursery rhymes and fairy tales. They’ve been a MySpace front page featured artist, played at The Secret Garden Party, and have a monthly residency at Camden’s infamous Hawley Arms.

In a word: magical Monday 20.05

The Burn Band All members of the Burn Church in St Albans, the Burn Band break new ground in worship with fervent, passionate torch songs in an expansive rock style.

Their latest release, All From You, showcases their creative and musical excellence.

In a word: hot Friday 17.30

Death is not welcome here Five guys. Five words. Far from being just the band’s name, these words have become a resounding declaration. The

Eben Eben draw on a wide range of musical influences, including folk, classical and experimental, to produce a sound that pushes the boundaries of the conventional rock band. They’ve just recorded an EP, Brightness - ‘melodic, touching tunes that swell with bliss and hope’, according to webzine Room Thirteen.

In a word: stirring Sunday 19.15

The Effras ‘There are not many songs that start with the line ‘West Norwood Cemetery’,’ so says Living South magazine, ‘but then there are few bands like The Effras.’ Named after the tributary that runs, mainly underground, through south London into the Thames, The Effras is a rocking five-piece with ditties about steam trains, the Crystal Palace fire and the demise of the Routemaster bus, in the classic pop vein of The Kinks, Squeeze and Elvis Costello.

In a word: nostalgic Saturday 12.10

Electralyte Electralyte call themselves ‘a crowning glory in intelligent rock’. They cite a dizzying range of influences, but may we invoke Robbie Williams covering The Divine Comedy?

Hummable tunes a-plenty.

The hard-working three-piece from Chelmsford have a new guitarist and a new album out this summer, so expect a fresh energy to their live show.

In a word: electric Friday 20.50

Elliot Jack Purveyors of lovely acoustic/ electronica, the four members of Elliot Jack love delay pedals

and e-bows, Doctor Who, Radio 4 and buying keyboards from eBay that they don’t know how to work properly. They like listening to sad songs that make you sob into your hands, noodly electronica, jangly guitars and film soundtracks.

In a word: yummy Saturday 18.35

The Excuses Citing The Decemberists and Damien Rice amongst their influences, the title of The Excuses’ debut EP – Hug a Hurricane – hints at their stormy intensity. Don’t be deceived by the acoustic guitars and strings; engaging and driven stuff.

In a word: arresting Saturday 13.50

Finchley Finchley was set up with the aim of producing something ‘melodic and beautiful’ and, do you know, they might just have managed it. There’s a summery pinch of Dodgy in the mix. Heart-warming ballads and air-punching rock rub shoulders and get along just fine.

In a word: soulful Monday 10.30

G-Force Alliance In 2002 Richy D (Righteous Intellect Can Help You Decipher) formed this transatlantic hip-hop collective with a mission to keep the essence of hip-hop alive while producing quality Christ-centred music. His next album is due in 2009.

In a word: transatlantic Sunday 10.30

Glitch Purveyors of the finest emo, so far there have been no glitches in Glitch’s master plan: they’ve been playlisted by Radio 1 and Xfm, reviewed by Kerrang! and Metal Hammer and supported Delirious, Wheatus and The Proclaimers.

In a word: anthemic Friday 18.35

Her Enemy Likening their sound to ‘a full on car crash’, Her Enemy don’t like to be pigeonholed but certainly live their lives, and their music, in the fast lane.

The band have a strong DIY ethic, having organised their own EP releases and tours, gaining encouragement from BBC 6 Music’s Zane Lowe along the way.

In a word: full-on Sunday 20.20

MC Righteous MC Righteous – aka Damian Coley – has been producing positive hip hop for the past eight years, performing in prisons, schools, clubs and churches – always inspiring young people with his affirming message.

In a word: positive Monday 13.50

Mordecai Mordecai are a South London four-piece whose music has been described as ‘a deep, rich, dark sound’. They have been gigging extensively over the past year with their EP just out in July, a collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Chris Tsangerides.

In a word: metallic Monday 12.10

My Spoon These guys have all the ingredients to turn an average gig into a memorable night, a simple song into a long lasting sing-a-long, a gathering of people into a party, and a rock show into a ROCK SHOW! In a word: raucous Sunday 21.30

Ni-Cola Ni-Cola is a fresh talent from Manchester who mixes gospel, r’n’b and the catchiest hooks.

With a strong, soothing alto sound that belies her tender years, Ni-Cola was nominated for Best Female Newcomer at

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the Gem Awards in 2004 and went on to win Best Newcomer at the Oasis Awards in 2006.

In a word: smooth

This Morning Call Following rave reviews from Channel 4 and XFM, This Morning Call bring their melodic, experimental blend of rock and electronica to Greenbelt 2008. Their collection of darkly uplifting tunes prove that ‘pop’ is not a dirty word.

In a word: uplifting

Monday 13.00

The Plymouths If you’re the kind of person who likes a danceable sweatfest of huge, memorable choruses and hooks, this is a band for you.

They ran a successful club night at Bournemouth’s prestigious Opera House in 2006, igniting a flurry of fans with their energetic and seemingly flawless shows.

In a word: spiky

Saturday 19.40

Willie and The Bandits Ni-Cola

Sunday 18.10

The Race With a stage-opening appearance at Reading Festival, appearances in Europe, live sessions for Radio 1, 6Music, and XFM and support slots for Supergrass, Babyshambles and the Zutons, this Reading five-piece are gaining popular support. Their new album In My Head It Works, was produced

by Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers/Idlewild). This is a band to watch for the future.

In a word: breaking Saturday 22.00

The Response Collective A wee bit Lemon Jelly, a wee bit Joy Division without the singer, the Collective throw guitars, drum machines and turntables at the wall, and what sticks is a thought-provoking, unpigeonholeable mashup.

In a word: chilled.

Wille and the Bandits are a three-piece ensemble pushing the barriers of roots-rock. The band’s live set energetically and seamlessly juggles funk, reggae, americana, hip hop, latin and rock styles.

In a word: fusion Monday 18.55

Virgin Passages

The Race

Rising from Death

Six Star Hotel

Metal/hardcore band Rising From Death combine a strong message and an unshakeable stage presence. With influences from artists such as Norma Jean, Zao and Living Sacrifice, Rising From Death put together the heavier side of metal with hardcore beat downs and melodic choruses.

In a word: heavy

These four Irish up-starts have met the challenges of trans-European touring and self-funded releases, recording sessions at Abbey Road and demos in dingy basements along the way. Their debut album is already being hailed as a ‘citadel-storming triumph’.

In a word: storming

If you’re a fan of Sigur Rós, empresarios High Voltage reckon this band is ‘your new bible’; Virgin Passages give you chapter and verse on dreamy, spaced-out psychedelia in the tradition of Mercury Rev and Syd Barrett. Time Out says they’re ‘phantasmagoric’. With a tour of Scandinavia under their belt and an appearance in Mojo magazine’s cover CD on the way, this is a band to watch out for.

In a word: ethereal Sunday 12.10

Will Tang

Four mates from Brighton who love making music. There is nothing better. They set out to write great songs and to play them to as many people as possible. No pretence, just good honest song-writing set against an electrifying backdrop.

In a word: down-to-earth

Take one singing drummer, an old drum machine from 1982 and songs about helicopters, ambulances and the devil. Then, imagine a Northern Irish Todd Rundgren fronting Hot Chip and you’re somewhere close.

Dapper threads, clarinets, bin lids and a band of Swedes and synth-wielding Londoners.

In a word: one-off

With a singer who ran away from the travelling carnival and a group of strange musicians straight out of a 1900’s England, Tankus the Henge will delight and excite you. Their music nods at jazz, funk and early ska. They request that everyone wears a hat to their show.

In a word: unhenged

Raised in Rochdale, after school Will put a harmonica in his pocket and followed his Anglo-Chinese roots to Hong Kong where he established himself as the ‘number one blues harp player in Asia’. He has now released his UK debut album, Everything Changes.

The new single from the album, The Other Side, has received fantastic reviews in Q, Uncut and the Guardian, and won the support of Bob Harris and others on Radio 2.

In a word: Zeppelinesque.

Friday 19.40

Monday 17.45

Sunday 13.00

Saturday 11.20

Saturday 13.00

The Reveals

Sunday 13.50

Sadpaw

Saturday 20.50

Tankus the Henge

Greenbelt 08 Music

Wonderland Swedish punk-rockers Wonderland will have you in the moshpit in seconds with their no-nonsense guitarfuelled onslaught. But there’s food for thought as well as a slammin’ good time on offer: they sing about Big Brother, commercialisation, sexism, and having the courage of your convictions.

In a word: maelstrom Saturday 10.30

Yellow Bentines With vibrant piano and trumpetled melodies, Yellow Bentines’ energetic performances have won them support slots for Arctic Monkeys, Editors, Brakes and more. They’ve been filmed

by STV Versacoustic and reached the finals of T in the Park’s T Break Competition as well as recording an Xfm session.

In a word: horny Sunday 11.20

The Meltdown Sessions in Underground

St Ethelburga’s Music

Other venues

In a word: hard

Baluji Shrivastav and Yusuf Mahmoud

Folk Club

A Failed Perfection They write melodic hardcore music. From brutal, scream driven beatdowns to chilled out, neoclassical instrumental sections and everything in between.

Monday 14.35

Back Pocket Prophet Described as a fusion of hard rock, classic metal with a healthy dose of fun, BPP are a band not to miss.

Monday 15.20

Desert Sun Desert Sun have been together just over a year, playing melodic but dry rock inspired by such bands as Alice in Chains and Guns N’ Roses.

Monday 16.05

Ignited Bursting from the heart of the Midlands, Ignited fuse speed with melodic riffs, combining harmonies with frenzied screams. They have something to say. And they’ll say it loud.

Saturday 16.15

The Irrelevants Hailing from Accrington, The Irrelevants make hyperenergetic punk-pop music with a bit of northern grit thrown in.

Saturday 17.00

Kashee Opeiah (pronounce: [kaeshiopaeia]) leave a permanent impression with a sound that is rude and dirty; brutal and thrilling. Their live shows cook up a storm.

Monday 16.50

The Steels The Steels, currently touring their eagerly anticipated second album, Your Name in Lights, are an exciting, edgy three-piece pop-rock band.

Saturday 15.30

Voice of the Mysterons VOTM play impossibly short songs with unutterably long titles about God, monsters and the end of the world. It’s punk rock Jim… but not as we know it!

Saturday 17.45

Baluji is a master of the sitar with the ability to enthral an audience regardless of their musical taste or cultural background. He is also a composer and working on a new performance work Song Celestial which will tour England next year.

Yusuf Mahmoud comes from a long line of famous tabla players in Afghanistan and studied under the world’s most famous tabla player Ustad Allahrakha. He has also performed with sitar, sarod, santoor, bansuri and for ghazal concerts.

In word: transcending Saturday 18.00 Rise Saturday 21.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Sing, play a tune, tell a story or just listen. Beards and sandals welcome but not compulsory.

Saturday 18.00 Cabaret Monday 16.30 Workshops 2

Lawson/Dodds/Woods Drummer/percussionist Roy Dodds, bassist/looper Steve Lawson and keyboardist/ guitarist Patrick Wood. Great spontaneous music, made 100% in the moment.

Saturday 23.00 Cabaret

The iPod Show Plug in your iPod alongside Pip Wilson, play three tracks and answer his questions. Beautiful.

Saturday 21.30 Fresh Talent Stage For Pip’s biog see the Talks listings.

Kadialy Kouyate Hailing from South Senegal, Kadialy is a renowned musician specialising in the unique, 21string African harp, the kora.

Similar to a flamenco guitar, the kora is beautifully hypnotic especially when accompanied by solo voice.

In word: beguiling

tbc tbc’s explosive pop is coupled with amazing dance routines.

In word: terpsichorean Sunday 12.00 Children’s Festival

Club

Sunday 13.45 Rise Sunday 21.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Robo Disco

Mor Karbasi

Bass heavy electro funk action.

Metallic suit optional.

Mor keeps alive Ladino and gypsy songs from Andalusia.

She is descended directly from both Moroccan and Persian Jews, Mor is an avid supporter of flamenco, which provides a strong flavour throughout all her songs. She performed at WOMAD in Charlton Park in 2007 and BBC Radio 3’s ‘World Routes’ proclaimed her‘fantastic!’. Mor will be playing with the silver-fingered Joe Taylor on flamenco guitar.

In word: fiery Friday 20.00 Performance Café Friday 21.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Friday 23.00–02.00 Underground

Club Me Senseless Like the Hacienda, Cream and Fabric all rolled into one.

Saturday 23.00–02.00 Underground

Girls and Boys Air-punching guitar anthems from three decades of indie music.

Sunday 22.30–01.00 Underground

The Optimistic Sound System Warming you up with roots, reggae and a little bit of soul.

Saturday 16.30 Mainstage

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Classical Workshops & Panels The Art of Drum Programming Drum programming for dance music from hip hop to electronica, this workshop outlines how good (or bad) programming can make or break a track.

Monday 10.00 Workshops 2

Making a Music Video on a Budget How to make a good-looking video for your MySpace page.

This workshop will cover all the bases for getting yourself a good promo music video made on a shoestring.

Saturday 10.00 Workshops 2

Music for Film How to use music to convey emotions and feelings in film and TV, covering the conceptual and the technical aspects of filmscoring.

Saturday 17.45 Workshops 2

DJ Workshops Fancy a turn on the wheels of steel? Come to one of our DJ workshops and discover your own inner turn-tablist.

Dalcroze workshops Children’s workshop Do you enjoy music? Listening to it, moving to it, singing, playing? Musical activities that will challenge your listening skills, co-ordination, spatial awareness and imagination!

Sunday 12.15 Workshops 1 Suitable for 7–9 yr olds. Limited numbers.

Adult workshop Come and enjoy a creative whole body musical journey.

Challenge your listening skills, give you new ways into the enjoyment of music!

Sunday 18.15 Workshops 2 Limited numbers. Come in clothing suitable for movement.

Violinist Bethan James studied the whole-body music education method, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, at the Institute Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva.

Marimba Recital The Marimba was born in South Africa, taken to South America in the slave trade, improved on in Guatemala and taken to North America in the early twentieth century. Now used as an orchestra and solo instrument.

Friday 22.00 Workshops 1

Saturday 11.15 Workshops 2 Saturday 14.00 Skate Park Monday 14.00 Skate Park

Gerard Rundell graduated from Goldsmith’s studying percussion under Chris Brannick. He has played with Brake-Drum Assembly, the Royal Yeomanry Band and the St Clements Wind Ensemble.

Signed vs. Unsigned

Messiaen Centenary

Panel discussion Once the only route to success was to get signed and get big, have the rules changed? Is there now a new path to fame, fortune and credibility? Has MySpace given power back to the people, or are artists getting an even worse deal? Join our panel of band promoters, agents, and music insiders, have your say and get the lowdown on the future of music.

Monday 12.30 Workshops 2

Oliver Messiaen 1908–1992 Faith and Spirituality in the music of Olivier Messiaen Christopher Dingle lectures at Birmingham Conservatoire and is the author of several books on French composer Messiaen.

He conceived and organised the Messiaen 2008 International Centenary Conference.

Christopher will be talking about the devout Catholic faith that influenced and drove the work of Messiaen.

Saturday 11.15 Performance Café

Messiaen and More ...

Piano recital featuring extracts

from Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jesus (Twenty Contemplations on the Child Jesus). Stephen presents some of its highlights alongside music

by Debussy and Liszt.

Sunday 13.30 Centaur

Stephen Robbings studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with first class honours and winning almost every prize for performance.

Messiaen recital: ‘The Quartet For The End Of Time’ With a ten-minute introduction

by Christopher Dingle and featuring Verity Butler, Stephen Robbings, Christine Townsend and Michael Mace. Written in WWII prisoner of war camp Stalag 8A, this piece is a luminescent beacon of hope, conceived in the most adverse circumstances. It was first performed by the composer with fellow inmates of the prison.

Saturday 12.00 Centaur

Clarinettist Verity Butler graduated from the Royal College of Music with the coveted Tagore Gold Medal for the most accomplished student.

Christine Townsend studied the violin at the Royal Academy of Music. Since then she has been guest leader of the Hallé and a frequent guest principal with the London Philharmonic and CBSO. Michael Mace studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music, winning the coveted Moir Carnegie Prize. An international performer, he has worked with the RPO and the Moscow Classical Ballet.

The Open Chamber An opportunity to see a chamber rehearsal followed by a performance of the piece.

Sunday 19.00 The Hub

Orchestral Performance

with the Greenbelt Scratch Choir Performing the Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra by Benjamin Brittan, excerpts from The Planet Suite and the Hymn of Jesus by Gustav Holst, and

The Lamb by Sir John Tavener.

Monday 15.15 Mainstage

Conductor, David Beaman studied violin, piano and composition at The Purcell School before going on to The Royal College of Music to study conducting. He’s been principal conductor of Symphonia Academica since 2003.

Narrator, Jason Barnett is currently playing CSE Eddie Olosunje in The Bill. Recent roles include Chapman Carter/ Rudi in the multi award-winning Warhorse at the National and as Pericles in A Winter’s Tale at the RSC. Jason is also a Greenbelt Trustee.

Scratch Choirs Adult Scratch Choir This year’s Adult Scratch Choir is being run by David Beaman.

They will be rehearsing and performing Hymn of Jesus

by Holst and The Lamb by Sir John Tavener. All welcome to rehearsals, but we can’t accommodate everyone in the performance.

Rehearsals: Friday 18.30 Workshops 2, Saturday & Sunday 20.00 Messy Space, Monday 11.00 tbc Mainstage Performance: Monday 15.15 Mainstage

Youth Scratch Choir (11–17s) Matt Beckingham will be rehearsing for a Monday performance, classic pop songs in a gospel style.

Rehearsals: Friday 20.15 Workshops 1, Saturday 18.00 & Sunday 12.30 Humanic Performance: Monday 13.00 Centaur

Children’s Scratch Choir (5–10s) Matt Beckingham will be teaching upbeat songs, including movement and some signing, to make the whole body sing!

Rehearsals: Saturday & Sunday 09.30 Mainstage, Monday 09.30 Mainstage Performance: Monday 14.20 Mainstage

Talks

Frank Schaeffer

Headliners Abdul-Rehman Malik When Greenbelt put a panel together on Britishness, we wanted it to be a Greenbelt panel on Britishness, so naturally we asked a Canadian-born Muslim to be part of it. You’ll soon understand why. Having spent many years as the Religious Affairs Correspondent for The Toronto Star, Abdul-Rehman is now a contributing editor at a leading Muslim current affairs magazine, an arts correspondent for the World Service and a leading activist and educator.

As Senior Project Manager for the Radical Middle Way, a community-led initiative that seeks to encourage the values of public service, mercy and social justice among young British Muslims, this is going to be a significant voice in this vital national debate.

Ann Pettifor History is rarely written from the point of view of the oppressed or the poor. But if it ever is, there is one name that will be eulogised within it: as designer and leader of the Jubilee 2000 campaign, Ann Pettifor has arguably helped more people out of poverty than any single person in history. Even if that book is never written, she ought to be remembered for predicting the Credit Crunch we are now suffering in the West in her 2006 book The Coming First World Debt Crisis. Now Director of Advocacy International, and calling for a ‘Jubilee 2000 for the poor in the UK’, Ann’s is a prudent message that simply can’t be ignored.

Brian McLaren When Time Magazine write someone up as one of the 25

most influential evangelicals in the US, then it’s definitely time to take note. When that same person is also a musician, a songwriter and an English graduate with a special interest in romantic poetry and medieval drama, then it’s beyond note-taking time, and well into careful listening. Brian McLaren is one of the key thinkers in what has become known as the Emerging Church, but his thoughts and writings are resonant of ancient ways, and his insights applicable across the spectrum of faith. Deeply rooted, deeply relevant, this is a voice to savour.

Frank Schaeffer It’s embarrassing enough having any parent at all, but when your dad is regularly hailed as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the past century, it must be unbearable.

That, or a huge privilege. Frank,

Greenbelt 08 Talks

son of Francis, knows this embarrassment and privilege intimately, and, in Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back, has blessed the rest of us with a eye-wateringly funny and poignant memoir of growing up in and beyond the L’Abri community. Yes, we really do have him (partly) to thank for right-wing fundamentalism.

And yes, he’s really sorry. Now a successful novelist, it is a huge honour to have him at the Festival, though his own kids will probably be squirming.

Joel Edwards Do you want the good news or the bad news? The bad news is that ‘evangelical’ used to mean good news, but is now taken as a synonym for intolerance. The good news is that we’ve got Joel Edwards, out-going General

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Ann Pettifor

Maya Anne Evans

Joel Edwards

Nick Davies

Director of the Evangelical Alliance, to address the problem of how to straighten out this mixed-up language. Recently appointed a Commissioner on the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a probation officer in Inner London for 14 years, honorary doctor and canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, Joel is a formidable figure in the Christian church in the UK, and precisely the person to address the question ‘what are evangelicals for in 2008?’

John Swinton Illness affects every single one of us, yet Jesus only healed a few people; God loves us all, but we still see disability as a problem to be solved. These contradictions in our faith and society require very careful thought, and John Swinton, as chair in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at the University of Aberdeen, is the perfect

person to lead us through the complex connections between theology, spirituality and health.

Only the sick need a doctor, Jesus said. We’re all walking wounded, and who better equipped than John to get the diagnosis just right? Make an appointment.

Jonathan Kuttab When your homeland is under systematic strangulation by one country, and supported in this by the world’s only superpower, what better way towards subverting a peace than to become a lawyer in that superpower, and be called to the bar in the country suffocating your own? This is exactly what Jonathan Kuttab has done. In the 60th anniversary of the foundation of Israel, Jonathan, a Palestinian human rights lawyer and activist, knows both the law and the prophets, and is superbly equipped to show us both the

celebration and catastrophe, as well as the racism, in much of our theology surrounding the land that is called Holy.

Maureen Jack We all know about the Suicide Bombers, don’t we? We’ve all seen the news footage of rocket attacks on Israelis, and Palestinians blowing themselves up in nice suburbs.

We know about resistance in the Holy Land, and it’s violent, right? There is another untold story that rarely makes the news. Maureen Jack has been part of Christian Peacemaker Teams for many years, and served with them both before and after the invasion of Baghdad in 2003, and now in the Hebron area of the West Bank. After all the blood on our screens, you owe it to your eyes to come and see the footage of this brave and resilient nonviolent resistance.

Greenbelt 08 Talks

church pastors, discussing postmodernity, phenomenology and ethics. It’s this road that’s led him on from How (not) to Speak of God to write The Fidelity of Betrayal, which again demands that our beliefs are ruptured, precisely so that we can believe in them afresh.

Miraculous and orthodox, heretical and Ikonic, this is edgy theology that is gently taking centre stage.

Prem Mitra Prem Mitra

Sara Miles

Maya Anne Evans We live in a country with free speech. Our leaders sent soldiers to fight in another country. Some of these soldiers died. Maya Anne Evans went to the Cenotaph, the place where our country remembers its fallen soldiers, and read out those names. And for this, she was arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. If this is what a free democracy looks like, we should all be very worried. Thankfully, we can provide her a platform from which she can share her experiences of activism, and how we can treat Muslims – the majority of whom hold perfectly moderate views – fairly.

Nick Davies A few years ago, having been ridiculed for leading with a story of a Lancaster bomber being found on the moon, a

British tabloid followed up the next day with the headline ‘Lancaster bomber on the moon disappears.’ Unfortunately, distortion, propaganda and plain untruth are rampant in much more serious wings of the press. Fortunately, Nick Davies, recently named Journalist of the Year, has stuck his neck out and investigated his own colleagues.

So if you want to know if you can believe all you read, or even some of it, go and get the scoop.

Peter Rollins When you’ve written, according to one of the best respected Christians in the US, ‘one of the two or three most rewarding theology books of the past 10 years’, where do you go next?

