With so many awesome festivals on offer, it can be almost impossible to choose the best ones for you. Thankfully, the eco-friendly and conscious ones are standing out from the crowd this year, and The Big Retreat Wales is no different.
Set in the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the four-day feel-good festival (24th – 27th May 2019) has committed to being as environmentally sustainable as possible and more determined than ever to eradicate disposable plastics, recycle and re-use and find more ways to leave little impact on the environment.
As part of a stellar line-up of more than 200 events, visitors can get involved by taking part in wellbeing classes, workshops, cookery demonstrations, spoken word, bushcraft, art and music, all with sustainability at the heart.
In the Cook Tent, chef, TV daredevil, ultra-athlete and presenter of the BBC’s first ever plant-based cooking show ‘Dirty Vegan’ will be showing Big Retreaters how and why vegan food – like Mr Pritchard – is anything but boring.
Bug Farm Foods will bring an exciting and delicious range of insect-based foods and ingredients which are both good for you, and good for the planet. Also joining the foodie line-up will be ‘the man who sexed up salads’ David Bez and natural chef, food writer and healthy cooking instructor Ceri Jones to provide sustainable tips and inspiration to last a lifetime.
Away from the kitchen, Surfers Against Sewage and Plastic Free Pembrokeshire will deliver talks to share ideas about how visitors can all reduce their own impact, and encourage people to be more aware of environmental sustainability. Nicky Middleton-Jones of The Remakery will also showcase her brilliant up-cycling and re-use project – a venture that aims to re-educate the community in repair and reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
For those wanting to get active, the Big Retreat will host the hottest new trend from Scandinavia ‘Plogging’ – a session which will see visitors jogging or walking and picking up plastics as you go!
Co-Founder of The Big Retreat Wales Amber Rich said: “Being as environmentally sustainable as possible is part of who we are at The Big Retreat and for 2019 we will commit to a number of plastic-free and re-use initiatives.
“We have no plastic straws on site and our food stalls will all use biodegradable cutlery. Our Coffee vendor recycles all of his Grounds on his allotment plot, and we have fresh water supplied to the site and encourage people to re-fill their own bottles from our taps. Even our programmes will be printed on recyclable materials!
We firmly believe in the positivity of nature as a force for good in all our lives, and through education, our own initiatives and the help of our fantastic festival-goers we hope to ‘design out’ waste at our festival”.
The Big Retreat Wales will take place on the stunning Old Castle Site in Lawrenny from 24th to 27th May 2019. Day tickets cost from £15, with weekend passes starting from £50 and under-5s admitted free. Admission includes access to all on-site fitness and wellbeing sessions, workshops, talks and live performances, whilst additional cost will be charged for Water Sports and Spa Treatments. For more information visit: https://www.thebigretreatwales.co.uk/.