Peter’s is the narrow way that’s taken him from evangelist to doctor in philosophy on the hard streets of Belfast, where he’s walked with continental philosophers and mega-

Elephants are lovely things aren’t they? Strong, peaceful and serene, they are the perfect symbol of modern, post-colonial India. That is, until they smash whole villages, pillage crops and cause riots. But perhaps these contradictory images are symbolic of India too: a hugely advanced computing industry, the world’s thirdbiggest democratic economy, yet millions living in slums or declared ‘untouchable.’ Here to sort out these elephantine problems, is theologian, minister, environmentalist and activist, Prem Mitra. From demonstrating how chillis and old rope are helping elephants and villagers become friends again, to the nationwide challenges of carbon emissions, this is one not to forget.

Tina Beattie There is a new breed of atheist about and, led by the fearsome Dawkins, and flanked by Hitchens and Harris, they are on a zealous crusade to free us from our dark-age delusions about religion, and take us to the enlightened kingdom of scientific rationalism. Thankfully, there are thoughtful academics like Tina Beattie around to plead for mutual understanding, that we stop cheap point-scoring on either side of the debate. A professor in Catholic Studies at Roehampton University and President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain, she’s also a specialist in gender and human rights issues, and a prolific author and broadcaster. Deluded about God? This one ain’t.

Sara Miles Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and writer. Then early one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. She ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed. Best-selling author of the spiritual memoir Take This Bread, she founded St Gregory’s Food Pantry in San Francisco where, every Friday, literally tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables, pasta and beans are distributed from around the altar to poor families in the area. She is here for the first time at Greenbelt with priest and artist Paul Fromberg to talk liturgy, community, food and service. Delicious.

All the talks listed in the following pages will be recorded and talks order forms will be available in all venues.

Talks threads CC Climate Change EC Emerging Church ID Identity IP Israel-Palestine

Greenbelt 08 Talks

Anders Bergquist is the vicar of St John’s Wood, London and was previously Vice-Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge and Canon Residentary of St Alban’s Abbey.

Going East: The church you never knew We’re told that it was 18th- and 19th-century missionaries who took Christianity to Japan and China. But a much older, usually secret, history challenges our Eurocentric picture.

Sunday 11.15 Fresh Talent Stage

Andy Mellen is an organic smallholder from Suffolk. He has spent six years in Africa working on sustainable development projects.

An Inconvenient Truth 2 Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the car, increases in the price of food and fuel are causing concern here, and hardship around the world. How can we understand the underlying realities and face an uncertain future with hope?

Saturday 10.00 Fresh Talent Stage CC

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Live by Gandhi/Learn by Google: faith in a digital democracy Digital media culture has transformed the way ideas and information are gathered and shared, but what does this mean for faith in the 21st century? What does religion look like now?

Sunday 18.15 Children’s Festival

Bev Thomas is a freelance consultant and lecturer working on social justice and race issues. She has worked previously as Project Development Officer for the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice, board member of the Evangelical Alliance and the chair of the Christian Socialist Movement.

The Beatification of Enoch Powell What influence did Enoch Powell really have in the unexpected Tory election victory of 1970? Did he dare to say what others thought, or change the climate of opinion?

40 years on has he been proved to be right or is there an attempt to rehabilitate his reputation?

Saturday 12.30 Shine

Ann Pettifor

Brian McLaren

see p62

see p62

A jubilee for first world debtors?

Consumers in Anglo-American economies are engulfed by credit/debt. Poor borrowers and homeowners, as well as businesses, find themselves deserted by the ‘guardians of the nation’s finances’ – central bank governors and finance ministers. Is it time for a jubilee for poor debtors in rich countries?

Rediscovering Christian faith as a way of life In the hands of institutions, the way of Jesus becomes a list of rules or a system of beliefs instead of the vibrant and world-transforming way of life it was intended to be. How can we recover faith as a way?

How would our churches be transformed by training people in a way of life?

Monday 11.15 Rise

Barry Taylor is artist in residence for the Brehm Center, California, and teaches pop culture and theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of Entertainment Theology: NewEdge Spirituality in a Digital Democracy.

Postmodern and postcolonial The conversation about the emerging church is only one part of a larger discussion that is taking place around the world. Where the West focuses on culture and truth, the South looks at culture and justice. Where the West has concentrated on the church, the South thinks in terms of society.

Now that the two are becoming aware of each other, where might it lead?

Sunday 10.00 Rise EC

Charlie Irvine is a freelance mediator, helping people resolve conflict in families, the workplace, education and business. His workshops are scary but fun, combining reflection and practice and challenging us to think more deeply about the way we deal with others.

Conflict resolution workshop ‘No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched’ (George Jean Nathan). Conflict is a fact of life, but that doesn’t make it any easier to handle. In this interactive workshop one of the UK’s most experienced mediators will help you consider your own responses to conflict and learn how to work towards resolution.

Saturday 10.00 Cabaret

Chris Curtis

Christopher Dingle lectures at Birmingham Conservatoire and is the author/ editor of several books on the French composer Olivier Messiaen. He writes for BBC Music Magazine and was a member of the jury for the 2008 BBC Music Magazine awards.

‘I have the great fortune to be a believer’: faith and spirituality in the music of Messiaen Olivier Messiaen was one of the most influential religious artists and composers of the twentieth century. Writing in a time dominated by cynicism and abstraction, the irrepressible optimism of his expression of religious conviction were remarkable. In the composer’s century year, Christopher Dingle explores Messiaen’s musical meditations.

Saturday 11.15 Perfomance Café

Also: Messiaen and More ...

A programme of piano music featuring extracts from Messiaen’s ‘Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jesus’ (‘Twenty Contemplations on the Child Jesus’). Stephen Robbings presents some of its highlights alongside music by Debussy and Liszt.

Sunday 13.30 Centaur

Clare Catford

once got lost in a car park as a toddler. This might explain why he’s addicted to Lost, the cult TV show. When he’s not on the Island, he’s director of a charity working with young people in Bedfordshire as well as writing for Youthwork magazine.

has spent 20 years presenting and reporting for the UK’s major television and radio networks. She currently hosts The Guardian’s news podcasts and also writes for The Times, Telegraph, and a number of women’s magazines.

Praying naked Many of us feel guilty that we don’t pray enough, correctly, or effectively. Sometimes, we don’t really understand the whole idea. When we strip it down to its simplest and most basic elements, what is prayer?

When we strip ourselves down, what can prayer become to us?

Finding meaning in Lost Is Lost where we find spirituality in today’s culture?

Does a message for the church lie somewhere deep within the island? One of TV’s most popular shows, Lost is a glorious mixture of the supernatural and mysterious.

A playful exploration of one of the most debated dramas of the last few years.

I just can’t stop: Addiction the hidden secret Drinking, eating, shopping, taking drugs, reading porn, having sex, going in and out of unhealthy relationships, working… what do you do when you can’t give it up?

Compulsively ‘act out’ secretly, and live with the shame? Or give up on your faith and leave the church altogether?

Saturday 15.15 Rise EC

17.45 Saturday Foxhunter

Monday 10.00 Cabaret

Friday 19.15 Rise EC

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Dave Bookless is the Founder and National Director of A Rocha UK, part of a Christian environmental movement that stretches across six continents. His book Planetwise was published by IVP in early 2008.

Living lightly in God’s world Part 1 As the climate changes and creation groans, what resources can the Christian faith give us for living hopefully and differently on planet earth? Is the Bible part of the problem, or does it give us some radical hints on living hopefully and sustainably?

Sunday 10.00 Fresh Talent Stage CC Part 2: Sunday 17.00 Children’s Festival (Ruth Valerio)

Dave Tomlinson is a writer, speaker and vicar of St Luke’s church in north London. His books include The Post-Evangelical, Running into God and Still Waters and Skyscrapers.

Re-enchanting Christianity: Faith for today An exploration of how Christianity, once deconstructed, can become credible again – not by returning to some lost innocence, but by discovering a realistic faith that reconciles heart and head: a gritty spirituality for the 21st century.

Friday 18.00 Shine

David Dark has brought his troubled wits to bear on Flannery O’Connor, Radiohead, The Big Lebowski, and the USA’s conflicted understanding of itself. His books include Everyday Apocalypse and The Gospel according to America.

The Gospel according to the USA: Questioning America in a year of election With an eye on the passing of US global hegemony, David Dark discusses the battle for hearts and minds in the presidential campaign. What

does it mean for those who intend to be faithful to God’s kingdom?

Friday 20.30 Shine

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Brainwashed: Questioning religion To what do we refer when we speak of religious commitment?

Is there any other kind? David Dark suggests that we’re perhaps most faithful to the world God so loves when we bring a redemptive and redeeming scepticism to our own religiosity.

Saturday 19.30 Children’s Festival

The power of the put on: Questioning media Mainstream media is carefully designed and redesigned to hold our attention by any means necessary. But the more democratic forms of blogging, music and poetry afford us a landscape in which our ethical orientations are no longer so overwhelmingly hijacked by multimedia advertising.

Sunday 10.00 Shine

Doug Gay is a long-term Greenbelter who teaches Practical Theology at the University of Glasgow. His current research focuses on ‘emerging church’ issues and political theology, especially theology and nationalism.

The Party’s over Membership of political parties is falling rapidly. Is this a cause for alarm or celebration?

‘Counting ourselves out’ can be a prophetic option for Christians in the UK today, but what it would take for us to regain our faith in party politics?

Saturday 14.00 Arena

Scotbelt?

An exploratory gathering for anyone interested in a Greenbeltstyle event in Scotland. With Doug Gay and others.

Saturday 19.15 Workshops 2

Douglas Alexander MP was delivering Christian Aid leaflets thirty years before becoming Secretary of State for International Development

(his current cabinet post). He worked as a lawyer before entering Parliament and has previously been Secretary of State for Transport; Secretary of State for Scotland; Minister of State for Europe; Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs; and Minister for e-Commerce and Competitiveness.

Is Poverty Being Made History?

Douglas Alexander answers your questions on the UK’s role in the global campaign to end poverty... and on what you can do to make a difference.

Saturday 17.45 Shine

Why Politics Matters Mainstream politics is under fire as never before with people questioning its claim to be an effective tool for changing our world. The traditional political parties, it is claimed, are all much of a muchness, as more people turn to single issue lobbying groups or abandon politics altogether. Douglas Alexander makes the case that democratic politics continues to be the most effective way in which we can transform the world we share.

Sunday 12.00 Centaur

Frank Schaeffer see p62 Crazy for God Part 1 Growing up in a Christian community with L’Abri: a personal reflection.

Saturday 10.00 Rise

Crazy for God Part 2 The religious right and how I helped found it.

Justice and Mercy in a Consumer World Justice and mercy are becoming commodities to be bought and sold; relationship and compassion are being squeezed out. How do we make real Jesus’ call to love God and others and not be ripped off by a culture that sucks the generosity out of us?

Sunday 17.00 Arena

Gareth Higgins is a writer from Belfast who has worked both as an academic and activist, co-leading a post-sectarian peace-building initiative for over a decade. He is the author of How Movies Helped Save My Soul and the forthcoming How To Enjoy Life Without Killing Anyone.

Irish soul Once known as the ‘land of saints and scholars’, Ireland is now in danger of being reduced to a ‘land of stocks and shares’.

What does the Irish soul look like now, and what might its gifts of spirituality yet be to us? A look at the connections, blessings and challenges offered by Ian Paisley, Sinead O’Connor, Colin Farrell and the movie Once.

Saturday 10.00 Arena ID

Why films can make us kill each other... or save the world Using clips from films such as Jaws, Secrets and Lies, Rocky and The Big Lebowski, Gareth Higgins brings his experience in Northern Ireland to bear on questions of film and reconciliation.

Sunday 18.15 Foxhunter

Monday 10.00 Shine

Garth Hewitt Fuzz Kitto is the director of Spirited Consulting and hosts Start The Day Right on 103.2FM in Sydney.

He consults, speaks, trains and networks across New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Africa, Asia and Melanesia.

His main areas of focus are mission, youth ministry and the emerging church.

is a singer/songwriter, Director of the Amos Trust, a Canon of St George’s Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem, and the Guild Vicar of All Hallows on the Wall in the City of London.

The strange but true story of Tawfiq Salsaa’s Walled Nativity When Amos Trust marketed the Walled Nativity last December, it led to international press

Greenbelt 08 Talks

coverage, hundreds of orders, vitriolic emails and 38,000 hits on YouTube. Garth Hewitt tells the story of how artists brought the strangling of Bethlehem to world attention.

Saturday 11.15 Foxhunter IP

Ian Mobsby is a CofE Priest and works with moot.net, an emerging church in central London. He is also an Associate Missioner of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Fresh Expression’s team.

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Iwan Russell-Jones

James Cary

is a producer at BBC Wales, having previously worked as an Associate Professor of Theology, Media and Culture at Columbia Theological Seminary. His recent projects for the BBC have included a documentary about the theological dimensions of Martin Luther King’s leadership of the civil rights movement.

is a comedy writer. He wrote Think the Unthinkable and cowrote Concrete Cow and The House of Milton Jones for BBC Radio 4.

What the emerging church and the desert mothers & fathers have in common Some emerging churches have reappropriated an ancient Trinitarian understanding of the faith as a model for church and spirituality in the 21st century.

Could this understanding help us be and do church – and help with our own human becoming?

Fields of praise: God and the great sporting liturgies Since Tertullian, religious imagery and sport have never been far away: the stadium shrines, devoted supporters, teams that have experienced resurrection and athletes who’ve achieved immortality.

Does sport feed a deeply religious need in contemporary society? Have its rituals and liturgies eclipsed those of the Christian Church?

Saturday 18.15 Children’s Festival EC

Sunday 11.15 Rise

Comedy in the Bible The Bible is not generally considered a funny book. In fact, much comedy has been derived from its seriousness.

And yet the Bible contains Whitehall farces, knock-about slapstick, wordplay, and plenty of rude bits. James Cary hopes to point them out to you and explain why little donkeys are funny, especially when Jesus rides them.

Monday 16.00 Workshops 1

Jane Corbett and Ann Roach Ann and Jane have been working together in West Everton in Liverpool for more

than 20 years. Ann is the Chairperson of the residentled West Everton Community Council and Jane is a Labour Councillor for the Everton ward on Liverpool City Council.

Mind the gap Does inequality really matter?

What could be a response? Is the Bible silent on the matter?

Answers with examples from an inner-city community in Liverpool.

Friday 18.00 Foxhunter

Jenny Baker is a writer, trainer and Greenbelt Trustee. With a background in teaching and youthwork, she is a co-founder of The Sophia Network for women in youthwork. She’s written a number of books and is the creator of the Breathe installation, enabling secondary school pupils to explore some of life’s big questions.

Greenbelt 08 Talks

Sod the difference!

Genesis tells us that men and women are incomplete without each other, so why is there still a gender split within the church? How do we respond to accusations that the church is not a place for ‘real’ men?

How we might move beyond the gender difference debate?

Monday 15.15 Rise

Joel Edwards see p63 What are Evanglicals for in 2008?

People should recognise us as good news citizens who are integral to our communities and the public square. Our future as Evangelicals is to be at the heart of spiritual and social transformation for our society – this is our Agenda For Change.

Saturday 11.15 Rise

John Bell was born within smelling distance of Johnny Walker’s distillery in Kilmarnock and presently lives within smelling distance of Tenant’s Brewery in Glasgow. Despite that, he leads an abstemious life, emulating St. Augustine and St. Francis in his affection for car-driving, mobile phones and spam. The Iona Community employs him as a vagrant.

Dangerous inclusivity In an era when asylum-seekers and foreigners are suspected in Britain, are there Gospel perspectives on the ‘outsider’ that Christians need to rediscover?

Friday 18.00 Rise

The need to disbelieve in miracles In previous eras, miracles were suspected because they couldn’t be scientifically disproved, but there are perhaps deeper reasons about what it is they address that encourage us to avoid looking too closely.

Saturday 12.30 Rise

Faith in a failing church With churches diminishing in size, is it now time to close the

doors for good and wait for God to do something different? Or is the desert time part of God’s purpose?

Sunday 18.15 Arena EC

John Davies is a Church of England vicar in Liverpool, near where he was born. Last year he took a sabbatical to walk along the M62 and he is about to begin a MPhil titled Urban Walking in L11: Psychogeography and Theology in a White WorkingClass Community.

Walking with the psychogeographers Last autumn John Davies took a two-month walk across the country from Hull back home to Liverpool, following the M62 corridor. The diary of his journey – together with highlights of his Twitter postings – was published as Walking the M62 and John reads from the book while investigating the connections between theology, spirituality and psychogeography.

Monday 10.00 Perfomance Café

John Swinton see p63 Why are some healed and others not?

Healing was central to the ministry of Jesus and a vital ministry of the Church, but it can be confusing and contradictory. We often assume that Jesus’ healing is the same as the healing carried out by doctors but what did he intend to achieve through his healing?

Jonathan Kuttab see p63 God is not racist For some the subjugation of the Palestinian people is acceptable because God is on the side of the Jews. But the occupation of the Palestinians includes segregation between Jew and Arab. How do we move from a theology of exclusivity and racism to one of universalism and love, and how should Christians respond?

Saturday 17.45 Arena iP

Israel at 60: Celebration or Catastrophe?

Israel’s birthday is understood rather differently in Palestine, whose inhabitants have experienced 60 years of catastrophe (‘nakba’). Jonathan Kuttab discusses the largest refugee group in the world.

Sunday 11.15 Shine IP

Judith Gunn has worked for all the BBC radio networks and published five books on subjects ranging from Dostoyevsky to the voyage of the Mayflower. She has written for the Radio Times and Time Out magazine and now lectures in Media Studies at Cirencester College.

Of God, gods and Galactica As Cylon and Human pursue each other through space in Battlestar Galactica, they bring together ideas of identity, God, gods and extremism in a heady mix of CGI science fiction and some potent contemporary issues.

Saturday 14.00 Foxhunter

Saturday 15.15 Arena

The body of Christ has Down’s Syndrome Why do we think that disability is a problem to be solved rather than a way of life to be valued and lived out? And why do we think it is an issue of social justice to accept and value people with disabilities while at the same time creating a society that constantly indicates that it would be better if ‘they’ were not here?

Sunday 12.30 Shine

Kathy Galloway is the leader of the Iona Community. She is a practical theologian, campaigner and author of theology, liturgy and poetry. She is patron of the Student Christian Movement and the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre.

Scottish identity & spirituality: Facing our own truths ‘Nations and peoples are largely the stories they

feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lies’ says Ben Okri in Birds of Heaven. What might that mean for Scotland?

Saturday 10.00 Shine ID

Keith Ward has taught philosophy at Glasgow, St. Andrews, King’s College, London and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1972 and was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford for 12 years. He has written many books, including: God: a Guide for the Perplexed, Christianity: a Guide for the Perplexed and Is Religion Dangerous?

Why there is almost certainly a God Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion has been a worldwide bestseller but its arguments are flawed. Keith Ward explains why and argues that the existence of God is our best safeguard for the rationality of the universe and our basic moral intuitions.

Sunday 19.30 Shine

Kerry Anthony has been working in homeless services for more than 12 years, particularly with people with acute substance misuse and mental health issues. She is currently the Chief Executive of Depaul Trust in Ireland, working with homeless people across Europe and the USA. Rising sun, rising hope?

How does homelessness affect the 70-year-old man living in a hostel in Dublin or the 12-yearold girl surviving in the sewers in the Ukraine? This talk seeks to explore and understand the stories of the people that Depaul serve each day across the world.

Saturday 11.15 Fresh Talent Stage

Lucy Winkett is Canon Precentor of St Paul’s Cathedral, responsible for its music and liturgy. She

Greenbelt 08 Talks

is a founding advisor for the public theology thinktank, Theos; a columnist in Third Way magazine; a Trustee of the Amos Trust; and writes, speaks and broadcasts regularly on culture, gender and music.

Looking for New England?

England’s 16th century reforming pioneers either left to found an England somewhere else, or stayed to reclaim their 4th century roots. Now Englishness seems a controversial concept, most likely expressed in chants of ‘Eng-er-land’ and the newly-popular flag of St George. Where is the soul of the English and can classic English spirituality find new expression apart from Empire or the Last Night of the Proms?

Sunday 12.30 Rise ID

Maureen Jack see p63 Non-violent resistance in occupied Palestine Violent resistance by Palestinians is always headline news. But this illustrated presentation tells another story: of brave and resilient non-violent resistance in the Hebron area of the West Bank.

Friday 19.10 Foxhunter IP

Maya Anne Evans see p64 Treating Islam fairly Opinion polls show that the majority of the world’s Muslims hold entirely moderate views in relation to violence, democracy and women’s rights, yet hostile media bias means the religion is held in contempt. A lesson in what activists should be doing to counter negative coverage.

Sunday 10.00 Performance Café IF

Michael Morpurgo Michael Morpurgo is, in his own words, ‘oldish, married with three children, and a grandfather six times over.’ He’s a former Children’s Laureate, author of Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom, and War

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Horse, the hit stage adaptation which will return to The National Theatre in September.

A Storymaker’s Journey Award-winning author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo talks about his writing, inspiration and the craft of storytelling.

Saturday 15.15 Shine

discovering that he works in ‘a corrupt profession’. He exposes how the business of reporting the truth has been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance, revealing the dark secrets of the Sunday Times, the Observer and The Daily Mail.

Saturday 14.00 Shine

Michael Northcott

Nigel Varndell

is an Anglican priest and Reader in Christian Ethics at the University of Edinburgh.

His book An Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire stirred up controversy in suggesting there was a significant Christian millennialist and Zionist strain to US foreign policy. His new book is A Moral Climate? The Ethics of Global Warming.

has worked at Christian Aid for more than ten years, working in fundraising, advocacy and Church Relations before ending up as the Inter-faith Manager.

He spends half of his time getting people from different faiths to work together and the other half trying to convince his colleagues that Christians don’t have a monopoly on caring for the poor.

Sacred energy During the industrial revolution William Blake described energy as ‘God’s eternal delight’. If we are to prevent the planet burning up from climate change we need to recover a deep reverence for the planetary energy that fuels our daily lives.

Slavery is biblical We know that slavery is wrong, yet sincere believing Christians once defended it on biblical grounds. Today’s Christians also argue over issues like the Middle East or trade justice, defending their opinions biblically. So how do we move beyond division to consensus on these ethical issues?

Monday 15.15 Shine CC

Niall Williams is a best-selling novelist and playwright whose latest book re-imagines the final years of John the Apostle.

John Now a frail, blind old man, John lives in exile on desolate Patmos with some loyal disciples. The group has endured banishment because of its preaching, but after years awaiting Christ’s return fissures form within their faith. Niall Williams talks about his lyrical re-imagining of John the Apostle.

Monday 15.15 The Hub

Nick Davies see p64 Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media Nick Davies breaks Fleet Street’s unwritten rule and investigates his own colleagues,

Monday 11.15 Arena

Niki Gollings and Jude Simpson Niki is a youthworker with the e:merge project in Bradford. e:merge is recognised for its work enabling young people from underprivileged backgrounds develop in relation to self, others and God. Jude is a stand-up poet who performs at theatres and events across the UK and writes for Third Way magazine. She also leads school workshops and is the author of Just Walk With Me, the story of e:merge.

Real youthwalk: walking with the urban poor Is it possible for a middle class church to get alongside young people from underprivileged backgrounds? Niki Gollings talks through the practical issues of dealing with hurting

young people and Jude Simpson reads from Just Walk With Me. Monday 10.00 Fresh Talent Stage

Paula Gooder is a freelance writer and lecturer with a particular interest in the New Testament.

She is a reader in the Church of England and a member of the General Synod.

Searching for Meaning: How should you read the Bible?

Alas, no formula exists for reading the Bible ‘right’, but there are things we can do to make sure we understand it ‘better’ and avoid some classic pitfalls. Attempting that is exhilarating, frustrating, challenging, inspiring ... and of course transforming.

Monday 11.15 Cabaret

Peter Rollins see p64 Changing something so that everything remains the same The church is awash with expressions of faith that appear to challenge church life. But what if these ‘new forms’ are actually ensuring that nothing really changes? Peter explores the possibility of radical faith collectives that do not just change the way we express faith but fundamentally rupture and transform the way we understand it.

Monday 11.15 Rise EC

Beyond the spectacular: Exploring the miracle of Christianity Can the present, future, and even the past be altered by supernatural intervention?

Such debates find a happy home in undergraduate philosophy class, but the Christian idea of the miraculous is infinitely more radical and incredible than mere spectacle.

Monday 17.00 Children’s Festival

Philip Roderick is a percussionist and composer, an author, speaker and the Founder-Director of The Quiet Garden Movement.

Greenbelt 08 Talks

He has worked as a teacher and trainer in the Universities of Wales and Oxford and now runs Contemplative Fire.

Was Jesus a jazz musician?

What if the whole Kingdom thing is a paradox of deep discipline and holy improvisation, of risking prayer and playfulness?

What if being in flow is about our attentiveness to minute particulars while connecting to the surprising syncopation of the Holy Spirit?

Monday 11.15 Performance Café

Philip Yancey is a prolific writer, Editor at Large of Christianity Today and Co-Chair of the Editorial Board for Books and Culture.

His most recent book is Prayer and others include Reaching for the Invisible God, What’s So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew.

What do I do with my doubts?

If you’ve never questioned the existence of God, visited a pediatric oncology ward, watched news of a famine on TV, or wondered about the integrity of some passages in the Old Testament, then avoid this session. Practical hints on how to handle doubt, which, as Yancey says, ‘is the very thing that brought me to faith.’

Saturday 16.30 Rise

The Secret of the Universe The world is good. The world is fallen. The world will be redeemed. Those three sentences summarise the Christian doctrines of Creation, Fall, Redemption. But how do they apply in a world that includes slavery in Sudan, environmental destruction, and natural catastrophes; or to the ordinary Christian trying to make sense of the mystery of existence?

Sunday 18.15 Rise

Does prayer make any difference? (with Saltmine Theatre Company) Do my prayers make any difference? Why pray about something if God already knows? Do my prayers change God or do they change me?

How can I make prayer more satisfying? In a multimedia format involving interviews and sketches by the hilarious-yetpoignant Saltmine drama team, Philip Yancey will address these issues.

Sunday 10.00 Centaur

Pip Wilson works for West London YMCA as a training and development consultant and also freelances in the corporate and voluntary sectors offering an Emotional Literacy speciality. He has written 12 books on youth and communication – including the Blob Tree resources.

All About Gangs Why they form, understanding the dynamics, how can we work with them, what the everyday human can do about the noisy group in their street. A film-full, feelings-full, participative workshop. Understand more.

Fear less.

Saturday 10.00 Foxhunter

Prem Mitra see p64 Getting on with elephants How A Rocha India is using chilli, tobacco and old rope to address the longstanding human/elephant conflict in Southern India.

Saturday 11.15 Arena

I-NDIA Bangalore is a global IT powerhouse, yet millions live in slums. What are the environmental impacts and challenges facing new India?

Saturday 16.30 Shine CC

Greenbelt 08 Talks

A hidden apartheid Why, in the world’s thirdbiggest democratic economy, are 250 million people denied their human rights? The caste system in India today.

Monday 10.00 Arena

Richard Burridge is the Dean of King’s College London and also a Professor of Biblical Interpretation there.

He is the author of many books including Imitating Jesus: An Inclusive Approach to New Testament Ethics, and has just been speaking at the Lambeth Conference.

Does the Bible exclude people?

In the church there is a tension between those who claim to be ‘biblical’ and those who want to be ‘inclusive’. Drawing on a decade’s research into the use of the Bible under apartheid in South Africa, Richard Burridge challenges this view as a false opposition.

Saturday 16.30 Arena

Robert Beckford is a theologian, author and documentary filmmaker based at London Metropolitan University. He has been at the forefront of the theology and cultural studies movement in Britain for the last decade. His current research explores the bewitchment of black British Christianity by the demonic spirits of materialism and social passivity.

The great African scandal Together with Christian Aid, Robert Beckford recently travelled to Ghana in West Africa, where, two centuries ago, his ancestors were seized and taken as slaves to Jamaica.

There, he discovered the hidden costs of rice, chocolate and gold – as he struggled to survive on the average daily wage of 60p. He wonders if Northern financing and aid have actually made countries like Ghana worse off? And, most importantly, he asks what we, as consumers and citizens, can do to can make a difference.

Sunday 17.00 Rise

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Rosemary Lain-Priestley is an Anglican priest working on the development of female clergy, and a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day. Life’s ordinary magic: Encountering God in the reality of our lives How can we connect with ourselves, each other and God through the small miracles of everyday life, the issues and events that shape our world?

Rosemary Lain-Priestley asks how, by attentiveness to these things, we can become more deeply human, more fully alive.

Monday 10.00 Foxhunter

Ruth Valerio is the Manager of A Rocha’s Living Lightly 24:1 project, which enables people to live greener, simpler lives, and is the author of L is for Lifestyle: Christian living that doesn’t cost the earth. She is doing doctoral studies at Kings College London.

Living lightly in God’s world Part 2 What does it mean to live lightly in God’s world today? What practical steps can we take in our own lives to respond to God’s call for righteousness and justice for the earth and all its inhabitants?

Sunday 17.00 Children’s Festival CC

Salley Vickers is the author of Mr Golightly’s Holiday, Instances of the Number 3 and Miss Garnet’s Angel. An analytical psychologist, she lectures widely on the connections between literature, psychology and religion. Besides writing her most recent novel, Where Three Roads Meet, she is working on a book telling the story of the Book of Common Prayer.

Life and Death, Love and Art in the novels of Salley Vickers Greenbelt doesn’t shy away from the big themes and nor does Salley Vickers. Here she gives insights into her novels, including the latest, Where

Three Roads Meet, a reworking of the Oedipus myth starring Sigmund Freud.

Saturday 16.30 The Hub

Interview with Salley Vickers Salley is quizzed by Jo Wroe – and you.

Sunday 11.15 The Hub

Sara Miles see p64 Eating Jesus How a piece of bread was revealed as God to an unprepared unbeliever; how body and blood become free groceries for the city’s poor. Sara Miles talks about her radical conversion, and, along with artist/priest Paul Fromberg, about the principles of worship that transform individuals and churches.

Saturday 11.15 Shine

Eating with Jesus Food, art, politics, and worship.

Paul Fromberg and Sara Miles from St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco lead a workshop on how to revitalise Christian community by connecting liturgy and service.

Sunday 11.45 Arena EC

Glorifying the stranger How to be church for the wrong people: emerging worship with whores, foreigners and the ritually unclean. A lesson in how to welcome the stranger.

Monday 11.15 Shine EC

Simon Jones is the editor of Third Way. He was born and grew up in a Welsh valley town, and studied critical theory at the University of Wales, Cardiff.

What’s occurring? Welsh identity and being not conformed Christianity there goes back a long way, but Wales is now the least religious of the British nations. We like sheep have gone astray? What links Latinspeaking saints with the Welsh Revival and Stacey’s Uncle Bryn?

Sunday 11.15 Performance Café ID

Simon Parke has been a writer for 25 years and was a priest in the Church of England for 20. His most recent books are The Beautiful Life and Another Bloody Retreat. He also runs and leads retreats.

Shelf life – A newspaper column of supermarket soap This year, Simon has been writing a weekly column for the Daily Mail, based on his experiences working in a supermarket. We visit the supermarket aisles and reflect on the art, glory and nightmares of sustaining a newspaper column. Language, abuse, truth and laughter.

Saturday 11.30 The Hub

The beautiful Enneagram What is the relationship between language and truth?

Simon reflects on his two recent books – The Beautiful Life and Enneagram: A private session with the world’s greatest psychologist – in search of a language fit for psychological accuracy. It would be a shame to be lost – for words.

Saturday 15.15 The Hub

St Ethelburga’s Tent Simon Keyes works as the Director of St Ethelburga’s after some years in the field of mental health, homelessness and crime prevention. He set up the Christian Mediation Centre in London, is a video maker and is writing a book about walking.

Helen Gilbert is Programme Co-ordinator at St Ethelburga’s, developing practical projects around nonviolence, reconciliation and youthwork.

Chris Hewer is a St Ethelburga’s Fellow in Christian-Muslim relations.

A Christian priest, he is widely recognised as a leading authority on Islam and his book Understanding Islam is a standard text.

Jay Lakhani is a scientist, author and regular broadcaster, a member of the Hindu Council, and a champion of the Vivekananda Centre.

Greenbelt 08 Talks

Alison Murdoch set up the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London ten years ago. She is the author of 16 Guidelines for a Happy Life and runs the Foundation for Universal Compassion and Wisdom.

Adrian Rance is the Warden of the Abbey at Sutton Courtney and a long-standing member of the Bede Griffiths Sangha.

The Marriage of East and West: How have Buddhism and Hinduism influenced Christianity?

What can Christians learn from the East? With Simon Keyes, Adrian Rance and Alison Murdoch.

Saturday 14.30 IF

Muhammad: Could he be an example for Christians?

With Chris Hewer.

Sunday 17.00 & Monday 10.30 IF

The Muslim Jesus Jesus is a central figure in Islam – what does this mean for Christians? With Chris Hewer.

Sunday 18.30 & Monday 14.30 IF

Stephen Carrick-Davies is the CEO of Childnet, a nonprofit organisation working internationally – and with the UK Government – in its mission of ‘helping to make the internet a great and safe place for children’.

Growing up Digital: Opportunities and challenges for young people and parents When more of us are shaping our identiy and communities online, how can families get the right tech-life balance?

Stephen Carrick-Davies takes a look at the opportunites the digital era creates, but also the very real safeguarding issues of cyberbullying and commercialisation.

Monday 14.00 Foxhunter

40 years Of Astral Weeks Widely considered one of the best albums ever, Belfast’s Steve Stockman looks into Van Morrison’s classic with the help of another Belfast boy Iain Archer. Where are Cypress Avenue and Sandy Row? Why they are important to Van’s transcendental vision? Is Van’s ‘born again’ the Christian kind?

Friday 18.15 Arena

Stephen Sizer is the vicar of Christ Church, Virginia Water. He has written books about Israel/Palestine and Christian Zionism.

Zion’s Christian soldiers marching as to war An examination of how the Bible is used to justify war and occupation in Palestine, dealing with subjects like Chosenness, Land, Jerusalem, Temple and Armageddon.

Walking in the footsteps: a Commando chaplain in Afghanistan For seven months Stu Hallam ministered to his ‘flock’ – 40 Commando Royal Marines – in Helmand Province, one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Saturday 12.30 Foxhunter

Tina Beattie see p64 The New Atheists: The Twilight of Reason and the War on Religion Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens et al are hardly out of the public eye with the rise and rise of the ‘new atheism’, but their agenda may be as intolerant, chauvinist and bigoted as that of the most ardent religious fundamentalist, argues Dr Tina Beattie.

Monday 10.00 Shine IP

Steve Whiting is a trainer with Turning the Tide, a Quaker programme that promotes the understanding and use of nonviolence for social change.

Jesus: the first non-violent activist It’s 60 years since Gandhi’s death, and 40 since Martin Luther King’s. This workshop explores our understandings of nonviolence, revisiting the actions and example of Jesus.

Was he just angry when he took direct action or was he teaching us something? With Helen Gilbert.

is a chaplain at Queens University Belfast, a contributor to BBC Radio Ulster and author of Walk On: The spiritual journey of U2.

Stu Hallam is an Anglican priest and onetime member of Holy Joes. He has been a chaplain in the Royal Navy for the past six years.

Monday 17.45 Shine IP

Church Army Bus Working with Street Homeless – Alan Park Saturday 10.00 & 14.00

Christian witness and the New Spiritualities – Steve Hollinghurst Saturday 11.15

The Spirituality of Dr Who – Andrew Wooding Saturday 15.15 & 16.30

Befriending those involved in Street prostitution

Vic Thiessen

Sunday 10.00 & 11.15

is a Canadian Mennonite theologian, and Director of the London Mennonite Centre. He talks regularly about film and theology and has hosted a film night in his home every week for the past nine years.

How to lead a film discussion group Film discussions are a valuable way to explore theological and ethical themes. Vic Thiessen considers how to go about it, with the help of clips.

Saturday 15.15 Foxhunter

A new dawn for humanity?

Finding God in sci-fi films Science fiction films have always explored the theme of a new dawn for humanity. This talk examines this in reference to God, and how these films are as relevant today as they were when the films were made.

Monday 15.15 Foxhunter

Sunday 20.00 Children’s Festival

Steve Stockman

Breaking The Silence Yehuda will be sharing his stories of serving for the Israeli army and the kind of military acts he had to carry out in the line of duty.

Saturday 10.00 Performance Café

Sunday 13.00 Arena IP

Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon?

Addressing the historical roots, theological basis and political consequences of Christian support for Zionism.

of veteran Israeli soldiers who collect and tell the very personal testimonies of military actions they undertook against the Palestinians.

Yehuda Shaul is an Israeli ex-soldier who served in Hebron in a combat unit at the peak of the intifada.

He is a founder of Breaking the Silence, an organisation

Working in Nightclubs – Wendy Sanderson Monday 10.00 & 11.15

Fresh Expressions of Church?

– Neville Willerton Monday 14.00 & 15.15

Bus Ministries among young people – Rob Barker Monday 16.30

Greenbelt 08 Talks

Panels & Workshops The Cooker By night the heat gets turned up, turning The Kitchen into The Cooker.

In my Father’s house...

Ever get kicked off your favourite sofa so the PCC could sit? Jesus may have said there were many rooms in his Father’s house, but if you grew up in a vicarage there were never enough. Frank Schaeffer, Kester Brewin and other bruised and darkly comic pastor-kids discuss what goes on when the meetings are over. Your therapist tonight is Malcolm Doney.

Friday 19.00 The Cooker

Is it still ok to be non-violent?

Greenbelt has hosted many inspiring people working throughout the world to bring

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peace and reconciliation in the face of war and hate. This year is no exception. Charlie Irvine will be joined by Jonathan Kuttab, Kathy Galloway, Maya Ann Evans and others, each seeking to turn the rhetoric of peace and reconciliation into the painstaking reality.

Friday 21.30 The Cooker

Do we have the press we deserve?

Can you believe what the papers say? Are writers and editors trustworthy? Whatever happened to the Fourth Estate?

A discussion with the BBC’s Rhian Roberts, Cole Moreton of The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian’s Nick Davies and US journalist Sara Miles.

Saturday 19.00 The Cooker

‘For The Bible Tells Me So...’

In an age of ‘tolerance’ and ‘inclusion’, where we ‘respect other traditions’, has the Good Book been left behind? For millennia it has been the final

authority cited to exclude, marginalise and outlaw, but is that really what it’s for or is it just the way we use it? And if that’s the way The Bible is treated by churches, what are the theologians doing all day?

Theologians, including Richard Burridge, Paula Gooder, Pete Rollins and Tina Beattie, on the rights and wrongs of reading holy writ.

Saturday 21.30 The Cooker

Faith in football? The beautiful game interrogated For some, football fulfils the social (and maybe spiritual) role that religion does for others. How do we interpret this in the context of a sport caught between mega-rich multinational clubs and community teams struggling to survive? And how do Christians inside football live out their faith? Your commentator tonight is John Davies.

Sunday 19.00 The Cooker

Is it OK to be British?

We’ve talked Welsh, Irish, Scottish and English this weekend ... so does ‘British’ matter anymore? Are any of us ‘British’ now and what’s distinctive about it? Does a Muslim think differently about being British to a Christian?

Or a black Briton from a white Briton? What’s the ‘brand’ about? Union flag? Island state? Imperial history?

Tolerance and respect? With panelists from all eleven corners of the British Isles.

Sunday 21.30 The Cooker ID

Out of body experiences – leaving church, finding faith?

Combining signposts for the journey as well as real-life stories from it, this interactive session will look at where we might go to discover a more real and integrated faith when the ‘one size fits all’ model of church no longer works.

Monday 19.00 The Cooker

Greenbelt 08 Talks

Cooker sessions in other venues What kind of church is emerging?

It’s called ‘The Emerging Church’, but what is it, who is it for and has it got anything to say to ‘The Submerging Church’? With leading voices from Europe, the USA and Australia including Karen Ward, Peter Rollins, Ian Mobsby, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lorraine Dixon, Brian McLaren, Laura Drane and Cheryl Lawrie.

Friday 19.15 Shine EC

Coming out; staying in church ‘The gay issue’ has become the hot potato du jour in the church, and for some is a litmus test for separating the heretics from the sound. The people who are personally affected are often left out of the debate.

A panel chaired by Max Manin of Changing Attitude, former Deputy Chief Executive of Stonewall.

Friday 20.20 Foxhunter

Can We Have Faith in Politics?

With Theos, the public theology thinktank According to the Faith in the Future report, despite being wealthier and healthier than ever Britons are no happier today than 50 years ago. Does the absence of certain key values cause discontent? This panel offers an invitation for all stakeholders in our nation’s future to embark upon fresh ways of working together. With Caroline Spellman MP, Andy Reed MP, Gary Streeter MP and Steve Webb MP. Monday 12.30 Shine

How do you shop for Development?

Can your purse be ethical? Are your everyday consumer choices that influential in the fight against global poverty? Can your choice of iPod or coffee or shoes reflect your hopes for the planet and its people? Ethical shopping specialists with representatives of DFID and Traidcraft join the debate chaired by Malcolm Doney.

Monday 12.30 Foxhunter

What did the Imam say to the Rabbi?

A joint scripture reading hosted by Christian Aid with Lucy Winkett, Rabbi Natan Levy and Harfiyah Haleem.

Led by a multi-faith panel, this discussion of climate change will examine religious scriptures from Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Come and join in the discussion as representatives of different faiths draw lessons from their own religious writings.

Monday 14.00 Shine IF CC

Rabbi Natan Levy is the Jewish University Chaplain for the West of England and Wales.

He serves as the consultant for social action at the London School of Jewish Studies, and is involved in shaping its Centre for Faith, Citizenship and Community. He also acts as the Chief Rabbi’s liaison on environmental issues.

Harfiyah Haleem has been a Trustee of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences since 2003. She is the editor of a collection of essays by Muslim writers on Islam and the Environment, and has been involved in environmental awareness-raising among Muslim communities in various London boroughs over the past three years.

Workshops and Symposiums Business as usual NET is a network of those engaged and interested in Social enterprise, ethical business and social innovation.

It exists to facilitate connection, collaboration and venture creation at grass-roots level, providing space for people with rich and diverse skill-sets to progress visions, ideas and projects by exploring and supporting each other’s journey.

A three-hour symposium led by Steve Baker on social enterprise and ethical business for people at all stages of their journey; from those that have a great idea and want to do

something to those that have an established project. Examples from the NET network of companies that are bringing people and communities together for economic empowerment and social gain.

Sunday 17.00 Workshops 1

Called to be peacemakers How can we respond with forceful love in situations of violent conflict? With Helen Gilbert, Martha Beale and Hilary Topp.

Sunday 10.30 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Change the Dream Symposium With Be The Change, a Green Movement affiliate.

A one-day workshop addressing social justice, environmental sustainability and spiritual fulfilment – with Mike Arundale. Appealing to heart as well as head, the event will integrate video, interviews, images and music with formal presentations, group discussions and times of reflection to explore the world we are living in and to empower participants to change it.

Part 1 Sunday 10.30 Foxhunter CC Part 2 Sunday 12.30 Foxhunter CC

Introduction to the Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God) A key sacred text in Hinduism, the Gita is a guide to how a spiritual warrior should act and ration and was Gandhi’s ‘bible’. With Jay Lakhani, Baluji Shrivrastav and Simon Keyes.

Saturday 16.30 St Ethelburga’s Tent IF

Jesus – the first non-violent activist How the gospel provides the perfect role model for nonviolent resistance. With Helen Gilbert, Martha Beale and Hilary Topp.

Monday 13.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

The ministry of reconciliation A guide to what Christian scripture says about the central task of reconciliation. With Simon Keyes and Helen Gilbert.

Saturday 13.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Purposeful listening How to be a better listener, and a more effective peace-maker.

With Simon Keyes.

Sunday 13.30 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Performing arts

C-Scape

Shows Charlie Ryder Arrested in 1993 for his part in a riot following a demonstration to shut down the BNP headquarters in south-east London, Charlie Ryder waited nearly two years for a trial before being imprisoned for 16 months. Through Battersea Arts Centre’s Scratch Night, Charlie developed a performance based on his experience.

C-Scape

Linda Marlowe

C-Scape Dance Company has established itself as the leading dance company in South-West of England. They bring together dance, film, physical theatre and music into beautifully crafted and energetic spectaculars, telling stories about public exuberance and private pain. The choreography showcases work

by TC Howard, Sally Williams and Helen Tiplady.

‘Marlowe is in the first division of British actresses,’ says The New Yorker. Theatregoers agree: they know Linda as the creator of all the major female roles in Steven Berkoff’s plays. BBC viewers will too after seeing her as James Nesbitt’s mother in Jekyll. ‘A consummate actress… breathtakingly versatile’ (The Scotsman).

Prison? (followed by Q&A) Using puppets, masks, physical theatre, visual art, dance and music, Charlie brings to life his prison scrapbook of poems, letters and art work. The Scotsman called him ‘a wonderfully open and impassioned performer’, with a show that’s ‘a rare and honest insight into the prison system’.

Below Based on a story by Anna Maria Murphy, Below delves into the depths of the Cornish mining industry, using C-Scape’s unique style of storytelling blending various art forms.

Loaded with raw energy and physicality, it recalls an era of buckets and bal maidens, heavy loads and heavy bones, deep fathoms and faith, loss and new life.

Monday 14.45 Cabaret

Saturday 19.00 Centaur

Believe (followed by Q&A) A searing performance by Linda Marlowe that ‘plugs straight into your arteries’ (The Independent). She plays four women of the Old Testament – traitor, widow, warrior, martyr – in a contemporary retelling.

These survivors of violence – tormenting and tormented, seducing and seduced, meek and impassioned – carved their names into history.

Sunday 20.30 Centaur 16+, contains strong language and scenes of graphic violence.

Greenbelt 08 Performing arts

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Linda Marlowe

Mark Townsend

Nola Rae

Pinocchio

Mark Townsend

Nola Rae

Riding Lights Roughshod

Enthralling magician and mentalist Mark Townsend will bring the wonder back into your life, in spellbinding shows – one for all ages and one for adults.

Former vicar and author of The Gospel of Falling Down, Mark, challenges and delights, giving the audience the experience of pure enchantment.

Nola Rae MBE is regarded as the nation’s greatest living mime artist. After training with Marcel Marceau, she’s worked with the most famous names in world theatre, performed in 60 countries and founded the London International Mime Festival. Her unique approach to mime combines laughter and poignancy, imagination and subtlety.

Roughshod are known for taking their high-energy performances into places where live theatre is rare, such as schools, prisons – and churches! Young people (and the young at heart) will chuckle and cheer, snivel and sigh and generally get things into a more eternal perspective

Bringing Wonder Back to Life A magical and enthralling show for all ages.

One Enchanted Evening (followed by Q&A) A spellbinding mentalism show for adults that The Independent called ‘wonderful and heartwarming’. After the show, Mark will take part in a Q&A about mentalism, wonder, magic – its ethics and its relationship to Christian faith.

Elizabeth’s Last Stand Betty – unnoticed, middle-aged, forlorn – closes the door of her bedsit and becomes Elizabeth I, magnificent Virgin Queen.

Without using a single word, renowned mime artist Nola Rae conjures up a world that is sad, hilarious, and never without hope. A beautiful and magical play directed by Simon McBurney of Complicité Theatre Company.

Sunday 23.00 Cabaret

Friday 19.15 Centaur

Sunday 17.00 Cabaret

Hope Street ‘Where there’s life, there’s... soap!’ Blending grit, giggles and grandeur, the show zooms in on the drama of everyday life and asks: where does our hope come from? Five multi-talented young performers take you down their street to the junction of life and faith.

Saturday 23.00 Fresh Talent Stage Monday 18.45 Cabaret

Steve Tiplady As Director of the Little Angel Marionette Theatre in Islington,

London, Steve Tiplady has transformed puppetry from child’s play into a formidable source of wonder for adults and families alike. Steve’s technicolour imagination and brilliant fingers will make you suspend your disbelief and enter an enchanted space.

Pinocchio Exquisite marionettes transform the age-old story of a toy who wants to be a boy.

The wood-carver’s tools are used to tell the story and, in one astonishing sequence, the puppet/boy emerges from a carved piece of wood. Children will be entertained; adults will be beguiled.

Sunday 10.30 & 12.30 Cabaret

Greenbelt 08 Performing arts

Breathing Space Yurt The Breathing Space Yurt is a place of quiet inspiration seeped in the Christian tradition. Rob and Amanda Miles have created a place where contemplation is deep and creativity intense.

Through art, storytelling and ritual, they have brought together varied religious traditions to be still, imaginative and spiritually enriched.

Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Soul Space Warm your hearts on the words and musings of the much-loved John O’Donohue – in celebration and in memory. Ritual, reflection, a keynote tribute projected onto a hammock screen, and a Celticstyle toast.

Friday 18.00

Breathing Space In the simple beauty of the yurt, slow down, look longer at an art installation, play with images and words, fold paper, browse through poetry and writings of the mystics old and new, slow-read, write, stop, pause, breathe…. In this way the world is re-imagined.

Friday 19.00, Saturday & Monday 13.15 & 19.45, Sunday 13.45

Story Space Morning workshops, led by experienced storytellers from a variety of traditions. No need to bring a story along; you’re guaranteed you to have one with you! In the evenings, sit back and listen to stories told by experienced storytellers, and participants from the morning sessions.

Daily 12.00 & 21.00 (Sunday 12.30)

Japanese Stories Hazel Bradley is an experienced storyteller and co-facilitator of the Annual Bleddfa Storytelling Week. She has travelled extensively in Asia and will tell stories of courage, mystery, beauty and hope from the Land of the Rising Sun. Friday 21.00 Not suitable for young children.

Snail Tales As part of a Snail Tales workshop, you are taught to blend tales of your own experience with the traditions of storytelling that have kept well-known stories alive for thousands of years. Snail Tales aims to help all generations create and engage with the stories most relevant to them.

Saturday 12.00 and 21.00

Flotsam & Jetsam Acclaimed puppeteers telling fairy tales of princesses and monsters based on Danish folk tales, using just their voices, instruments and simple puppets made from natural materials. Accessible, humorous, joyful.

Breathing Space Yurt

Sunday 12.30 and 21.00

Ulfah Arts Ulfah Arts develops projects that engage different faith groups as artists and audience members, giving them a chance to contribute to British culture.

Ulfah is the Arabic word for harmony, and, as such, is one of the Islamic qualities that forms the basis of Ulfah’s work.

Dance Workshop

Monday 12.00 Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Yoga ‘Rising to the Sun’ – suited to people of all ages and abilities.

Simple, gentle early-morning body explorations. Please be prompt and wear loose, comfortable clothing.

Daily 07.00

Prayer Space: The Celtic Wheel Prayer and silence to settle body and soul in God’s holding, on the earth and at our day’s beginning, with Tess Ward.

Daily 08.00

Godly Play: Sacred stories and creative space for all ages A sacred space where families can enjoy the mystery and anticipation of the stories of

the People of God, with time to wonder, respond creatively and feast. Led by Godly Play storytellers from Birmingham.

Saturday & Monday 09.30, 10.50 & 17.00, Sunday 09.30, 10.50 & 19.00

Slow Tea Ritual An interactive tea ritual for up to 24 people inspired by Zen Japanese ceremonies, fused with other cultures, where simple slowed-down movement, silence, whispers, the sound of fire and water enhances the glory of the everyday encounter.

Saturday & Monday 15.00, Sunday 17.00

Talks Esther Baker Artistic Director of Synergy, Esther has directed plays such as The Long Road (Soho Theatre), and Elmina’s Kitchen (HMP Brixton). Last year her first short film, The Rains of Fear, was premiered.

Theatre Direction Explore theatre-directing techniques with Esther Baker, including scripts, working with actors and staging. You do not need experience to attend.

Saturday 14.45 Workshops 2

Wisdom stories about women and for women. A workshop session, sharing stories we know and creating new ones.

Prison theatre highs and lows After 15 years working in prisons, Esther believes in the redemptive power of theatre.

She talks about Synergy’s work with offenders and ex-offenders and shares stories of tragedy, hope and humour.

Monday 19.30

Sunday 17.00 Foxhunter

Sophia’s Kitchen

Greenbelt 08 Performing arts

Workshops

Scratch shows

Roughshod workshops

Scratch Theatre Youth Show: New Dawn

Riding Lights Roughshod lead fun and practical performance workshops. Using games and exercises, to help you develop performance skills and explore how to make powerful and inventive storytelling theatre.

Saturday 12.30 (11–17s), Sunday 12.15 (families ages 7+) & Monday 14.00 (adults) – all in Workshops 2

Dance workshops Waltz, Jive or Tango?

Sam Jennings and Jamie Meek help you trip the light fantastic.

Saturday 10.30 Waltz, 12.00 Tango, 17.45 Jive, followed by 20.00 Ballroom Evening Dance G-Stage

Sam is a choreographer and qualified dance teacher with the Royal Academy and the IDTA with 18 years’ experience.

Jamie is a professional dancer and dance teacher with 10 years working in all areas of the industry including being a finalist in the BBC’s Dance X. Salsa Salsa is a sexy and sultry dance from Cuba. Two workshops for beginners or improvers with Chuli Scarfe, and a ‘Big Salsa Sizzle’ to finish.

Workshops: Sunday 17.00 & 19.00 G-Source. Sizzle: Sunday 20.00

Chuli lives in London. Formerly of CMS, she tutors Salsa.

Contemporary dance Led by C-Scape.

Adults: Sunday 10.00 G-Source Families: Sunday 12.10 G-Source

Epic Arts: Integrated Dance For all ages and abilities, find your language of movement.

Monday 11.15 Workshops 2 Monday 14.45 Workshops 1 Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Steve Washington Circus skills (for adults) Particularly suited for beginners. No experience or fitness necessary. Additional workshops with the performers from Flame.

Friday 15.00, Saturday 11.00, 13.30 & 15.30 Centre Course

What happens if the sun dies?

Who is responsible? Can those left survive without the sun?

This is a unique opportunity for young people aged 14–18 to explore the ‘Rising Sun’ theme and devise an original piece of theatre. You’ll work with an expert theatre practitioner over three evenings towards a performance on the Fresh Talent Stage on Monday.

Open to anyone aged 17 – 18 who can make all the rehearsals. To join the cast, just come to the first rehearsal.

Rehearsals: Friday 18.00, Saturday 20.30 & Sunday 20.15 Workshop 1 Performance: Monday 12.30 Fresh Talent Stage

Scratch Musical: Rock on!

From the makers of Aladdin and the Scratch Panto comes Rock On!, a rollicking rock musical based on the Easter story as seen through the eyes of Simon Peter and his journey from fisherman to the rock on which Jesus builds his hope for the future. Come and join in the fun. There are parts for everyone – from John the ever-knowing commentator to James, the comedy sidekick.

And, of course, there’s always the mother-in-law! Don’t worry if singing isn’t your strong point, there’s comedy, dance and serious drama too. Just come and have a go. Open to over the age of 18/all adults who can make all the rehearsals.

Places will be limited, sign up Saturday 09.30 Insurance Lounge.

Rehearsals: Saturday, Sunday and Monday 10.00 Workshops 1 Performances: Monday 12.00 Workshops 1 and 16.45 Cabaret

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Visual Arts

Kiss the Sun Ikarus

The Hub The home of Greenbelt’s literature and visual arts strands, The Hub returns this year, with a souped-up programme including big-name novelists and art that everyone can be part of.

Art for All We’re giving some art away for free! We’ve commissioned six artists to create a piece based on this year’s theme and made these into limited edition prints.

In order to claim your free print you must visit each of the Visual Arts exhibitions and venues (see these listings) and get your special Daily Diary page stamped with the six different rubber stamps as you go. Bring your completed Daily Diary page back to The Hub to claim your free limited edition print.

We’ll give them away until they run out. So don’t delay!

In the Hub Artists’ Forums An excellent opportunity to network with like-minded practitioners and industry professionals. Five artists show their work each night in a slideshow or short film format.

The audience is encouraged to ask questions and share thoughts. We hope this informal, supportive programme can help develop the work and the Greenbelt artists’ community.

Comics & Street Art Friday 20.30 The Hub

of Art? Classes run all weekend, covering a range of skills, including calligraphy, printmaking, still life, life drawing, collage, stencil graffiti, screen-printing, acid etching, poster design, and digital portraiture. Book up in The Hub each day for next day’s classes.

Saturday 10.00, 12.00, 14.00 & 16.00 / Sunday 10.00 & 12.00 / Monday 10.00 & 12.00 / The Hub

For more details on timings, teachers and class content, pick up a timetable from The Hub. School exhibition: Sunday 18.30–20.30 School feedback: Monday 14.00

Sculpture & Mixed Media Saturday 20.30 The Hub

Photography & Closing Celebration Monday 20.00 The Hub

Greenbelt School of Art Why not learn a new skill in the Greenbelt School

Greenbelt Self Portrait Add yourself to the giant selfportrait of Greenbelt! We’re inviting everyone to spend half an hour or more at The Hub creating a life-size head-andshoulders self portrait, which we’ll add to the growing crowd.

Greenbelt 08 Visual Arts

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Sally Jane Thompson Sally Jane Thompson is an illustrator and comic artist. A product of South Africa, the Seychelles, Canada and now the UK, she feels comics give us new ways of expressing and looking at the world around us. She also thinks they’re just plain beautiful and fun!

Oranges and Lemons

Live comic mural: The girl who looked at the sun Keep coming back to watch the story unfold! Sally Thompson will create a short, largeformat on-site comic. Return throughout the Festival to see the next page appear. The work will be done as a sequence of mini-murals in The Hub. Watch this space. Quite literally.

The Hub

Siku

Greenbelt Self Portrait

Martin Wilson Martin Wilson is an art director at a large publishing business who uses his 18-mile daily cycle commute to take pictures for his works on 35mm film strips.

Each image is then placed in order as the transparencies are laid out in new strip forms on a light box for exhibition.

Oranges and Lemons Martin Wilson covered 900 miles over four months to create Oranges and Lemons, a recital of the famous nursery rhyme painstakingly assembled from photographs of London road signs.

The Hub

Oliver West Oliver West is a successful artist, printmaker and visualthinking specialist based in Cornwall. Over the last ten years he has developed

Footnotes, a unique portfolio of visual-thinking techniques for learning and personal development.

In Search of Words: VisualThinking in a Linear, Lexical World Offering a unique insight into the mind of a visual thinker, Oliver (strongly dyslexic himself) reveals how and why visual thinkers think differently to the conventional linear and lexical patterns of teaching.

Monday 14.00 The Hub

The Proost Lounge An eclectic mix of laid-back beats, visual projections and short movies, interviews, music performance and DJed soundscape. Including Jonny Baker, John Birch, Harronell, Si Smith, Cntrst, dubb, Ikon, Andi Mac and Julie Allen.

Saturday 19.00 The Hub

Siku is an illustrator, conceptualist and art director with over a decade’s experience in the frontline of the British comics’ industry. He is best known for his work on Judge Dredd and the successful sci-fi/ fantasy weekly comic, 2000AD. His interests include music, basketball, Christian theology and (casual) quantum physics!

The Manga Bible Siku talks about Manga and creating The Manga Bible. Many years in the making, The Manga Bible faithfully adapts the Bible, injecting new energy through Siku’s distinctive, edgy graphic style. (Siku will also run a youth workshop and has produced one of our Art for All limited edition prints.)

Saturday 14.00 The Hub

Other Venues Beatrice Purser-Hallard Beatrice’s previous work includes the dustbin-totemfigure sculpture at Greenbelt ’06. This year she creates ...

Rising Sun Sculpt How can you sculpt the rising sun? Do we thrill at the sight of it – or have we lost touch with its rhythm? Beatrice’s new large-scale work is a response to these sorts of questions.

Centre Course

Drawing differently Join Epic Arts for Drawing Differently where you will be drawing on your senses to create things for our communion service. Explore new ways of drawing and don’t be limited to using hands or responding to what you see with your eyes. Open to all ages.

Sunday 10.00 Millhouse Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Here comes the sun An online communal collage generated in the run-up to the Festival. Log on when you get home at greenbelt.org.uk/ projects/here-comes-the-sun

Ian Long Ian Long has worked as a freelance artist and designer in London and is the illustrator of the Blob Tree with Pip Wilson.

Significant objects Throughout our lives we carry items which hold little worth for anyone else, but great significance for us. In this family workshop everyone gets the opportunity to create a clay version of their object and share the story behind it.

Sunday 10.30 Children’s Festival

Jan Niedojadlo The large scale sculptures of Jan Niedojadlo challenge our assumed and traditional notions of how to engage with art. We’re normally just looking, with

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hearing and touch occasionally playing a part. But Niedojadlo intends his art ‘to be experienced with your whole body – not just your eyes and brain.’

roams the site asking questions like ‘What’s your heaven?’ to create a live exhibition.

Under and Over the Sea Inspired by natural and biological forms, Jan’s giant Podules are constructed from recycled materials and incorporate subtle effects of lighting, sound and smell. Uniquely, visitors are encouraged to enter the sculptures, to immerse themselves within these ‘other worlds’. It is ‘art to be viewed on your back.’ Look out for the two Podules around site.

Keep Calm Gallery

The Kitchen

The art of the handmade, memorable sayings and simplicity in design lie at the heart of the designs of Lucas Lepola and Hayley Thwaites.

The couple launched the Keep Calm Gallery – which now features ten artists – online, with their popular silk screen reproductions of the ‘Keep Calm’ and ‘Carry On’ World War II poster.

Rising Sun Sculpt

The Kitchen

John Keane John Keane was the official British war artist during the first Gulf War and has work displayed in numerous public collections including the National Portrait Gallery. His vivid, shocking, and often darkly comic paintings have focused on many of the most pressing political questions.

Children in Conflict John travelled to Angola with Christian Aid to see for himself the issues faced by millions of young people living in a country recovering from a 27-year civil war. The large-scale figurative paintings, with elements of collage and pattern, that emerged out of his experience evoke Angolan culture and depict the individuals whose stories moved him so much.

Centaur Foyer

Leon Varga Born in Budapest, Hungary, Leon currently lives and works in Leeds, where he has completed an MA after Fine Art studies in Budapest and Rome. He strives for ultimate simplicity in his art, attempting to discover the connections between objects and people.

Kiss the sun Icarus This installation uses seven winged bicycles and is intended to open boundaries between the spiritual and material worlds – symbolising the combination of an ordinary object and spiritual intellect. This newly born mythological creature is the fundament of the human intellect and moral freedom.

The Gatehouse

Mark Edwards

Jon Mackay is an Oxfordshirebased photographer working in a variety of situations from live music shoots to the So What Do You Think? project. He likes to ask people questions, to get people thinking about their beliefs, their ideas, thoughts and dreams and to share them.

One of the most published editorial photographers in the world, Mark founded Still Pictures, regarded as the leading photo agency specialising in environmental issues, the Third World and nature. He is co-author of Changing Consciousness with David Bohm and has written several books on photography.

What do you think?

Jon has been asking people questions for over a year now and taking photographs of them with their answers on a chalk board. Look out for him as he

Hard Rain Taking its title from Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, Hard Rain explores climate change, poverty, habitat loss, and human rights – issues

Jon Mackay

The Manga Bible

that are defining the 21st century. Images from Mark Edwards’ personal archive, plus contributions by Sebastião Salgado and others, combine with the words of rock’s great poet to beathtaking effect. On a global tour, we are priveleged to have it come to Greenbelt.

Centre Course With the support of Ebico.

Phill Hopkins Phill Hopkins has exhibited his sculptures and drawings throughout the UK and Europe.

He has work in The Imperial War Museum, London and The Henry Moore Institute. Since 1986 he has worked as an artist in education and currently runs Henshaws Arts Centre in Knaresborough, Yorkshire.

Seven Drunken Nights A new installation made especially for Greenbelt ‘08, it consists of a series of drawings,

a group of sculptures and Wine & Beer/Oak & Bread, a performance piece exploring the wrestle between Christian faith and the everyday domestic; between English folk customs and Christian traditions.

Cottage Rake Performances: Friday 19.00, Saturday 10.00, 14.30 & 17.00, Sunday 10.00 & 13.30, Monday 10.00 & 15.30

Street Art Thanks to Banksy and friends, street art has never been hipper – even Tate Modern covered itself in giant graffiti. This year two top street artists – Snub and Asboluv – are on site creating exciting new pieces around our Rising Sun theme.

Come watch them spray up and stencil our wall near the Beer Tent in Centre Course.

Literature

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Michael Morpurgo

In The Hub Literary Quiz and Traidcraft winetasting Who narrates The Great Gatsby? What is the name of the horse in The Horse and his Boy? Which novel begins with the line ‘I’m Jared, a ghost’?

Come join the rip-roaring, pointscoring Greenbelt Literary Quiz.

Spectacles and a copy of the Guardian review not required.

Monday 18.30 The Hub (preceded

by Traidcraft winetasting 17.30)

The (Bring Your Own) Library Come and relax on our sofas and take part in the Great Greenbelt Book Exchange. Drop off a copy of your favourite book and pick up someone else’s. Or just take a quiet moment and chill out.

All weekend

Alison Brumfitt and Lizzie McHale Alison Brumfitt is currently delivering environmentally friendly, biodegradable, perfectly portable performance poetry direct to your door(rather tent-) steps. She works with words to gently poke fun at life and encourage people to embrace their full potential.

Lizzie McHale became a spoken word performer after being rescued from abandonment by Amazonian warriors and retrained in the art of parenting by black widow spiders. She also works with drama techniques, role-play, impro to explore behaviour and help people create strategies for life.

Poetry slam A fast, fun and furious poetry event in which Greenbelters will battle it out with words and rhythms to try and become

‘Greenbelt Slam Champion 2008’. Hosted by Alison and Lizzie, priority places will be given to those attending their Performance Poetry Workshops.

Sunday 20.00 The Hub

Andy Tate When he’s not watching re-runs of the West Wing, Andrew Tate lectures in English and American Literature at Lancaster University. His two books – Douglas Coupland and Contemporary Fiction and Christianity – reflect his interest in postmodern fiction, theory and spirituality.

‘And the Dead Rise’: resurrection narratives in contemporary culture Resurrection, the most outrageous of miracles, is at the heart of the Christian faith. It also fascinates contemporary novelists, film-makers and songwriters. Andy explores

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resurrection motifs in a range of contemporary texts, including work by Tim Winton, Nick Cave, Annie Proulx and Douglas Coupland.

Sunday 10.00 The Hub

that words can help us catch glimpses of glory lying glittering in the dust. Their readings will be woven with live music – occupying the space between poetry and prayer.

Holy Dreams Come True, they have followed it with another book of poignant meditations and stunning photos. An audiovisual treat.

Saturday 18.00 The Hub

Sunday 18.00 The Hub

Cole Moreton Executive Editor of the Independent on Sunday, broadcaster and author, Cole is currently working on his third book. He was recently shortlisted for Interviewer of the Year at the British Press Awards.

The Hub Sandwich Are you getting your five portions of inspiring stuff a day?

Take time out to top up with a healthy lunchtime snack at The Hub Sandwich: acclaimed writers like Sally Vickers and Michael Morpurgo give us things to chew over, while others share with us a taste of what’s coming up, and discuss the books that make life easier to swallow.

Served up by Cole Moreton.

Daily 12.30, The Hub

Cole Moreton, Martin Wroe and Mark Halliday Cole Moreton (see above).

Martin Wroe is a Trustee of Greenbelt and one of the main movers behind the Generous online community. As he is writing this, he is putting the finishing touches to a new collection of words which may be called Looking Sideways, At The Sky’s Window, or Broken Hallelujahs.

Mark Halliday began writing poetry for children and won the Times Educational Supplement competition in 2003. His collection for grown-ups, For Crying Out Loud, documents his early experience of living with cancer. His recent work looks at the struggle between suffering and hope and the ‘nevermundane’ experience of raising an autistic child.

Speaking of Heaven Cole, Martin and Mark are three writers with three ways of looking at the world, brought together by their shared belief

Ed Newell and friends Ed Newell is Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral and Director of St Paul’s Institute. He is experienced in experimental liturgy using the arts and leads the meditations together with an actor. We can promise you some very special guest readers, but you’ll have to come along to find out who.

Grimm Tales Grimm Tales is a highly unusual series of four meditations exploring the religious meaning of some of the brothers Grimm’s most famous fairy tales: Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel. A combination of humour, deep reflection, and unusual subject matter with music by PJ Harvey and others.

Nightly 22.00 The Hub

Garth Hewitt and Wilf Whitty Singer-songwriter Garth Hewitt is the director of the Amos Trust. He performed at the very first Greenbelt and since then has produced nearly 40 albums.

Wilf Whitty is a graphic designer for clients in the arts and the not-for-profit sectors (including Greenbelt).

Niall Williams Hailed by the Irish Times as ‘a Dickens for the 21st century’, Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. His first novel, Four Letters of Love, became an international bestseller, now published in over 20 countries.

He has since published four more and his newest, John, is out in September.

John Now a frail, blind old man, John lives in exile on desolate Patmos with a small group of disciples. Together the group has endured banishment, but after years awaiting Christ’s return, fissures form in their faith. Niall talks about his lyrical re-imagining of the final years of John the Apostle’s life.

Monday 15.15 The Hub

Pádraig Ó Tuama The unofficial poet of alt worship iconoclasts Ikon, Padraig has been published in Corrymeela’s community work resources – having written poems that reflect and represent people’s stories of what it meant to live in Northern Ireland from the ‘80s ’til now.

Monday 16.30 The Hub

Salley Vickers

Now I am a person – Growing up on the streets of Durban Wilf visited Umthombo, a project working with street children in Durban, South Africa last year with Amos Trust. He made a book of their stories, Now I Am A Person, puncturing development clichés and receiving a prestigious launch at 11 Downing Street.

Author of Mr Golightly’s Holiday, Instances of the Number 3, Miss Garnet’s Angel and Where Three Roads Meet, Salley trained as an analytical psychologist and lectures widely on the connections between literature, psychology and religion. She is also working on a book which tells the story of the Book of Common Prayer.

Friday 19.00 The Hub

Life and Death, Love and Art in the novels of Salley Vickers Like Greenbelt, Salley Vickers doesn’t shy away from the big themes. Here she gives insights into her novels, including the

Supported by Trust Greenbelt

Holy Dreams to Feed the Soul Poems and meditations by Garth with photos by Wilf. Following the success of last year’s Making

latest, Where Three Roads Meet, a reworking of the Oedipus myth, starring Sigmund Freud.

Saturday 16.30 The Hub

Interview with Salley Vickers Salley is quizzed by Jo Wroe – and you.

Sunday 11.15 The Hub

Simon Parke A priest in the Church of England for 20 years, Simon then worked for three years in a supermarket. He has now left to risk the freelance adventure.

His most recent books are The Beautiful Life (Bloomsbury) and Another Bloody Retreat.

Shelf Life A newspaper column of Supermarket soap.

This year, Simon has been writing a weekly column for the Daily Mail, based on his experiences working in a supermarket. We visit the supermarket aisles and reflect on the art, glory and nightmares of sustaining a newspaper column. Language, abuse, truth and laughter – ‘Tell the truth, but tell it slant.’

Saturday 11.15 The Hub

The Beautiful Enneagram What is the relationship between language and truth? Simon reflects on his books – The Beautiful Life and Enneagram: A Private Session with the World’s Greatest Psychologist – and other writings, in search of a language fit for psychological accuracy.

Saturday 15.15 The Hub

Suzanne Bray Suzanne Bray is Professor of English Studies at Lille Catholic University, France.

She specialises in literature and theology. She publishes extensively in both French and English, mainly about British Christian authors. Her latest book is a critical edition of Dorothy L. Sayers’ World War II religious radio broadcasts.

A little Light reading?

What you read can seriously influence who you are, says Professor Suzanne Bray. At

Greenbelt 08 Literature

Greenbelt she explores the relationship between popular literature, faith and values – its place in the battle for our minds.

Saturday 10.00 The Hub

Simon Morden Gateshead-based Simon Morden trained as a planetary geologist, realised he was never going to get into space, and decided to write about it instead, blending science fiction, fantasy and horror. He is author of Heart, Another War and The Lost Art. A thousand points of light: how being part of an artistic community is good for us Simon will be taking lessons from the Inklings – the group of Oxford writers in the 1930s and 40s which included CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien – on how to work critically and creatively as an artistic community, dispelling the idea that authors need to be solitary in order to make great art.

Monday 10.00 The Hub

Suzanne Elvidge Suzanne is a freelance writer and editor, with 17 years’ experience writing on the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

She also writes two regular columns for the Christian Aid and Surefish websites and pieces for teenagers in Taiwan learning English, all from her rural idyll in the Peak District.

Media under the microscope From Frankenstein foods (GM crops) to Frankenstein babies (stem cell research), do the journalists do justice to the science, and how can we, the humble readers, pick the wheat from the semantically-modified chaff? Suzanne Elvidge is your guide to the big ethical debates as presented in the media.

Monday 11.15 The Hub

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Alison Brumfitt and Lizzie McHale

Football Museum, Slade’s Poet Laureate and his work appears regularly on national radio and television. His performances are always fun, exciting, loud (and sometimes cheeky).

Performance Poetry Workshops Sign up to polish that performance. Workshops suitable for occasional performers as well as complete novices. Bring a poem you want to perform in the Slam or alternatively just bring yourself and see what happens!

Stewart Henderson is a Festival favourite, well known for his children’s poetry collections – widely anthologised by the likes of OUP, Bloomsbury and Heinemann and now even set in schools (a breath of fresh air for the children of the land). He also presents Questions, Questions on Radio 4.

Other venues

Saturday 16.30 Workshops 2 Sunday 13.30 Workshops 1

Helen Smith Helen Smith is a novelist and playwright. She volunteers as a mentor and workshop leader with the Medical Foundation’s Write to Life programme in London. On publication of her first novel, Alison Wonderland, she was hailed in The Times as ‘at the very least, a minor phenomenon.’

Write to Life Two creative writing workshops suitable for all levels. Write to Life is a writing group for survivors of torture and organised violence, allowing them to engage in a healing process.

Saturday 14.00 Workshops 1 & 16.30 Workshops 2

Two participants from the Write to Life programme will also be at the Festival. You can hear them read their work in The Hub Sandwich on Saturday.

Ian McMillan, Paul Cookson and Stewart Henderson Surely one of the nation’s bestloved writers and performers, Ian McMillan has been poet in residence at Barnsley Football Club, written comedy for radio and plays for the stage, and frequently brightens up our screens and radios. He currently presents The Verb on Radio 3 and gigs like crazy.

Paul Cookson is the Poet In Residence at the National

The Way We Are Paul and Stewart’s poetry show for grown-ups. Witty, tender and wise.

Saturday 14.00 Rise

Three’s a Crowd Ian is joined by Paul and Stewart for a big family show with three big poets stretching their lyrical sinews to make you laugh, cry … and join in.

Sunday 17.00 Shine

Mark Halliday Lost For Words Two workshops with Mark on how poetry can act as a tool for making sense of life’s big challenges. People are often moved to write in times of extremity, and Lost For Words looks at how poetry can help us explore and articulate things when life leaves us speechless.

Saturday 15.15 & Monday 13.45 Workshops 1

Michael Morpurgo Michael Morpurgo is, in his own words, ‘oldish, married with three children, and a grandfather six times over.’ He’s a former Children’s Laureate, author of Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom, and War Horse, the hit stage adaptation which will return to the National Theatre in September.

A Storymaker’s Journey Award-winning author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo talks about his writing, inspiration and the craft of storytelling.

Saturday 15.15 Shine

Storytelling in the Breathing Space Yurt Friday 21.00, Saturday 12.00 & 21.00, Sunday 12.30 & 21.00, Monday 12.00 & 21.00 See Performing Arts listings for details.

The Twist Fun and frolics with Paul’s Cookson’s inimitable Twist – featuring the Prof on accordion and a host of special guests and surprises. Everyone joins in.

Family Twists comes with bad jokes, cheap puns and a poorly played ukulele. And night-time Twists are packed with poetry, songs, accordions, ukuleles, and even William, the bedtime story.

Family Twist: Saturday 17.00, Monday 18.30 Children’s Festival Late Night Twist: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 22.00 Children’s Festival

Worship

Festival Communion Sunday 15.00 Mainstage & Arena

We ‘throw those curtains wide’ when the sun shines; we mope when it doesn’t. Pouring energy and life our lives, God shines on us, like the great sun itself.

Processing from the north, south, east and west, we gather together to celebrate the source of all light, heat and life: ‘the sun of righteousness, rising with healing in its wings.’

And as we gather music from the east – where the sun first touches the earth each day – awakens our senses. Looking to the Rising Sun, we turn our eyes eastward.

We invite you all to wear bright sunshine colours so that – dressed in oranges, reds and yellows – we create a living sea of light.

The processions All morning workshops are open to everyone, to make things to wave, carry or make a noise with, for the procession.

Workshops are in the Children’s Festival and with Epic Arts in the Church Urban Fund venue. If you can’t make any of these workshops, please bring something else to wave or make a noise with.

The processions will make their way from the north, south, east and west of site. To join them at the start, please gather at 14.00 at either Centaur, the Children’s Festival, Ticket Office car park or behind The Mix. Or join one as it goes past you!

Alternatively, please gather at Mainstage and Arena before communion begins.

Celebrant We welcome Lusmarina Campos Garcia to lead us.

Lusmarina is a Brazilian lawyer

and theologian working as pastor of the Lutheran Church of Geneva. Her heart beats for Human Rights and Spirituality.

In recent years, she has preferred altars to courts. She is interested in symbolism, movement and liturgy.

Accessibility

Music The music will be led by Terry MacArthur, a United Methodist pastor. For twelve years worship consultant for the World Council of Churches, he is now the music minister at the English speaking congregation of the Lutheran Church of Geneva.

Trust Greenbelt is the gift of the Greenbelt community to global and UK initiatives that find ways of combining faith, justice and the arts. The collection taken during the service is distributed to initiatives, inspired by faith, that liberate creativity in the face of exclusion, exploitation and injustice. Please see pages 26-29 and greenbelt.org.uk/ trust for more.

Getting into groups Remember that we are worshipping and celebrating together. Please gather in groups of between 15 and 20.

Do invite people to join your group – especially those who are on their own. Each group will be given a ‘worship bag’ by one of the stewards.

For large print copies of the service sheet, or if you would like non-alcoholic or gluten-free options, please ask a steward before the service starts.

Trust Greenbelt

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Worship venues

Ambient Wonder

Beyond

New Forms Our New Forms venue is where you will find some of the most experimental and innovative worship in the country (world, even). Be inspired, refreshed and challenged.

An alternative worship community within the Norwich Christian Meditation Centre, Ambient Wonder is a Christcentred community rooted in the contemplative tradition. It is multi-sensory, experimental and non-hierarchical.

Beyond is a new initiative in Brighton & Hove aiming to help people to a deeper understanding of spirituality through the arts and other creative activities.

Soul Space / Contemplative Venue The Soul Space venue in the Panoramic Café combines the following elements: Quiet Space – a place to just ‘be’ and enjoy the view and the atmosphere. Spiritual Directors will be available for conversation and reflection.

Prayer Space – come and explore a variety of prayer stations and installations between 10.00 and 16.00.

Worship Space – participate in a variety of contemplative worship experiences.

Confession Space – where you can engage in the ministry of confession Listening and Reflecting Space – Spiritual Direction will be available from an experienced team.

NB Appointments for both Spiritual Direction and Confession are necessary.

Please come to the Soul Space front desk to sign up for appointment.

See Unpigeonholeable listings for more details, page 104

The Winged Ox Featuring The Garden Installation (see listings for more information).

Spontaneous Worship In unknown places and at surprising times worship will be happening around the Festival Villages. A variety of groups have been asked to lead a simple act of worship in some unusual locations. So, if you’re sat in the Tiny Tea Tent or in the Beer Tent and a large red umbrella with ‘Spontaneous’ written on it is raised then be prepared to worship – it may happen…

Around the site all weekend

All shall be well A contemplative space exploring Julian of Norwich’s culturally radical understanding of the Love of God, Jesus as Mother God, divine providence and Julian’s famously optimistic worldview.

Monday 16.00 New Forms

Andrew Walker An Anglican priest and director of the London Centre for Spirituality, Andrew is a psychosynthesis counsellor and supervisor, and author of Journey into Joy (St Paul’s) and Spirituality in the City (SPCK).

Does Daydreaming have its uses?

Exploring the power of reflectiveness and recollection on our daily journey towards integration, using the practice and insights of spiritual focus and human imagination.

Saturday 17.00 Soul Space

Aradhna Aradhna perform a blend of sitar, guitar, tabla and Hindi songs. Drawing their inspiration from the devotional Yeshu Bhakti movements of India, Aradhna concerts blend East and West, building bridges of art, culture and worship between seemingly unconnected worlds.

Sunday 18.30 Centaur

Aradhna (with Sanctuary) Monday 09.00 Underground

Beer ‘n’ Hymns Sacred and secular divisions dissolve as voices and pints are raised in raucous praise of our Maker. (With Cider ‘n’ Carols on Monday.)

Sunday & Monday 19.00 Beer Tent

Who am I? We are all unique with our own individual identity and style and yet we’re all made in the image of God. Meditate on this as you walk Beyond’s unique fingerprint/labyrinth.

Daily 12.00–14.00 Arena Concourse

Blessed Coming from a distinctly AngloCatholic heritage in urban Portsmouth, Blessed’s mission is to seek the sacramental in all of creation, and to embrace the sacramental life in wildly, rabidly inclusive ways.

Mass: Sacraments with Attitude Sacraments with Attitude.

Eucharist with backbeats. A sacramental exploration through which we are transformed by a full-on encounter with the real presence of Christ.

Monday 18.00 New Forms

Bruce and Sara Stanley Bruce Stanley is a spirituality populariser and life coach.

His workshops provide an opportunity to put yourself through a life MOT and often uncover some surprises.

Sara is a development chef and patisserie expert. Together they run workshops and retreats mixing cooking and coaching under the banner FoodLife.

Happiness and Chocolate An experiential workshop exploring savouring and mindfulness.

Saturday 20.00 Soul Space

Neotopia A deeply affecting visual meditation on equity.

Sunday 22.00 Soul Space

Christian Aid Honest to God with Wild Goose Can we ever be honest about the decisions we take about

our lives, our money, our time?

When the decisions we take affect people all over the world, can we ever be accountable to God and each other? Explore – in prayer, story and song – how we can take responsibility for the decisions we make.

Saturday 09.00 Centaur

Arise and shine with Riversongz Gospel Choir This out-and-out gospel service features Muyiwa, worship leader and presenter of Premier’s Gospel Tonight, Riversongz and Revd David Shosanya, Regional Minister in the London Baptist Association Monday 09.00 Centaur

Church of England Liturgical Commission It is through encountering God within worship that we are formed (and transformed) as his people. The Liturgical Commission serves the Church of England through publishing creative liturgical resources.

Dawn Service: From the Rising of the Sun Ditch your duvet, prise yourself out of your sleeping bag and join us to welcome a new day and praise the Creator.

Saturday 06.00 Rise

A Service for the healing of broken relationships All of us know what it feels like to have a broken relationship.

This creative service will be a safe place to bring these relationships before God and seek healing and wholeness.

Sunday 19.00 Soul Space

Church on the Corner A new Anglican church based in the Edward VII pub near Angel, Islington, free from the trappings of tradition, and fusing ancient and modern.

Urban Wilderness: The Spirituality of the City Christian spirituality has often focused on escaping the city’s pressures. But how can those who live in its midst find sacred space in the heart of the city?

Saturday 19.00 New Forms

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Confessions Through the ministry of confession we can begin to unravel our destructive patterns and let go of all that holds us back from receiving new life in Jesus. Priests will be available to hear confession in Soul Space at these times: Saturday 10.00–16.00 Soul Space Sunday 10.00–12.00 Soul Space Monday 10.00–16.00 Soul Space Appointments will need to be pre-booked at the reception desk in Soul Space.

Contemplative Fire With Philip Roderick, Sheer Sound and guests ‘Creating a community of Christ at the Edge’, Contemplative Fire integrate sign, symbol and spaciousness, drawing on the Bible, contemplative tradition, contemporary art and early medieval, Russian Orthodox and Afro-Celtic music.

Rhythm and Chant Play in the Presence Explore Sheer Sound’s AfroCeltic percussion praise, body prayer and chant. Dwell deep in the beat of the heart and the flow of the breath; give voice to lament and joy.

Friday 20.00 Soul Space

Drum and Chant Workshop Let the Scriptures sing, the body move and the heart celebrate – even first thing in the morning!

Saturday 09.00 Shine

Dawn Service: Rising Son What a great way to awaken!

Lift the spirit and get the body and the vocal chords moving in resurrection rhythm.

Sunday 06.00 Rise

Morning Vigil Space for quiet and contemplation Monday 08.00 Soul Space

Morning Prayer Emergent Liturgy Delight in motionlessness and movement, the sound of sheer silence, scripture, the resonance of song, sacred posture and simple gesture. Start the day with thankfulness and gift.

Monday 09.00 Soul Space

The Deaf Community at Greenbelt Every year a community of deaf and hard-of-hearing people gather at Greenbelt, and all are welcome to come and participate as they come together to worship. (Sign language interpreters voiceover the sign language.)

Signed Family Worship All-age worship in British Sign Language and English. Suitable for adults and children.

Sunday 10.30 Children’s Festival

Worship Through Drama Worship event in British Sign Language and English.

Monday 09.00 Shine

Ethelburga’s is now a Christian focal point for people who want to explore what reconciliation and peace mean in a divided world. Their’s is a vision of friendship and understanding across divisions of conflict, faith and culture.

Shared Silence – introducing contemplative prayer Friday 18.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Sunset song End the day with Gregorian chant (no experience necessary) Friday, Saturday & Sunday 20.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Pause ... for prayer, reflection and shared silence. Basic guidance in meditation given.

Saturday & Sunday 12.00 & 18.00, Monday 12.00 St Ethelburga’s Tent

Divine Space with nChant Divine Space started as a meditative, low-tech alternative worship event in Bedford and has now become a regular feature of the contemplative venue at Greenbelt.

Meditative Eucharist This communion service provides space to reflect deeply on the significance of each moment of the liturgy in peace, ritual, chant and meditation.

Led by Paul Cudby and featuring music from nChant.

2100 Saturday, Soul Space

Dream A network of seven groups in the Merseyside area and Bolton, Dream are building a community of openness, honesty and freedom in pursuit of a Jesus-centred spirituality.

Dream at Dawn ‘And Jesus came to them early in the morning…’ Join in creating a reflective space for those with dreams for a new day; those longing to see the sun rise; those who need Jesus to meet them as night ends.

Monday 14.00 New Forms

St Ethelburga’s Tent Based in a medieval church in the City of London, destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1993, St

Evening Prayer Led by Martin Brown and Andrew Rumsey Martin Brown is a consultant, trainer, educator and ordained minister in the Diocese of St Albans with a passion for creative and contemplative worship. He is part of Sanctuary 242, a Christian community exploring the boundaries between the Christian tradition and today’s culture Andrew Rumsey is Vicar of Gipsy Hill in South London and, as a published author, has had his work performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and on BBC Radio 4. His face was recently used in the Church of England’s first ever priest recruitment campaign.

With thoughts from … … Rt Revd John Went, Bishop of Tewkesbury An Essex man, born in Brightlingsea who read Classics and Theology at Cambridge, Bishop John has been Bishop of Tewkesbury since 1996.

Friday 18.00 Soul Space

… Rt Revd Mike Hill, Bishop of Bristol Married, with five adult children, Bishop Mike became Diocesan Bishop of Bristol in 2003.

Saturday 18.00 Soul Space

… Rt Revd Pat Harris After working as a mission partner of the South American

Mission Society in Northern Argentina for 17 years, Pat returned to the UK in 1980 where, among other posts, Pat headed up World Mission issues for the Church of England. Pat retired in 1999 but keeps active.

Monday 18.00 Soul Space

Feig A rag-tag group of fellow travellers meeting in homes, pubs, cafés and the hidden chapels of Gloucester Cathedral. God brought them together to look out for and love each other.

Compline A stimulating, thoughtprovoking, inspiring, engaging, uplifting experience to launch you into your first evening.

Friday 20.00 New Forms

Hands-on Matins An all-age, hands-on, creative, crafty, messy, thoughtprovoking start to the final day.

Monday 09.00 Messy Space

Foundation Based in Bristol, Foundation is an emerging church/fresh expression Christian community seeking to live out its faith in a healthy relationship with contemporary culture.

Babel Our lives are dislocated, our communication frustrated. We are ‘scattered upon the face of the earth’ by God’s inscrutable will. Should we rebuild the fallen tower, or find strength in what remains?

Sunday 18.00 New Forms

The Garden An experimental, emerging community based in Brighton, living obscurely on the fringe of religious life, gesturing and hinting at things that lie beyond language and thought.

Possibility of the Impossible Installation and series of ‘happenings’ in the Winged Ox, facing head-on the nihilism of contemporary culture. On Sunday it becomes the setting for a live performance-based

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visual poem, creating a strange and transformative encounter.

All weekend Winged Ox

Share your thoughts and reactions in discussion Saturday 16.00 Winged Ox

Performance Sunday 21.00 Winged Ox

Join The Garden and Ikon’s Peter Rollins as we ask ‘what was that all about?’

Sunday 21.45 Winged Ox

Godly Play Godly Play was introduced into the UK in 2000 and is now used widely as an approach to children’s Christian nurture. It is creative and imaginative, inviting the listener into the stories and encouraging them to connect with personal experience through wondering questions and open-ended response time.

Sacred stories and creative space for all ages A sacred space where families can enjoy together the mystery and anticipation of the stories of the People of God, with time to wonder, respond and feast.

Saturday 09.30, 10.50 & 17.00 Sunday 09.30, 10.50 & 19.00 Monday 09.30, 10.50 & 17.00 Breathing Space Yurt See also the Performing Arts listings.

GothGB The original GothGB team are back. The Reverends Alex Gowing-Cumber and Paul Cudby are joined by Craig Gilman of Ulfilas, the Goth Church in Second Life featured on the BBC News website.

Goth Eucharist 1662 Holy Communion, with incense and ancient and modern music provided by Fire Fly and the female voice choir nChant.

Monday 01.00 Underground

Grace Grace is a Christian community/ network that has been creating participative and interactive worship in Ealing, West London since 1993. It moves on in response to an interplay

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between the ideas of the group, the Christian tradition, what they sense God is calling them to, and the shifts in culture. *Lunch not included Many nutritionists suggest that it is more appropriate to worship at lunch than at supper, otherwise the energy will not be properly used before bedtime.

Monday 12.00 New Forms

Hold This Space Hold this Space is an alternative worship project based in Melbourne, Australia. They have curated sacred spaces and worship in inner-city car parks, on rooftops and inside prisons; with people who have left the church and those who will never find it.

The Memory of Water Stations and sacred space for those who remember being thirsty and who long to yearn for God again.

Saturday 17.00 New Forms

Ikon Inhabiting a space on the outer edges of religious life, Ikon is a Belfast-based collective who describe themselves as iconic, apocalyptic, heretical, emerging and failing. Their sessions at the Festival this year represent a one-off opportunity to learn from the expertise of this innovative, critically acclaimed faith collective.

Lessons in Evandalism Go behind the scenes and experience what it is like to craft ‘transformance art’ for yourself in two complementary interactive sessions designed to help unlock/unleash the creativity of individuals and groups who are actively engaged in exploring new forms of faith expression.

Friday 21.30 Foxhunter

Ikon: inquisition Your chance to meet some of the artists and musicians behind Ikon. Ask questions and interact with some of Ikon’s key innovators about their unique and renowned expression of transformance art.

Saturday 13.15 New Forms

L’Arche

Molten Meditation

Founded in France in 1964

by Christian Jean Vanier, welcoming people of all faiths and none, L’Arche is now a family of 130 communities in 30 countries in which people with learning disabilities live and work together with their assistants, believing that whatever their gifts and limitations, everyone is of unique and sacred value.

Exploring the space between charismatic and contemplative worship. Music, meditation, scripture, prayer and prophecy in a post-charismatic context.

Brian’s Story Brian was a founder member of L’Arche Lambeth and a regular Greenbelter. He died recently.

Share in a story of love, pain and reconciliation through songs, words and pictures.

Saturday 12.30 Cabaret

From Darkness to Light: Lazarus, Martha and Mary A story of pain and transformation in mime, song, action and listening – from sorrow to partying!

Monday 12.30 Cabaret

Mass@Barnabas Mass@Barnabas is a group of fun-loving, soap-dodging (only at Greenbelt) teenagers and their long-suffering vicar.

Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Bread of Belonging, Bread of Betrayal A contemplative, multi-sensory Eucharist exploring the giving and receiving of bread amongst the disciples; and the bread we receive and respond to.

Monday 12.30 Humanic

mayBe mayBe is a group of different people in and around Oxford working at being a community following in the way of Jesus, seeking to help create a better world now through prayer and action.

Way of the sun A sacramental journey in darkness and light, following in the way, spirit and presence of Jesus of the Gospels.

Saturday 15.00 New Forms

The Charismatic Contemplation Experiment Discovering the ancient tradition of lectio divina, or divine reading, Molten Meditation found that combining worshipful, contemplative music with spoken Bible verses enriches the experience of both.

Friday 18.00 New Forms

Music and Scripture for Full Immersion Combining narrated Bible verses and contemplative, immersive music, Molten Meditation provide a space to absorb God’s Word away from the noise of day.

Friday 22.00 Soul Space

Moot Moot is a community of spiritual travellers making connections and finding inspirations in the meeting of faith, life and culture.

Perpetual Dawn?

Dawn follows night follows dawn. In this contemplative and visceral service, Moot explores the (im)possibility of the second chance, the fresh start, with the Christian God. Saturday 21.00 New Forms

Trinity Twister This interactive, family-friendly Communion service is an opportunity to re-imagine our relationship to God and others in the light of the love and intimacy of the Trinity.

Sunday 10.00 New Forms

nChant nChant is a young women’s community choir founded by singer-songwriter Alison Eve. They specialise in medieval and contemporary chants written

by Alison.

Into the Night – Night Prayer Come and join in the popular Night Prayer with the gently rising chants of nChant. A quiet,

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meditative wind-down after a busy day, featuring songs from the choir’s new album.

Friday 23.00 Soul Space Saturday 23.00 Soul Space nChant will also be taking part in the Goth Eucharist and Divine Space Eucharist.

ancient worship form.

Sunday 17.00 Soul Space

Night Prayer with Gregorian Chant Sunday 23.00 Soul Space

Podules op/en An integral part of life at Christ Church Gipsy Hill in South London, op/ening up traditional Anglican liturgy to new expressions of faith and identity.

Reflecting God’s Glory At the halfway point in the Festival, come and experience a playful, creative and subversive approach to Anglican communion, exploring themes of light and darkness, reflection and transformation.

Sunday 12.00 New Forms

OuterSpace OuterSpace is a group of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) Christians, their family and friends. Committed to the Church, it looks beyond the debates to focus on stories of real people’s faith.

My mother had a brother A reflective time to celebrate the hidden lives of LGBT people in our families, churches and society, and to commit ourselves to kingdom values of justice, tolerance and welcome.

Saturday 12.00 New Forms

Under and Over the Sea The large-scale sculptures (Podules) of Jan Niedojadlo challenge our assumed and traditional notions of artistic engagement. How do we experience holistic worship?

A multi-sensory worship experience that takes us beyond the conscious search for God into the unconscious desire for that which is beyond. Enter the sculptures of Niedojadlo as a worship experience and encounter God in a multiplicity of ways. Move beyond the senses into otherness.

On site all weekend

Proost: Unusual Suspects Unusual Suspects began in 2007 to encourage new unpublished talent. So far poets, artists, writers, animators, short-film makers, and musicians have been Suspects.

Agents of the Future Performance, interviews and chat with beats, tunes and movies from a new crop of Unusual Suspects – unpublished artists with amazing talents who have worked with Proost.

Friday 22.00 New Forms

Paul Cudby Rhythm of God A contemplative meditation with percussion, beginning with ‘Let us pray’, and ending with stillness. Bring your drum – be it a djembe, bongos, congas, shakers, darabuka or whatever – and join us in prayer.

Monday 17.00 Soul Space

Peter Wilton Peter is the Director of Music for the Gregorian Association.

Gregorian Chant Workshop Learn to sing Gegorian chant in order to sing Compline and soak up the sonorous sounds of this

Quakers Cheltenham Quaker Meeting is part of the Religious Society of Friends in Britain. Quakers believe that there is something of God in every person and that God will speak to us if we wait in stillness.

Quaker Meeting Join local Quakers in a silent Meeting for Worship for about half an hour.

Saturday 12.30 Workshops 1 Sunday 09.00 Workshops 1

Safe Space Safespace, Telford, is a small

community with a a big vision: to be peace-bringers for people, community, culture and creation.

In-the-blue-hour In the darkest night the glow of the rising sun is already spreading beneath the horizon.

In the death of today, the promise of tomorrow is being born. The twilight. The blue hour.

Saturday 23.00 New Forms

Around the Sun As we travel around the sun the seasons ebb and flow, the earth sleeps and wakes again.

Through art, craft, stories, poems and prayers explore God’s creation rhythm.

Monday 10.00 New Forms (all-age)

Sanctuary Sanctuary is an alternative community that has been worshipping together in Bath for nine years. Sanctuary are also running Messy Space this year.

Family Celebration Service An all-age service enabling families to worship together in a fun and creative way.

Sunday 09.00 Messy Space

Sanctuary 242 An intentional Christian community based in and around St Albans exploring boundaries between the rich traditions of the inherited Christian church and the challenges of modern secular society.

Morning Vigil Space for quiet and contemplation.

wider influence and creativity of its lively congregation.

Sanctum Worship A chance to start the morning in prayer and worship with the congregation of Sanctum Saturday 09.00 Underground Members of Sanctum will also be joining the GothGB team at 01.00 Monday

Sanctus1 Sanctus1 is a community of people who gather to discover more about Christ, culture and community in Manchester; exploring God and spirituality in the city, in contemporary film and art, and in each other.

Glow Void, empty, darkness, gloom, shadows, ember, spark, ignite, flare, glimmer, lucid, beam, luminate, blaze, radiance, brilliance. A blinding act of worship. Bring your sunglasses.

Sunday 22.00 New Forms

Sanctus2nds A sanctuary for creativity, reflection and socialising at Sacred Trinity Church, Salford, Sanctus2nds features a café space to refresh the body, a creative space to inspire the mind and a prayer space to nurture the soul.

Plastic Fantastic How fantastic is plastic in our lives and in our world? A creative service for all ages that challenges our use of plastic.

Saturday 10.00 New Forms

Saturday & Sunday 08.00 Soul Space

Soul Space

Morning prayer Welcome the day with Holy Space – ambient, contemplative and soulful.

Soul Space is a monthly alternative service led by Dave Tomlinson and members of St Luke’s in North London.

Saturday & Sunday 09.00 Soul Space

Sanctum Sanctum is an Anglican ‘fresh expression’ originally born out of a monthly worship event hosted by Greenbelt favourites Fire Fly. Now a weekly community-based church, Sanctum’s worship reflects its alternative rock roots and the

Toasting Planet Earth A holy feast for a glorious fragile world.

Sunday 20.00 New Forms

St Gregory’s Music Group with CAFOD This 40-strong group has a lively style and plays a vast array of instruments.

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Catholic Mass Come along and join us for a lively Catholic Mass! We will use modern worship songs as we journey to discover the true presence of Christ Jesus.

Saturday 18.00 Workshops 1 Sunday 09.00 Foxhunter

St Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church St Gregory’s involves the whole community in making the liturgy. They sing in rich, unaccompanied harmony; dance hymns with the saints and invite all to share in service and love around Jesus’ table.

Dawn Service: The Harmony of that Motion – Eucharist for the New Day A sunrise feast drawing on 4th century Christian traditions, following St Gregory of Nyssa who proclaimed that ‘Once there was a time when the whole of creation formed a single dancing chorus looking upward in the harmony … to the one leader of the dance.’

Monday 06.00 Rise

Taizé The Taizé community does not organise a movement around itself. Instead, after a stay at Taizé, people are invited to set out on a ‘pilgrimage of trust’ – encouraged by an experience of prayer and bound together with others on a similar search – wherever they live.

Taizé Grand Chant Come and learn the melodies and harmonies of the Taizé songs in preparation for tonight’s service.

Saturday 12.00 Arena

Taizé-style worship A reflective service of song, scripture and silence using the form and music of the Taizé Community, led by young adults from across the UK. Saturday 21.30 Centaur

The New Place A Methodist-owned and run community centre in inner-city Bristol with a holistic approach,

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they meet for a chaotic form of church, messy lunches, and trips to the beach.

Joy under the Sun Spend a relaxed, informal, chilled-out and messy hour with children and adults exploring what joy is to be found – and how we can understand God – under the sun.

Saturday 09.00 Messy Space

theREIGN Formed in 2002, Hull worship band theREIGN have a strong ministry, particularly among young people, with their blend of original material, popular praise and worship songs and well-known secular covers.

Rock Eucharist: Communion on the Rocks Rock and Communion meet in the style of Gary Moore, U2, Queen, Van Halen, Nirvana etc.

Engage with God at volume and velocity. Air guitar optional (some would say essential).

Friday 22.00 Underground

Transcendance Members of Visions and York Minster came together to create a heady mix of ancient chant and futuristic ambience, with help from professional choristers, that regularly fills the Minster crypt to overflowing.

Ancient-Future Mass Transcendance present an Ancient-Future Mass, mixing stunning multimedia images, ancient chants, futuristic ambience, blissful singing and creative prayer.

Friday 21.30 Centaur

Trent Beautiful, uplifting and full of energy and hope, Trent’s latest album Radio Everything sees the band at their peak, fulfilling their quest to write songs that are lyrically eloquent, down to earth and transcendent.

Trent Band Worship Service Powerful, intimate and riproaring in places, there are also those delicate moments that force you to engage with life

as it is and place your hope in a God that sees everything.

Sunday 09.00 Underground

Veronica Zundel Author of Crying for the Light – Bible readings and reflections for living with depression – and host of an internet forum on the subject at ship-of-fools.com, Veronica has suffered from depression for 36 years.

Cries in the darkness A gentle meditation for those who search for God in the darkness of depression or mental illness. Based on her book Crying for the Light.

Saturday 19.00 Soul Space

Visions Visions have been doing creative multimedia worship services since 1991, blending the old and the new, the creative and the technological to wonderful and worshipful effect.

Multisensory Evensong It’s the evening, its 1662 Evensong from the Book of Common Prayer, but we guarantee that you will never have experienced one like this!

Complete with images, blissful ambience and creative-prayer.

Saturday 16.00 Cabaret

Wild Goose and Worship Works Wild Goose (aka John L Bell and Graham Maule) are well known for their worship resources and songs. Worship Works is the name Alison Adam works under in London. All are involved in the renewal of worship and song.

Dancing on the Edge Liturgy in the progressive, questioning tradition of Wild Goose in collaboration with the planning group of the Glasgow monthly event, Holy City. Acapella song, contextual prayer and symbolic action.

Saturday 22.00 Shine Sunday 22.00 Shine

Wild Goose – Big Sing Sunday 14.00 Shine

YoYo York Schools and Youth Trust (YoYo) works to present the good news about Jesus in a way that is interesting and relevant to young people and children.

All-age worship The YoYo Team from York will be leading two all-age services with creative storytelling and interactive worship. Under-11s can also catch them in the Children’s Festival.

Saturday 09.00 Workshops 2 Sunday 09.00 Workshops 2

Comedy

Jo Enright

Andy Kind On the circuit since January 2005, Andy has clocked up an unfeasibly large number of gigs – and not just because he’ll travel anywhere. As well as residencies at two Off The Kerb venues, Andy runs Lunacy Comedy in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stand-up show Award-winning comedian Andy Kind talks about talking, and how we’re just not very good at it. Join him on a journey through bizarre turns of phrase in the English language to distressing conversations with foreigners.

Will we ever really mean what we say or say what we mean?

Saturday 22.00 Cabaret

Standup Comedy Workshop A practical session with Andy Kind on performance techniques and comedy writing.

Come if you are a complete beginner or just want to hone your skills. There is an

opportunity to perform any written material at the Open Mic Comedy show later on.

‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Poo... (Part 34)’

Sunday 17.00 Workshops 2

BBC 5 Live’s Simon Mayo, Speech Broadcaster of the Year (2008), returns with a panel of Festival favourites for his nowtraditional Greenbelt hour of extremely light entertainment.

Daliso Chaponda African comedian Daliso Chaponda began his career in Canada with the acclaimed one-man show Feed This Black Man in 2001. He later headlined the sell-out Don’t Let Them Deport Me as a plea to extend his visa but then came They’re Deporting Him Anyway! He’s now headlining all over the UK. God Told Me To Telling stories from his standup experience, Daliso has performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival and supported Chris Rock. As a Malawian he has an international perspective. As a committed Bahai he has interesting things to say about faith.

Monday 16.30 Centaur

Sunday 18.15 Shine

Jason Kavan Jason has an English dad, an Indian mum and is married to a Jamaican-Trinidadian. How could he not be a comedian?

Debuting aged seven at The London Palladium in The King & I with Yul Bryner and Virginia McKenna, he’d like to say he’s done bigger shows since, but …

According To Jesus What would Jesus say if he was a stand-up comic? Find out as Jason brings us his acclaimed Edinburgh show.

Sunday 22.00 Cabaret

Greenbelt 08 Comedy

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Jo Enright

Open Mic Comedy

For more than a decade, awardwinning comedian Jo Enright (Phoenix Nights, I’m Alan Partridge, Time Trumpet) has been crafting her unique style of stand-up comedy. Peter Kay thinks she’s one of the most naturally gifted comic talents he’s ever seen.

Have you ever wanted to give performing comedy a go? Well now is your chance. Open to allcomers. Call 07855741804 to register for a five-minute spot.

The Jo Enright Hour Jo delights us with her solo show, complete with a very fine impersonation of her gentle Irish mother. As Jack Dee has commented, ‘A great comedian’.

Paul is massively in demand as a writer on TV and radio: Not Going Out (Rose d’Or winner), After You’re Gone, The Now Show, The News Quiz, Dead Ringers and his own BBC Seven show, Snakes and Bladders.

Friday 22.00 Cabaret

John Archer Entertaining for the last 19 years, John has won many awards, including British Magical Champion of Comedy, and is a member of the Inner Magic Circle. He has also written for ITV’s The Sketch Show.

One magician and a ukulele Britain’s favourite comedy magician returns to the Festival with a show packed full of laughter, tricks and music.

John is the exception to his foul-mouthed contemporaries, making his mark with more traditional, throwaway gags, a smidgen of music and teasingly inventive magic tricks.

Monday 15.30 Centaur

Jude Simpson Polite suburban hip-hopper?

Pam Ayres on acid? A cross between Eminem and Joyce Grenfell? Jude’s comedic poetry leaves you smiling, laughing and occasionally hungry.

Satruday 21.00 Shine

Last Orders Last Orders is back for another round of late-night Festival highlights with chat, live music and general tomfoolery. Jude and Andy haven’t got the hint and are still hanging around to interview some of Greenbelt’s biggest names. Plus plenty of gags, irreverence and video stuff. Drop in even if you feel like dropping off.

Nightly 23.15 Centaur

Sunday 19.00 Cabaret

Paul Kerensa

John Archer

iPaul: The Great Playlist Challenge 12 months. 12 genres. One year of living musically, from Rat Pack to Tupac, Star Wars to Starship, The Doors to Handel.

British Comedy Award nominee and Rose d’Or winner Paul Kerensa presents a tale of love, guilty pleasures, and how listening to The Cranberries prevents cystitis.

Monday 22.00 Cabaret

Paul Powell Inrtroducing … the all-new Late Liquid Lunch New to Greenbelt? On your own? Looking for company?

Overwhelmed by the range of speakers, bands, shows and dodgy beards? Then your weekend starts here. Here’s your Rough Guide to what’s on and who’s doing it. Even better, you’ll meet people you can do it with! Greenbelt ‘08 in a nutshell – dry roasted, naturally.

Friday 19.30 Cabaret

Liquid Lunch It’s happy hour, lunchtimes on Saturday and Monday. Back by popular demand, writer, comedian and top tipster, Paul Powell, puts you on the inside track to the very best of everything at this year’s Festival. Paul and a panel of pundits present Greenbelt’s very own Rough Guide to the Festival. So pull up a bar stool and fill your Daily Diary with the cream of Greenbelt ‘08.

Saturday 13.15 & Monday 13.15 Cabaret

Paul Kerensa

The Rev Gerald Ambulance Ministry Hour Many have been touched by Rev Gerald in a very real way, but while the class action is still pending he continues to minister. Bring your personal problems, sicknesses (preferably psychosomatic), faith, a tambourine and lots of money.

Monday 19.00 Shine

Steve Tomkins Steve Tomkins is a writer whose books include A Short History of Christianity. He is also Deputy Editor of Third Way magazine.

Speed Christianity History repeats itself. Steve Tomkins re-runs his laugh-acentury church history show, taking you from Jesus to Gene, via grass-eating monks and prophetic geese.

Sunday 20.45 Shine

Tony Vino Tony Vino has been touring the professional comedy scene since 2005 and has enjoyed recognition as both a comedian and an excellent comedy compere. A delightful raconteur, he is best known for the way he seamlessly mixes well thought out observational humour with audience interaction and quickwitted responses.

Get Up. Stand Up. Greenbelt’s very own standup comedy show with funny man Tony Vino. Each night features a different lineup of cutting edge comedians from the UK comedy scene and a chance to see more of Jo Enright, Paul Kerensa, John Archer, Daliso Chaponda, Andy Kind, Jason Kavan and Damion Larkin. Plus a joke competition with a Fairtrade prize give-away.

Nightly 20.30 Cabaret

Film

A still from Will Becher’s short Weatherman

Alice in Wonderland (U) Monday 12.30 Arena Part of Christian Aid’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas An exclusive sneak preview This is the story of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a WWII concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startlingly unexpected consequences. This exclusive pre-release preview, will show how the film sheds light on the consequences of war.

Sunday 19.30 Arena

Chris Curtis Finding meaning in ‘Lost’ Is ‘Lost’ where we find spirituality in today’s culture?

Does a message for the church lie somewhere deep within the

island? One of TV’s most popular shows, ‘Lost’ is a glorious mixture of the supernatural and mysterious with polar bears thrown in for good measure.

A playful exploration of one of the most debated dramas of the last few years.

Saturday 17.45 Foxhunter For Chris’ bio, see the Talks listings

Emmanuel Jal: War Child Emmanuel Jal learned how to fire an AK47 at the age of eight, after being taken from his family and forced to fight in the Sudanese civil war. Living through unimaginable horrors, he was eventually rescued by a British aid worker. Now a successful hip hop star in his mid-twenties, this shy and intelligent man is determined to enlighten others about the plight of child soldiers.

Sunday 21.30 Film Foxhunter

For The Bible Tells Me So Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families (including Bishop Gene Robinson’s) this film charts how people of faith handle realising they have a gay child. With comment from Bishop Desmond Tutu, the film offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Saturday 22.00 Film Foxhunter

Gareth Higgins Why films can make us kill each other... or save the world Using clips from films such as Jaws, Secrets and Lies, Rocky and The Big Lebowski, Gareth Higgins brings his experience in Northern Ireland to bear on film and reconciliation.

Sunday 18.15 Foxhunter For Gareth’s bio, see the Talks listings

Greenbelt 08 Film

Greenbelt Film 08 Join the panel for a discussion on the best and worst films of ’08. Chaired by Gareth Higgins.

Monday 17.30 Arena

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Battlestar Galactica, they bring together ideas of identity, God, gods and extremism in a heady mix of CGI science fiction and some potent contemporary issues.

Saturday 14.00 Film Foxhunter

Heima Heima – meaning both ‘at home’ and ‘homeland’ – is an attempt to make a film as big, beautiful and unfettered as a Sigur Rós album. Documenting the Icelandic band as they play a series of free concerts in strange and unusually beautiful Icelandic locations, the film provides a unique insight into one of the world’s shyest bands and the places that have inspired their cinematic music.

Sunday 21.00 Arena

How to Lead a Film Discussion Group Church leaders are discovering the value in using films to explore theological and ethical themes. This interaction with contemporary culture can be illuminating and exciting. How do you start a film discussion group? What venues? What films? What are the legal issues? How do you lead the discussions? Exploring these questions, with the help of film clips, is Vic Thiessen who has facilitated 500 film discussions over the past 10 years.

Saturday 15.15 Film Foxhunter For Vic’s bio see the Talks listings

For Judith’s bio, see the Talks listings

Muslim Jesus followed by a Director’s Q&A Narrated by Melvyn Bragg, Irshad Ashraf’s documentary examines the life of Jesus, one of Islam’s greatest prophets.

Using the Quran and other Islamic texts, scholars, teachers, parents, poets and historians examine the differences between the Muslim and Christian portrayals of Jesus. Irshad Ashraf has made documentary films for Channel 4, ITV and BBC. Saturday 19.30 Arena

My China Now A collection of 33 short films – fascinating tales of China today, with shades of humour, pathos, fun, frivolity, frustration and fear. Exploring change, advance, development, poverty, displacement, fashion, nightlife, food, health, music, business, love, and money. Made by 26 filmmakers of all ages and backgrounds from all over China – this is their China, now.

Friday 19.30 Arena

Spirited Away (PG) I Know I’m Not Alone In 2004 Michael Franti decided to travelled to the war zones of Iraq, Israel and Palestine.

Armed only with a guitar and video cameras, he shared his music with families, doctors, musicians and soldiers who, in turn, revealed the very real human cost of war. A powerful film from a remarkable man.

21.00 Saturday Arena

Judith Gunn Of God, gods and Galactica As cylon and human pursue each other through space in

When unhappy Chihiro makes the reluctant move with her family to the suburbs, she finds her parents suddenly turned into pigs while snooping around in an abandoned amusement park. Chihiro soon discovers this is a resort for spirits and strange creatures, whom she must now work for, while trying to free her captured parents.

Beautifully hand-drawn, this Oscar-winning magical anime, from the makers of Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro, is a film to enchant all ages.

Sunday 09.30 Arena

Private (15) This bold, harrowing and multi-award-winning film tells the true story of active pacifist Mohammed and his family, whose house finds itself in the battleground between an Israeli settlement and a Palestinian village. Refusing to be ousted from his home by the occupation of armed Israeli forces, an uneasy alliance forms between those who accept Mohammed’s stance and those who act against it – causing painful divisions between fighter and family to spill outside.

Monday 21.00 Film Foxhunter

Silent Light (15) with post-film discussion led

by Vic Thiessen Winner of the Jury Prize at the ’07 Cannes Film Festival, Silent Light tells the story of the spiritual crisis of an adulterous Mexican Mennonite farmer.

Thoughtful and insightful, it examines the grand spiritual themes of life, death, love and forgiveness with a cast of nonactors, in a documentary style.

Saturday 19.00 Film Foxhunter

Vic Theissen A new dawn for humanity?

Finding God in sci-fi films Science fiction films have always explored the theme of a new dawn for humanity. This talk examines this in reference to God, and how these films are as relevant today as they were when the films were made.

Monday 15.15 Film Foxhunter For Vic’s bio, see the Talks listings

What About Me? (15) followed by film-makers’ Q&A with Jamie Catto (1 Giant Leap) In 2004, 1 Giant Leap musicians and film-makers, Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto set off around the world with a digital camera, a laptop and a vision: to capture and weave together as much musical, philosophical, artistic and spiritual inspiration as the

world had to offer. Recording with local musicians, and interviewing thinkers, teachers, markets sellers, criminals, and more, they examine the extent of humanity’s collective insanity, desires, obsessions, desperations and above all, our inability to stop thinking.

Featuring Dennis Hopper, Ram Dass, Tom Robbins, Anita Roddick, Brian Eno, Michael Stipe, Baaba Maal, and more.

Monday 18.00 Film Foxhunter

What Would Jesus Buy? (PG) Produced by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), this serious docu-comedy follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of humankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!

Sunday 19.30 Film Foxhunter

Will Becher Will started animating at the tender age of 12 and his degree film, Boxed In, was nominated for a BAFTA New Talent award in ’02. He was snapped up by Aardman Animations soon after graduating, working under Nick Park. He has just completed another short, The Weatherman, been one of Channel 4’s Animators in Residence, and is now back at Aardman working on the new Wallace & Gromit short for Christmas. Showing his own award-winning shorts (and answering questions on all things Wallace & Gromit).

Monday 11.15 Film Foxhunter

Plus classic Children’s Film Foundation films (U) Go Kart Go Saturday 09.00 Sammy’s Super T-Shirt Sunday 08.30

4D Special Agents Monday 09.00 All in the Arena All films issued with a certificate rating are marked as such.

The Kitchen Friday The Kettle’s on Greenbelt’s newest venue isn’t just a place for cups of tea and conversation, it’s also where you can meet others, dream up ideas, hatch a plot, and turn inspiration into action. Find out all about how it will help equip you to do stuff that will cause a stir, create a rumpus, generate stories and make a difference – in your home, on your street, in your neighbourhood, ‘round here’.

Friday 18.00

Angels, and the others: hospitality… and biscuits Hospitality to strangers may involve welcoming the occasional angel in disguise – but what about ‘the others’? Hosting friends can be challenging; welcoming a stranger can seem impossible.

How can you support your neighbourhood in welcoming strangers? Whether your home is a room, a flat, or a four-storey mansion, or even in the ‘wrong part of town’, join Elizabeth Bayliss (CEO at Social Action for Health), the Northumbria Community and special guests to share stories and find out how hospitality builds ‘home’.

Friday 18.15

Saturday I am a Mother The best and worst job in the world? From career mums with Blackberrys to single mums with five kids to feed, we all wonder if we’re any good at raising the next generation.

A sloppy kiss from a toddler, a special note from a kid or a laugh with a teenager are some of the gems. But guilt and anxiety are never far away.

If you lack confidence or you want to get on top of guilt as a mum, Parent Coach Judy Reith (author of Teach Yourself Motherhood) and The Mothers’

Union will be cooking up ideas about how to make the most of being a 21st century mum.

No guilt, no stress, no experts.

Just tea, sympathy and ideas to take away.

tips. For community makers and shakers. With Mark Waters from Church Action on Poverty and Paul Keeble from Urban Presence.

Saturday 16.00

Saturday 10.00

Meanz to an End: Fear, Friendship and Hoodies Out of school and employment… into guns, gangs, drugs and knives – young people are continually presented as a problem. How do you challenge the media myth and start building relationships with young people? How can you support your neighbourhood to get involved? Want to feel at home with young people? Join estate-based youthworker Matt Calvert and special guests, and dig down into the practicalities of doing youthwork in your neighbourhood.

Saturday 12.00

Still Living Generously?

People, families and households across the globe are making small, everyday, sustainable lifestyle changes in favour of all the people and the whole of the planet. Find out more about the Generous phenomenon in chat, interviews, a quiz with prizes (win two adult tickets to Greenbelt 09!) laughs, chocolate, and ... other stuff.

Hosted by Claire Skinner of Forum for the Future and Generous blogger Annie Porthouse.

Sunday How to Foster or Adopt Ever wondered about welcoming some new children into your family? For a short time or for all time? Join Professor John Swinton, social worker Jenny Gillespie, foster carers and adoptive parents over a cup of tea to hear what it’s all about – and wonder whether it might be for you.

From theory and theology to ordinary practicalities.

Sunday 10.00

Jesus said, ‘Gizza bed!’

Or ‘If you refuse to help the least…you are refusing to help me.’ In the UK, tens of thousands of destitute asylum seekers live on Red Cross food parcels worth a few quid a day, and sleep on floors and sofas. Helping them is helping Jesus – so how about it? Come and meet people who share their homes with the destitute, run projects and befriend the friendless... With Dave Smith of the Boaz Trust and friends.

Sunday 12.00

Monday

Saturday 14.00

Sit in or Stand up?

Doing Justice.

Justice is a great idea... but how do you turn intellectual, theological and emotional commitments into effective action? If you’re not sure where to start call in and find effective ways – from campaigns to community organising, demonstrations to drawing a crowd. Share stories; tell us what’s worked, what’s not, and find ideas, support, interest, allies and some practical top

Platform2 Platform2 is a global volunteering experience funded by the Department for International Development and run by Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and BUNAC. So You Want to Volunteer in the Developing World?

Hear from young people who have just returned from taking part in the scheme. And find out if it’s something you – or young people in your community – might be part of.

Monday 10.00

Mixed blessings Away from the headlines, Christians and Muslims are working together in acts of justice and peacemaking.

Not inter-faith or multifaith – just different faiths doing useful stuff together.

Find out how conflicting faiths are collaborating, holding their differences and working together to improve their neighbourhoods and promote peace. Hosted by Richard Sudworth (Distinctly welcoming: Christian Presence in a Multi-faith society) and Wahida Shaffi (Muslim peace activist).

Monday 12.00

Utopian Dreams – Community Heaven or Hell?

What is living in community all about? With renewed interest in all varieties of intentional community life we want to explore the visions and ideas, highs and lows, and practical tips. Whether you’re a community virgin or veteran, providing hospitality or living in a commune, come along with your questions and experiences to form an onsite collective of collaborative learning! With Ben Gilchrist (SPEAK), James Clayton and others.

Monday 14.00

Speed Debating with Jude Levermore Your chance to discuss the hot topics of the day in an innovative – and slightly crazy – way.

Ever wanted to have your say about women Bishops, the Royal family or if the England football manager really should be English? This is your chance.

It’s like speed-dating, but on heat.

Monday 16.00

For panels in The Cooker – when the heat gets turned up in The Kitchen each night – see the Panels & Workshop section of the Talks listings on page 75.

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Animation workshops 11–17s Ardmaan’s Nick Park had to start somewhere, so if you’ve a yearning to go back to the drawing board or find yourself making animals out of Blu Tak® this might be the workshop for you.

Saturday 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00 Sunday 10:00, 12:00, 18:00 Monday 10:00 The Not-So-Royal Premiere: Monday 20.00 Arena

18+ These 18+ sessions have been designed so you can concentrate on your creativity without the younger members of your family. So, if you’re still wide awake and willing to learn and the rest of the Festival hasn’t drawn you away then this workshop will be worthwhile.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday 20.00 (18+ only) No experience necessary, but you’re welcome if you’ve done (and seen) it all before.

Please note: If you want to attend one of the stop-frame animation workshops, use the sign-up sheets located in the tank.

There’s everything you need in The Tank media café, virtually.

You can really be one of the IT crowd. Chill out and enjoy some Divine refreshments, Fairtrade food and drink and sumptuous smoothies, while taking in whichever Greenbelt speaker or musician happens to be on Rise as you sit outside on our new café terrace.

Whether it is just a few moments away from the hustle and bustle or a chance to learn something new – step into The Tank.

And if you find yourself coming back time and again then make sure you pick up one of our loyalty cards which will reward your commitment with a free drink.

Phone charging Who can do without their phone at a festival? Especially as they seem to come into their own as walkie-talkies, as friends and family use them to guide you through the maze of tents to find each other. When the juice runs low – just bring yours to The Tank where we will charge it up. And if you’ve got your own charger, then bring that too.

Get on the web Get mailed, poked and nudged.

Pick up a thread, blog a lot or browse a little. Wander with wifi, or stay wired.

There is a charge for internet access and phone charging.

Workshops Taking time out in The Tank to learn something new or update your knowledge is becoming a

popular move at Greenbelt as festivalgoers look to share their skills and knowledge. So book your place early before they get full!

The Tank Presents Building Websites If you know your hyperlinks from your hypertension then come along and learn a bit more about building that all-important website for your church or organisation. If you’re not on the web, then you’re not seen…

Saturday 16.30 Foxhunter

Presentation Techniques Don’t hide behind presentation aids. Add music, videos and web resources to grab your audience. It’s not what you say its how you say it. Book now for some tips on turning prose into powerful presentations.

Monday 16.30 Foxhunter

The Not-So-Royal Premiere The Directors’ Cut! Enjoy the red carpet treatment as we showcase the animations made in our stop-frame animation workshops over the weekend.

Monday 19.00 Arena

The Humanic Choco-link Unwrap the story behind Divine chocolate with Humanic by taking part in a live link to the chocolate farmers behind the brand.

Monday 13.30 The Tank (14–17s)

Youth

For all young people (11–17s) across site over the weekend …

Shows, venues, workshops, gigs, talks – and so much more.

Tropical Inc.

We take full responsibility for young people in The Mix, but we’d ask that you do so at other times and in other areas.

Back by popular demand and onsite all weekend, Tropical Inc. will be giving shows and talks offering a unique insight into the world of exotic animals.

Your chance to get close up and personal with meerkats, pythons, tarantulas, lizards, parrots – and even a skunk.

Tropical Inc. travel all over the UK rescuing unwanted or mistreated exotic animals and are committed to increasing awareness and provide hands-on education for anyone about these animals, their environments and welfare.

Saturday 16.30 The Mix, Sunday 17.00 Fresh Talent Stage

Skate Park Bath YFC return with their fantastic array of things to jump over, slide along and spin around. So get your BMX, deck or boots on and come roll with it! Dedicated beginners, intermediate and advanced lessons. See the Daily Diary for times or just go along.

is rare, such as schools, prisons – and churches! Young people (and the young at heart) will chuckle and cheer, snivel and sigh and generally get things into a more eternal perspective Drama workshop Including time to chat to the team about being an actor.

Saturday 12.30 Workshops 2

Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Worship for skaters Sunday 20.00

Junk music workshop Discover the amazing sounds possible using what most see as junk – and prepare to busk before Communion!

Scratch Youth Choir Just three sessions to prepare for an amazing performance on the Fresh Talent stage on Monday. No experience needed!

Saturday 18.00 Humanic, Sunday 12.30 Humanic , Performance: Monday 13.00 Centaur

Sunday 10.00 Workshops 2 11–17s only – limited spaces

Riding Light’s Roughshod Roughshod are known for taking their high-energy performances into places where live theatre

Support when you need it Working with Oasis Trust, our team of youthworkers are happy to chat, answer questions, sort any problems, and make sure you get the best out of Greenbelt.

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Fresh Talent Stage

New music

The Mix (11–14s)

Ripping up the YMCA 24-hour Café, the brand new Fresh Talent Stage is going to be showcasing young emerging acts. Imagine what you’ll be able to say to people in five years time when you saw that stadium-filling band perform in this intimate venue. There’s tonnes of other stuff too…

Something for Sophie Energetic four-piece from Brighton

Greenbelt’s amazing 11-14s programme is packed with bands, workshops, talks, entertainment, a chill space to hang out in, games and large helpings of the unexpected from early ‘til late, all in its own fab venue! Come and watch, come and worship, or just come and have a laugh! Registration opens at 17.00 Friday, followed by a HUGE opening party at 18.00!

Opening Karaoke Disco Your chance to sing your soul out and dance to the grooves of DJ Legend. Don’t be shy, it’s a great way to start the weekend and find out what’s going on.

Friday 19.00

iPod worship Stick your favourite worship song on your iPod, and let’s crank it up and worship.

Friday 21.30

Acoustic open mic sessions Some of the top bands performing over the weekend play just for you – in a cosy, nongizmo acoustic session.

Sunday 19.30 & Monday 21.30

Clubtastic feat. Joel Baker DJ Joel Baker (Big Chill, Cntrst) will be mixing the tunes.

Sunday 21.00

Until the end of the World Using U2’s words and music, a blend of worship, talk and highvolume music. Explore God’s love for us and our faltering attempts to love Him back.

Monday 21.00

Pip Wilson’s iPod Session Bring your iPod, plug it in, play three tracks significant to you and answer questions. It’s as much about you as the music.

Saturday 14.25

Brokenfor Voice and bass-led melodies from the groove-rock trio.

Saturday 15.20

Toxic Federation Soaring guitar lines and thundering bass from Derby.

Saturday 16.15

Taste of Coda Rock influenced three-piece.

Saturday 18.05

Sol Energetic Scottish alt.rock four-piece.

Monday 18.00

Re-wired Imagine Scotland battle of the band winners 07.

Monday 17.05

DaViglio Female acoustic duo.

Monday 19.00

Jegrad Four-piece sibling band featuring a six-year-old funky drummer.

Sunday 13.40

Formal Affair Genre-busting four-piece trying to look their best.

Saturday 12.35

Unlucky Stew Staffordshire battle of the bands finalists.

Relentless Craving Refreshingly unpredictable indie sound.

Saturday 13.30

For Pip’s biog see the talks listings.

The New Life Showcase, featuring Good Question, Gleam of Dawn, The Strides, Mark Cartwright and hosted by Elijah Kirby with in-house DJ Mikey Boy Hall.

Saturday 23.00 For Riding Light’s Roughshod biog see the Performing Arts listings.

iPod shuffle Monday 22.30

Mix Morning Show With games, laughter and stuff, the perfect way to start the day!

10.00

Jason Gardner and Sam Lloyd Jason works for the London Institute for Contemporary Culture and is a voluntary youthworker. He also fancies himself as a singer/ songwriter and cheesy disco DJ. Sam has the strength of 19 grizzly bears and is unnervingly accurate with a basketball. He loves clubbing and in his spare time is a schools and youthworker in London.

Jason and Sam will explore a bit of the Easter story each day.

12.00

What in the World’s going on?!

Christian Aid highlight the lowdown on planet earth, and how we can make a difference.

13.30

Sunday 12.45

Saturday 21.30

Hope Street Where there’s life, there’s... soap! Blending grit, giggles and grandeur, the show asks: where does our hope come from? Five multi-talented young performers take you down their street to the junction of life and faith.

Daily Highlights

Monday 14.00

Workshops Show off your skills or discover some new ones!

Puppetry Learn how to use puppets, ask ‘how do they do that?’ and find out how to make your own.

Saturday 14.30

Songwriting Want to be able to write songs?

Come and discover how it’s done. We can’t promise you’ll go straight to Number One, but you will have fun!

Saturday 14.30

Drama Get together with the Create youth drama team for this

fantastic workshop. No experience, props or even highheels necessary!

Saturday 15.30 & Sunday 17.00

Dance Take the shackles off your feet so you can dance! High-energy dance moves. Get up and shake that bootie!

Sunday 17.00

Poetry Paul Cookson is the ‘Official Poet of Much Brilliance’, writing poems about football and rock bands. He’s been part of Greenbelt for longer than you’ve been alive, and wants to help you find your inner poet!

Monday 14.00

Plus shows …

Opening Party Friday 18.00

Sounds of Salvation SoS play energetic, passionate and fun ska worship.

Friday 20.00

Tom Elliot Young Tom Elliot, magician, ventriloquist and impresario.

Friday 21.00

Girls Only with Caris Magazine A special event for the girls – with a very special guest Saturday 18.30

thebandwithnoname An exclusive set from one of the most popular Christian bands in the UK. Saturday 21.00

The Big Mix Talent Show Sign up in The Chill Zone to show off your skills. The best three acts will take their skills to the Fresh Talent Stage on Sunday night.

Sunday 18.30

Quiet Reflections A reflective environment to unwind and listen to God – with music and visuals.

Sunday 21.00

Big Outdoor Games Afternoon Monday 14.30

The Mix Closing Party Saving the best to last, a rockin’ party featuring The Mix team and live music from The Strides.

Monday 19.30

Greenbelt 08 Youth

Humanic (14–17s) It’s bigger. It’s even better than ever. It’s huge and manic! This year, with the support of the Church Army we’ve expanded the Humanic programme. Oh yes, you now not only have the brand new daily show, Manic, and the fantastic Humanic stage, but also the brand new Fresh Talent Stage in the YMCA 24Hour Café that will deliver some of the best new bands to be found anywhere at the Festival!

Join us for lift-off at 1900 on Friday. You won’t come down ’til Monday.

The Humanic Chill A space in the Humanic venue for you to hang out in, buy drinks and snacks, plan what you are going to do for the day or just … chill!

Daily until 02.00

Think Big – the Humanic Launch Night Your chance to get creative, get active and get dreaming.

Lots of stuff to stir some big thinking. Have fun, meet lots of new people, and listen to some awesome bands: The Royal Welcome, Fuzz, Zerostar and thebandwithnoname.

Friday 19.00

Manic Sessions Daily at 10.30

I am…

Take an armchair and grapple with questions, like: ‘who exactly is God?’ and ‘is there hope in a chaotic world?’ Then stand up and deliberate on music and lyrics, film, philosophy and art.

Saturday

Am I…?

Who am I and what does God think of me? Through running races, building walls, growing mustard, shredding rubbish and turning over leaves we might find out.

music and discussion. Uncertain about coming along…well don’t dither!

Monday

Music As well as the Fresh Talent Stage, the Humanic venue itself will give you a nightly dose of great tunes to rock you to sleep … or melt your eardrums, more likely. Don’t miss the big rock night on Sunday!

Death Is Not Welcome Here The name says it all and they have anthemic tunes loaded and ready.

Sunday 20.40

[dweeb] A good-humoured musical onslaught, [dweeb] have built up an enviable fan base across the UK following five years of gigging including a recent appearance on BBC3’s Singing With the Enemy. They’ve just released their first album, It Came From Outer Space.

Sunday 21.50

Fuzz Mad-for-it Britrock, echoing Embrace, Oasis, Stone Roses and more.

Friday launch night

My Spoon These guys have all the ingredients to turn an average gig into a memorable night, a simple song into a long lasting sing-a-long, a gathering of people into a party, and a rock show into a ROCK SHOW! Sunday 18.30

The Royal Welcome Alternative rock fusion with great stage presence.

Friday launch night & Saturday 17.10 Fresh Talent Stage

Shortfall Don’t listen to the name, these guys will leave you overflowing.

Saturday 19.30

Sounds of Salvation High-octane, ten-piece ska band worship.

Sunday

Saturday 22.00

Could I…?

Untangling the mysteries of decision-making, through film

The Steels Currently touring their eagerly anticipated second album, Your

Name in Lights, The Steels are an edgy pop-rock three-piece.

Sunday 19.35

thebandwithnoname Great fab slabs of rock and breakbeat from the Manc project Innervation.

Friday launch night

Zerostar Unashamed ethereal stadium rock-pop (and Feeder love them).

Friday launch night

Workshops Circus skills Juggling, diabolo, devil sticks and all sorts of manually dextrous wonders – all with no prior experience necessary!

Arrive early. Limited places.

With Steve Washington.

Saturday 12.30

Balloon modelling Get creative with Steve Washington.

Saturday 16.00

Standup Comedy Learn performance techniques and comedy writing, whether you are a complete beginner or just want to hone your skills.

There is an opportunity to perform any written material at the Open Mic show later on.

With Andy Kind.

Sunday 17.00 Workshops 2

Drama writing How to write fast, funny and inspirational sketches. Get top tips on structure, character and dialogue. Bring pen and paper!

With Peter Shaw.

Manga Art Wow! Meet the man who created the Manga Bible and discover the secrets of drawing in the Manga style. With Siku.

Saturday 16.00

Did that hurt? Stage Fighting Ever wondered how they make fight scenes seem so real in films and in the theatre? Come and find out!

Monday 14.00

Art and Craft Create your artistic take on the Rising Sun theme.

Monday 19.30

Talks Following God? Phil Clark from Church Army asks if God really does have a plan for your life? Where do our choices come into it and how do we know what God wants anyway?

Saturday 14.00 Humanic

Grow!

We all know we are meant to be growing in faith but what does that really mean? Join Diane Craven from Greenbelt’s Soul Space Team to discover what it might be all about.

Saturday 17.00 Humanic

Dr Who and the search for God Join Andrew Wooding for an exploration of the spirituality behind one of the most popular programmes on TV. He regularly teaches on film and has been a Doctor Who fanatic since Jon Pertwee first fell out of the tardis back in 1970.

Saturday 12.30

Sunday 18.15 Fresh Talent Stage

T-Shirt Art Customise your very own Fairtrade T-Shirt. Everything provided. But arrive early, as places will be limited.

University – Is it worth it?

Join students, academics and a university chaplain to discover what university is really about.

Whether you are about to begin life as a student or just starting to think about it, you can get the inside story here.

Saturday 14.00 & Monday 15.15

Poetry Paul Cookson is the ‘Official Poet of Much Brilliance’, writing poems about football and rock bands. He also writes poems that make you laugh. He’s been part of Greenbelt for longer than you’ve been alive, and wants to help you find your inner poet!

Saturday 15.00

Saturday 19.00 Fresh Talent Stage

So you want to be a worship leader?

Are you ready? Is the mic switched on? Join Matt McChlery to find out what it takes to be a worship leader.

Born in Zimbabwe, Matt started leading worship at 15. His

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album Fly has seen airplay on over 400 radio stations.

Sunday 13.30

Sunlight in dark places How do gangs operate, and what are the effects on individuals? Mike Royal talks from personal experience about getting in and getting out, and looks for a biblical perspective. He is the national director of The Lighthouse Group, a charity that works with young people excluded from school. His academic background is in urban studies and black theology and he has been actively involved in engaging senior politicians and government on policy formulation on issues of exclusion and gangs.

Sunday 17.00 Humanic

So you want to be a writer?

Andrew Wooding has created comic strips and written books, and will not only explain what it takes to become a writer, but get you started too. He is a Church Army Evangelist, who writes children’s and youth books and cartoon strips – for characters such as Desperate Dan and Bananaman.

Monday 17.00 Humanic

Plus shows, events and a very special project …

Humanic the Movie Want to be a filmmaker for the weekend? An amazing opportunity to help capture the Greenbelt experience on film with a team from Humanic.

With help from experienced filmmaker James Skinner you’ll plan, shoot and edit a short film which will be premiered in Humanic.

Movie launch meeting: Friday 18.00 Saturday 10.00, Sunday 10.00 & 17.00, Monday 10.00 Premiere: Monday 20.00 Arena

Scratch Theatre Youth Show: New Dawn What happens if the sun dies?

Who is responsible? Can those left survive without the sun?

This is a unique opportunity for young people aged 14–17 to explore the ‘Rising Sun’ theme and devise an original piece

of theatre. You’ll work with an expert theatre practitioner over three evenings towards a performance on the Fresh Talent Stage on Monday.

Rehearsals: Friday 18.00, Saturday 20.30, Sunday 20.15 Workshops 1 Performance: Monday 12.30 Fresh Talent Stage Open to anyone aged 14–17 who can make all the rehearsals. To join the cast, just come to the first rehearsal.

The Humanic Choco-link Ever wondered where Divine’s über-delicious chocolate comes from? Join our live satellite link with a school in Ghana, where the parents of the students are Fairtrade cocoa growers. With a tasting session too – yummy!

Monday 12.30 The Tank

Romance Academy What is this love thing all about? Come and find out! Sign up for a mini-course in luurve …

Sign up before or at the first session. Daily 17.00

Humanic’s Got Talent Forget ITV1 and ITV2, this is Greenbelt’s very own take on the show. Open to any groups or individual performers that have an entertaining act – the only rule is that everyone must be between the ages of 14 and 17 years old. Three winners will get a special stage performance and a chance to go for the ultimate trophy!

Sign up on Friday evening or Saturday morning in The Humanic Chill Saturday 20.30 Humanic & Fresh Talent Stage

Humanic does The Apprentice Think you’re better than Lee or Raef? Want to try your hand at a task and argue your case in the Boardroom? Greenbelt’s Commercial Manager, Phil Smith, will be setting an hourlong challenge that will roll out across the entire Festival. But careful, you might get fired!

Monday 12.00

Mass@Barnabas Youth-led creative worship.

Monday 12.30 Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Pub-style Quiz Bring a team or join one when you arrive. Prizes for the winning group!

Monday 20.30

Under 18 and got something to say?

What did you think of Greenbelt this year? What was good?

What could have been better?

Come and tell members of the Festival planning team what you thought and what you’d like to see next year.

Monday 16.00

Children’s and all-age

Children’s Festival A stimulating programme for all 0–10 year olds. Our aim is simple: give every child a fantastic time! So, bring them along for fun with puppets, exotic animals, songs, magic, jokes and stories. Run by caring CRB-checked volunteers.

Age Groups / Registration

While we take full responsibility for your children in the Children’s Festival, we’d ask that you do so at other times and in other areas.

All children 0–10 need to be registered first. Registration begins on Friday at 19.00 and ends at 21.00 – when children and parents are welcomed into the area to have a sneak peek.

Registration will take place within the appropriate agegroup venue. Once the Festival has started it is still possible to register at the start of a session.

However, it is better to come along to the Friday registration session if you can. There are no guaranteed places.

Crèche 0–18mths Sleeping and changing facilities, push-chair services (for crying children), bottle/food warming, and bathing every night 19.00–21.00 (Monday 19.00–20.00). (Any food/drink provided must be made up and in clearly labelled containers).

Toddlers 19mths–2yrs, 11mths Three venues (so they’re not too overwhelming) packed with sticky finger craft, music and movement, toys, games and fun.

Pre-School 3yrs–starting school in Sept ’08 Four venues full of toys, trikes and games, with face-painting, fun and lots of laughter.

Infants post-reception/Yr1/Yr2 Plenty of fun with circus skills, puppets and games and songs with Fischy Music.

Juniors just completed Yr3/ Yr4/Yr5 Juniors will have workshops from clowning to drumming and

sculpture to dance. Our very own outside stage will include performances from Fischy.

Snacks and Sun Healthy snacks for children under three are provided, so please don’t bring any unless the child has an allergy. For children over three please provide them with a drink.

Sunhats are also advisable, and please pre-apply sun-cream when necessary.

Special Needs If your child has a special need please let us know at the gate as sessions begin. Permission will be needed in writing and arrangements made with the SEN team to administer antidotes, e.g. adrenalin pen for severe allergies. Asthma inhalers should be clearly labelled.

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Shows & Events in the Children’s Festival All-age worship

Sunday Morning – all-age programming in the Children’s Festival

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All-age programming across the site every day

On Sunday morning there’s going to be oodles of activities in the Children’s Festival for you to come along to with your kids!

(We will not be supervising; parents are responsible.)

The whole Festival site is designed to be family-friendly, with loads of things to do and look at. There’s too much to list fully, but here’s a selection of family-friendly highlights to look out for …

Fischy Music is celebrating a special birthday – and what better place for a party than Greenbelt?! It’s 10 years since they began combining top quality music and entertainment with emotional and spiritual content. They’ve delighted thousands of children and adults with their catchy, easy-to-learn and fun-to-sing songs.

Including…

Messy Space

Art Workshop We all have things which are special and hold great significance to us. Use clay to create a version of your special object, and tell its story too!

Like a huge version of your living room over the summer holidays, this is the place for the whole family to hang out and do stuff.

There will be games, special events, bedtime stories, family talks and a café. You don’t even have to clear up. Hurrah!

Junk Sculpture

11.00–14.00

The YoYo Team from York will be leading all-age services with creative storytelling and interactive worship.

Fischy Music

10.30

Children’s Café Feed the kids lunch in a familyfriendly atmosphere, with lots of tea and cake too!

St. Marks Puppet Team

Children’s Yoga A brilliant way to get children doing physical activity – gentle, non-competitive and fun.

Everyone can enjoy it, regardless of age or ability, and it teaches children skills of relaxation, attention and stillness.

The puppets are back, but will be spending the weekend with the under 5s this year. They will be visiting the children, telling stories and making friends.

Communion Workshop Get creative and make things that will be used in our Communion processions later.

Some of Greenbelt’s very own Site Vibing Team will work with all ages to create ‘things that grow from the sun’ – all out of recycled materials.

tbc Explosive pop music with great dance routines – these four girls will really rock the party and get you on your feet!

11.00 3–4s, 11.45 5–7s, 12.30 8–10s

10.30 & 12.30

Play Tent Bring your under 5s along to play with all our toys!

Signed Worship Fun-packed, creative worship, with signing for the deaf.

10.30

Tropical Inc. Hold a python, lick a lizard!

See Youth listings for details.

Friday 17.00–19.00, Saturday 10.00–19.00, Sunday 10.00–14.00 & 17.00–19.00, Monday 10.00–16.00 Betting Hall

Plus A messy, crafty time of worship with Joy Under the Sun

Bringing Wonder Back To Life An all-age magic show with Mark Townsend.

Sunday 17.00 Cabaret See Performing Arts listings.

Circus Skills Instruction on the diabolo, plate spinning, the devil stick, juggling on a string, ball juggling, fun wheels and stilt walking.

Saturday 11.00, 13.30, 15.30 Mainstage

Classic Children’s Film Foundation films (U) Go Kart Go Saturday 09.00 Sammy’s Super T-Shirt Sunday 08.30

4D Special Agents Monday 09.00 All in the Arena

Sunday 09.00

Hands-on-Matins with feig Monday 09.00

And more all-age, familyfriendly worship …

All-age worship from YoYo. Saturday & Sunday 09.00 Workshops 2

Plastic Fantastic? led by Sanctus 2nds.

10.30 3–4s, 11.15 5–7s, 12.15 8–10s

Around the Sun led by Safe Space.

11.00

See Performing Arts listings for more.

Family Celebration Service led

by Sanctuary

Saturday 10.00 New Forms

Tom Elliott Laughter and magic with Freddie Bear and Ronny Smith.

Art, storytelling and ritual, bringing together people of varied religious traditions to be still, imaginative and spiritually enriched.

Saturday 09.00

Springs Dance Company Fun-filled dance workshops, where children (accompanied by carers) can explore creation.

Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Breathing Space Yurt

All-age communion led by Moot Sunday 10.00 New Forms

Monday 10.00 New Forms

All-Age Contemporary Dance Workshop Led by C-Scape, a leading dance company.

Sunday 12.10 G-Stage

Drawing differently Join Epic Arts for Drawing Differently where you will be drawing on your senses to create things for our communion service. Explore new ways of drawing and don’t be limited to using hands or responding to what you see with your eyes. Open to all ages.

Sunday 10.00 Millhouse Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Family Twist Daytime fun and frolics with Paul Cookson’s inimitable – dare we suggest legendary – Twist, featuring the Prof on accordion and a host of special guests and surprises! Audience participation is non-negotiable and beware – Paul has a ukulele and he’s prepared to use it!

Saturday 17.00 & Monday 18.30 Children’s Festival

Greenbelt 08 Children’s and all-age

Godly Play

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

A sacred place where familes can enjoy the mysteries of the stories of the people of God – with time to wonder, respond creatively and share a feast.

Starting with Alice in Wonderland, come to the Arena for an afternoon of campaigning fun with Christian Aid. Fancydress would be great!

Daily Breathing Space Yurt

Monday 12.30 Arena

See Performing Arts listings for more.

Greenbelt Self-Portrait Everyone at the Festival is invited to create a life-size head-and-shoulders selfportrait. There’ll be loads of materials for you to use, and folks on hand to offer advice!

All weekend The Hub

Greenbelt School of Art

Pinocchio Steven Tiplady uses puppets to retell this classic tale.

Youth Monday 13.00 Centaur

Adult Monday 15.15 Mainstage

Three’s a Crowd A big family show with three big poets – Ian McMillan, Paul Cookson and Stewart Henderson.

Sunday 17.00 Shine

Sunday 10.30 & 12.30 Cabaret

Rock On! Performances Greenbelt’s own scratch musical Monday 12.00 Workshops 1 & 16.45 Cabaret See Performing Arts listings.

Covering a broad range of skills, with a great bunch of teachers, these hour-and-a-half classes can be booked in The Hub each evening for the next day.

Scratch Choir Performances

All Weekend The Hub

Monday 14.20 Mainstage

Children’s

Tropical Inc. Hold a python, lick a lizard!

And… Snub and Asboluv create thematic pieces with spray cans around site.

Look out for Magic and Wonder with Mark Townsend.

Podules – giant installations you can climb into (see map).

An Interactive Sundial.

Some of the talks venues have play corners in them where your children can colour and draw while you take it all in.

Unpigeonholeable Welcome and Blessing Friday 17.50, Mainstage

First time at Greenbelt Dean Ayres and Linda Watson will hold your hand and answer your questions as you begin your Festival journey and discover all that is on offer and how best to navigate it. (Stay on for Paul Powell’s Late Liquid Lunch for an orientation top-up straight after!)

Friday 18.00 Sovereign

Feedback Have your say about the Festival this year – the good, the not so good and the beautiful.

Monday 16.00 Humanic (under 18s) Monday 18.00, Workshops 1, Insurance Lounge (for all)

Fire! Fire!

Ever wondered what the Greenbelt fire team gets up to?

Come and meet them and their vehicles. And find out about volunteering opportunities.

Saturday 10.00–13.00 Child’s Play, Centaur Saturday 13.00–16.00 Around site

Demonstrations Want to see a tent on fire? Or what happens when a gas bottle explodes? Of course you do.

Friday 15.00, Sunday 13.00, Monday 15.00. See Daily Diary for locations.

John O’Donohue Tribute See p16.

Saturday 10.00 Centaur

Outerspace Outerspace will be hosting panels, reflection and worship over the weekend – while listening to people’s stories. For anyone wanting to understand more of what it means to be a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered Christian.

Coming Out; Staying In Church Panel discussion.

Friday 20.20 Foxhunter

My Mother Had A Brother Worship.

Saturday 12.00 New Forms

LGBT Christians Together At Greenbelt Saturday 20.30 Workshop 2

LGB Blessings – An Insider’s Story Monday 18.00 Workshop 2

Pastoral If you need someone to talk with about difficult experiences or current struggles, you can talk with one of our qualified counsellors in private. Sessions last up to an hour and can be booked to suit you. This is a free service offered for the duration of the Festival only.

Friday 17.00–19.00; Saturday & Sunday 10.00–19.00; Monday 10.00–18.00.* Tote Booth, Grandstand 4th Floor.

*Emergency support outside these times can be accessed via the Medical Centre.

Serum Serum is a spirituality discussion group for anyone who likes talking about big topics (and they don’t come much bigger than God!). The discussions are relaxed, taking place over a coffee, and are especially appropriate if you wouldn’t describe yourself as a Christian, or feel comfortable doing so.

Saturday & Sunday 10.30 CMS Tent

Speed Dating (18–45s) With Christian Connection Speed dating at Greenbelt has become an institution.

Unattached Greenbelters get together for a series of 10–15 mini-dates, each lasting about three minutes.* 19.00 Saturday, Talks 2

*Registration is essential.

Once all places are allocated, registration will close. So please arrive early to avoid disappointment. Women are encouraged to bring single male friends with them to register.

Saturday 13.00 next to The Kitchen

Spiritual Direction Spiritual Direction will be available from an experienced

team all day every day. Come in at any time to make an appointment. Often there will be Spiritual Directors available to talk to you immediately.

From Friday 19.00 – Monday 1800 Soul Space

What is Spiritual Direction?

A workshop led by members of the Spiritual Direction Team.

104|105

make new friends, flirt, and win a speedboat (subject to availability). Comedian Paul Powell is your host. A group of random, yet attractive strangers is your team.

Saturday 14.30 Cabaret

Traidcraft Pub Quiz

Student Space

Bring your team of clever chums down to the Beer Tent to test your knowledge in Traidcraft’s battle of the brains.

Bring & share – meet up with other students at the Festival.

(Hosted by SCM)

Want to Volunteer?

Saturday 14.00 Soul Space

Friday 19.00 G-Stage in G-Source

S:VOX Offering a programme of support and education around issues of abuse aimed at both people who have experienced any form of abuse and the wider community, S:VOX is a national organisation offering self-help, advocacy, and education for survivors of abuse and their supporters. You can network with S:VOX throughout the Festival.

Supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Saturday 17.30 Beer Tent

Find out more about joining Greenbelt Handmade.

Sunday 18.15 The Kitchen (30 mins) Or visit the Angel Lounge over the weekend to sign up

Yoga Bring your own mat or towel and start the day with a moment to yourself under the guidance of our expert teachers. Find the gravity and spaciousness of your body through simple movement and posture.

Support group for abuse survivors Only for people who have experienced abuse – sexual, emotional, physical or spiritual – at any stage of their life. Share experiences, recognising that we are all at different places in our journey. You are welcome to come along at any time, to share or just listen and ‘be’.

Iyengar Yoga Rebecca Brewin has been practicing yoga for over 10 years, including training at the Iyengar Institute in India. She is now under the Yoga Teacher Training Course (YTTC) at the Christian Meditation Centre in Vauxhall, London.

Friday 20.30 Workshops 2

Astanga Yoga Vikki Poole is a certified teacher, with the British Wheel of Yoga. She has been practising astanga for eight years and been teaching exercise for over five years. Vikki currently teaches in several health clubs across London, as well as running a private class at St Luke’s Church, North London.

The Art of Depression An open workshop on using creative tools to express and deal with overwhelming feelings. Led by Sue Atkinson and friends from S:VOX. Sunday 20.30 Workshops 2

Traidcraft Pub Quiz for Solo Greenbelters Looking to meet people, have a laugh, and demonstrate your considerable brain power?

The Traidcraft Pub Quiz does all three. A chance to hook up with fellow solo Greenbelters,

Every Morning 07.00 Breathing Space Yurt

Every Morning 09.00 Shine (or Workshops 1 if bad weather) Astanga yoga is not suitable for those with high blood pressure, heart or respiratory problems.

Partners, Associates and Supporters Partners Christian Aid Transforming their tented café venue into a Burkina Faso Garden, Christian Aid, Greenbelt’s longest-standing Partner will be educating Greenbelters in the very real life and death issues involved in sustaining any sort of agricultural production in a west African country. In addition, they bring us Robert Beckford on the Great African Scandal, John Keane’s latest exhibition Children in Conflict, worship with Wild Goose and Riversongz Gospel Choir (including Zoe Oputah, the winner of their gospel singer competition), the Surefish Top 10 Gospel Songs, and their Mad Hatter’s Tea Party campaign afternoon.

Greenbelters are invited to go along to the DFID Yurt in Centre Course over the weekend to see what the Government is doing on all our behalves and to learn how we can ‘shop for development’.

Douglas Alexander: Is Poverty Being Made History?

Saturday 17.45 Shine

Douglas Alexander: Why Politics Matters

Christian Aid and Wild Goose worship

Running the only 24-hour café onsite, as well as all the great outdoors stuff to get stuck into, like the climbing wall and volleyball court, this year the YMCA venue hosts a brand new Greenbelt venue – The Fresh Talent Stage (see the Humanic listings for details). They’ll also be selling tickets for those allimportant showers. Phew!

Sunday 12.00 Centaur

How Do You Shop For Development?

Panel discussion.

Monday 12.30 Foxhunter

Platform2 has a stand in G-Source and a session on Monday 10.00 in The Kitchen Meet the Platform2 Volunteers Saturday 17.00 DFID Venue

Greenbelt enjoys a wellestablished association with Traidcraft and this year they’ll be in the G-Source. Also, go and sample their range of wines at one of their wine-tastings, or get along to one of their nowlegendary pub quizzes.

Saturday 19.00 G-Stage & Monday 17.30 The Hub

Associates

Pub quizzes Saturday 14.30 Cabaret (solo Greenbelters) & Saturday 17.30 Beer Tent (groups)

Saturday 09.00 Centaur

CMS

Riversongz Gospel Choir with gospel winner, soloist Zoe Oputah and the SureFish Top 10 Gospel Songs

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

Greenbelt’s longest-standing Associate CMS welcome back the Tajik breakdancers, say hello to Neema Crafts from Tanzania (with their amazing dancing and recycling skills – including turning elephant poo into paper!), host African-style worship in the mornings and the eastern sounds of Aradhna by night, and debut CMS blah each day – exploring emerging church.

Monday 12.30 Alice in Wonderland, 13.45 Tea Party Arena

See the CMS Daily Diary column for full details.

Neema Crafts supported by Trust Greenbelt.

Millhouse, Grandstand Level 2

Department for International Development (DFID)

Church Times

‘Have your say’ on poverty and injustice in England’s poorest communities at their ‘Talk to the Hand’ stand.

Monday 14.45 Arena

Robert Beckford: The Great African Scandal Sunday 17.00 Rise

Christian Aid worship with Riversongz Monday 09.00 Centaur

In their third year with us, DFID will be highlighting their Platform2 project – an initiative geared to get young people volunteering overseas who would not otherwise be able to afford to do this. Their boss will also be onsite; Secretary of State, Douglas Alexander, to speak and answer questions.

From their base by the Bookshop, Church Times spread out across the site, handing out their indispensable Guides to Greenbelt and hosting the Girl’s Only Caris Night in The Mix. There will also be an exhibition of cartoons by Dave Walker of CartoonChurch.com in their venue.

Girl’s Only with Caris Saturday 18.30 The Mix

Supporters Mothers’ Union Involved onsite in The Kitchen, The Mothers’ Union will also be hosting a session entitled I am a Mother addressing the pressures of modern motherhood.

Saturday 10.00 The Kitchen

Church Army Traidcraft

Wine tasting

John Keane exhibition Centaur Foyer all weekend

YMCA

Church Urban Fund Back for their third year at Greenbelt, Church Urban Fund will be hosting an interactive exhibition for all ages – complete with prayer tent and creative space – called Change My World. It will showcase some of the project work their funding has enabled, bringing you everyday stories of people working for social justice in England’s poorest communities.

G-Source

Ecclesiastical Also back for their third year, Ecclesiastical will be based in G-Source all weekend as well as testing us out with their new drive to uncover The real meaning of Christmas around site.

Bringing their bus to Greenbelt, the Church Army host practical sessions based on their experience of working with the homeless, developing fresh expressions of church, and reaching out to prostitutes, young people and clubbers.

Steve Hollinghurst will look at Christian witness and the New Spiritualities and the Church Army will also be promoting their Xplore gap-year projects in Humanic.

See Talks listings for details.

Bible Society Lyfe sessions Lyfe is about meeting with your friends in a coffee shop environment (refreshments courtesy of The Tank Café) to discuss big questions; discovering what God has to say about our world; and encountering the Bible with your heart and mind, in a fresh and vital way.

09.00, 11.00 and 15.00 Saturday and Monday / 09.00, 11.00 and 17.00 Sunday The Greenbelt Bookshop Lounge

Ebico Supporting our free bus shuttle service to and from the site, the Hard Rain exhibition and the onsite golf buggies again this year, Ebico are also offering mobile phone-charging at the taxi stop close to the Beer Tent.

Seminars designed to inspire and empower you • Bus Ministries • Nightclub Culture • Street Prostitution Ministry • Fresh Expression Ministries • Mystic Christ • Street Homeless Ministries • Dr Who and Spirituality Come and chat to Martin and Vickey at the Church Army bus (next to the skate park).

Learn about the life-transforming work of our 350 evangelists, and how you can pray for and support us.

Enter our prize draw to receive one of 2 x £100 Blacks vouchers and collect your Eco goody bag while stocks last – this years Greenbelt must-have.

Be green and be seen!

(Draw open to over-18s only)

Who does Christ’s work today in the Holy Land?

BibleLands BibleLands is an independent UK based Christian Charity supporting 50 Project Partners in the lands of the Bible, working in health, education and community development.

To find out how YOU can get involved, come and see us in the g-source!

BibleLands PO Box 50, High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP15 7QU Tel: 01494 897950 Email: info@biblelands.org.uk www.biblelands.org.uk Reg. Charity No. 1076329

º

Oasis College

Professional training courses in youth, family and children’s work.

ARE YOU WATCHING? ARE YOU LISTENING?

WILL YOU SPEAK?

SPEAK OUT FOR JUSTICE Join Progressio’s campaign for East Timor at the G-Source

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Legacies

Keep in touch

Over recent years a number of festivalgoers have supported Greenbelt by making a gift to the Festival in their will. This generous and heartfelt support enables us to develop and invest creatively and helps ensure the future of this unique event for generations to come.

Dispatches If you want to keep in touch with us year-round, make sure you sign up for Dispatches, Greenbelt’s monthly news email at greenbelt.org.uk/dispatches.

So, please remember us in your will. Greenbelt impacts the lives of both festivalgoers and their communities around the world in unimaginable ways. Please help us continue to create celebration, wonder, challenge and connections where the arts, justice and faith collide.

Any questions please contact legacies@greenbelt.org.uk ‘It’s essential for me that Greenbelt be there. It feels like oxygen to me and I can’t imagine my life without it.’

Hazel (46) has put Greenbelt in her will. Will you?

Angels and Volunteers The best way to make Greenbelt last all year round is to get involved. You can do this by volunteering (see greenbelt.org.uk/volunteers) or by becoming a Greenbelt Angel and giving money regularly to sustain the Festival’s development (see greenbelt.org.uk/ angels). Best of all, you could do both – volunteer and become an Angel. Hundreds of Greenbelters have already done that. Let’s make it thousands!

my.greenbelt.org.uk To make sure your details are right on our database, logon to my.greenbelt.org.uk – you can also tell us how you’d like us to keep in touch with you there.

Text And to sign up for text messages (which will kick in again in the run-up to Greenbelt ’09) go to greenbelt.org.uk/text Talks and photos Another way to keep the Festival feeling alive is to make sure you download recordings of all the talks you loved and those you missed at greenbelt.org.uk/talks and browse the photos at greenbelt.org.uk/photos (and add your own too).

Jobs with Greenbelt This autumn we will be advertising for two roles on our staff team – a Marketing Manager and a Development Manager. If you would like to talk about either of these roles while you’re here at the Festival, leave your name and number at the Angels’ Lounge and we’ll get back to you for an informal chat over a coffee.

A huge thanks to all those who have made Greenbelt 08 happen… for your tireless commitment and time, energy, expertise and resources and all the other bits we’re not even aware of … thank you.

Patron The Rt Revd Rowan Williams Trustees Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Company Secretary

Karen Napier Andy Turner Jonathan Smith Paul Bennett Jenny Baker Jason Barnett Chris Bold Gaynor Bradshaw David Cullen Simon Hall Jude Levermore Dot Reid Paul Wilson Pip Wilson Martin Wroe

Staff Festival Director Beki Bateson Head of Content Rachel Stringer Marketing Manager Paul Northup Commercial Manager Phil Smith Development Manager Emma Bennett Programme Co-ordinator Dave King Box Office Manager Peter King Administrator Linda Watson Finance Administrator Nive Hall With special thanks to

Ben da Costa Cat Cray Gill Hewitt Laura Rawlings

Office Support

Peter Campbell Philippa Haughton Stephen King Margaret Price

Child Protection Administrator Judith Castledine Volunteer Development Coordinator June Spindler Children’s Administration Niki Whitfield Site, Traders, Caterers and Stage Management

Pete Allison

Ben Parker

Andy Barr

Trevor Tweed

Polly Barker

Grace Capener

Mike Godden

Tim Hand

Rob Haworth

Gary Newman Design

Jon Fletcher Chantal Freeman Julie Kim Wilf Whitty

Web

James Stewart

Plus all our volunteer teams and especially all our Angels

With additional thanks to the following wonderful people

Chris Aindow Phil Aindow Ruth Amys Julie Anderson Nikki Andrews Mark Avis Andy Barr Jo Beecroft Hilary Blake Mike Bold Adam Bond Boz Adam Brailsford Ben Brown Jenny Brown Ru Brown Dave Bull Liz Chapman Steve Ciupak Jez Clark Mary Corfield Rob Cotterill Diane Craven Janet Crompton Roy Crompton Liz Curran Martyn Dafforn Peter Dibdin Sarah Dickens Simon Dickens Ian Dobson Doggit Jo Dolby Claire Downing Stick Downing Laura Drane Chris Dyas Ernie Edgecombe Ben Edson Bob Edy Ben Elvidge Suzanne Elvidge Shaun Fillery Gayle Findlay Martin Finey Andy Forster Suzi Fowler Tim Fox Laura Gibbs Darren Goddard Emma Goddard Graeme Goodman Emma Gosden Peter Graystone Roy Gregory Nicola Hambridge Nick Hardman Phil Harrison Iain Harvey-Smith Sue Harvey-Smith Stephen Heard Jane Henstock Nick Henstock Ben Hewitt Derek Hill

Severita Iwobi Harvey Jessop Dan Kane Kath Knight Chris Knight Matt Knight Andy Labrow Dyfrig Lewis-Smith Tim Maiden Sonia Mainstone-Coton Chris Matthews Rachel Matthews Ian Miller Alex Mattos Di Mattos Kaz Mayes Nicky McGinty Merlin Caroline Miles Sally Mills Ivor Mitchell Ros Moody Rachel Morris Roger Morris Mountie Harry Napier John Noble Gill O’Neill Chris Parker Norman Parr Chris Patterson Sally Patterson Zoe Pilborough Steve Priest Ben Pugh Karen Radcliffe Stuart Radcliffe Rector Sarah Rees Pheobe Reith Helen Rolf George Ryding Sarah Shepherd Martin Short Beki Short Mona Siddiqui Claire Skinner Andy Smith Mark Smith Abbe Stapleton Steve Threlfall-Rogers Jo Thomson Martin Thompson Rob Tippin Ged Tyrrell Vicky Tyrrell Martyn Van Lancker Maria Walters Jacqui Watts Jem Watts Jayne Welburn Alice Westcott Ben Whitehouse Jeremy Woodham Zippie

Cheltenham Racecourse Edward Gillespie Auditors Citroen Wells Solicitors Lisa Croft at Maitland Walker IT Support Richard Birkett

Dr Logic Drew McLellan, edgeofmyseat.com Special thanks to

Bible Society Church Army Divine Epona Ford Ebico Ltd Jerusalem Trust Liberation Nuts Mothers’ Union Sylvanus Trust

The Guide Design Jon Fletcher

Wilf Whitty Writing Kester Brewin

Jeremy Woodham

Simon Jones

David Perry

Paul Northup Photography Matt Burgess

Elaine Duigenan

Andy Espin

Stuart Keegan

Jonathon Watkins

John Spiller Project Management Paul Northup and Editor Print Calverts, London Paper Revive uncoated, Revive 50:50 Silk Our Partners and Associates Dionne and Paul at Christian Aid Karen and Emma at DFID Ken and Peter at YMCA England Minu at Church Urban Fund Jane at Traidcraft Louise, Joanne, & Chris at Ecclesiastical Paul, Christine, Nicola and Stephen at Church Times Russell and Jeremy at CMS

Greenbelt Festivals Ltd 83 London Wall London EC2M 5ND www.greenbelt.org.uk info@greenbelt.org.uk Phone 020 7374 2760 Registered charity no 289372 Limited company no 1812893 VAT no 404596647

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co-operativebank.co.uk/greenbelt Part of The co-operative financial services *Source: BBC Watchdog February 2008 – between 23 and 30 January 2008 13,126 BBC Watchdog viewers took part in an online vote rating the customer service offered. Calls may be monitored or recorded for security and training purposes. Calls to 0800 numbers are free for BT customers. Call charges from other providers may vary and you may wish to check this. †think credit card: applicants must be a UK resident, 21 years or over and have an annual income of £10,000 or more. Credit facilities are provided by The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. and are subject to status. The Bank reserves the right to decline any application or offer a card product that differs from those advertised. The Co-operative Bank is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (No.121885), subscribes to the Banking Code, is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service and is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (No.006110). Registered office details: The Co-operative Bank p.l.c., P.O. Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester M60 4EP. Registered in England & Wales (No.990937). The Co-operative Financial Services Limited. Registered office: New Century House, Manchester M60 4FS. Registered Number 29379.

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Confirmed

28 — 31 August Cheltenham Racecourse greenbelt.org.uk

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Buy advance tickets from the onsite Box Office on Monday 25 August 11am – 4pm

Greenbelt 08

Greenbelt 09

Rising Sun 22—25 August Cheltenham Racecourse www.greenbelt.org.uk Festival Guide £7 working with Christian Aid