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AUGUST 2008 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Weirdigans brings you: Pizza Acoustica!!! --- We're heading off to the Northern Green Gathering at Lime Tree Farm, North Yorks, with a bigger crew than ever and some new treats up our Weird(card)igan sleeves... We've teemed up with baker Michael, his glamorous partner Jan, and their traditional wood-fired oven... and so we'll be serving up freshly-baked Organic Pizza at NGG...We're also in cahoots with Banjo Bill from Cumbria and some of his top musician friends, who will be entertaining with unplugged performances and encouraging acoustic musicians to join in late night sessions in Weirdigans Acoustic Annexe... again, at NGG and hopefully other festies too. Our favourites The Wierdstring Band will be at NGG, as will our very own Kristen and his newly-acquired antique accordion... so musically things should be very interesting... Limited tickets still available - See you there! JULY 2008 NEWSFLASH!!! --- The Mutant Returns! Genetically Modified Secrets --- Two GM trials were given the go-ahead by the UK Government this year. One has been shut down by protesters. The other is still going on in Cambridgeshire, behind high fences with 24-hour security guards protecting it at vast cost. Since 2000, almost all of the 54 GM trials licensed have been attacked by groups and individuals who want to protect our environment, wildlife, health and organic crops from potential threat by GM. But still the big companies, the government and some scientists press on. Now they're talking about having secret test sites, in an attempt to thwart protests. Breaking their own rules so that they don't have to listen to the public and democracy can be dodged. Please stay vigilant and don't let them get away with it. Small local farmers, organic growers and bee-keepers risk losing their livelihoods; we all risk losing our right to choose. GM crops are massive in the US; the experience hasn't been all good and could yet prove devastating. Help us keep this corner of the planet clean.... Ta x JUNE 2008 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Feeling the pinch? Try Collaboration --- So many festivals have sprung up over the last few years. Small spin-offs of big festivals; festie cafes and venues putting on their own events; Northern gatherings mirroring the Southern ones; campaigning groups doing camps; 'Boutique' fests with their luxury dwellings (no nylon nightmare necessary); commercial, sponsorship-ridden events; plus lots of stuff going on in the rest of Europe. Increasingly,
though, festivals are under pressure from various sources. Councils
putting up licence fees, ever more stringent Health & Safety
regulations, climate chaos (mudslides at Glade, flashfloods at Sunrise)
and... well, perhaps there's just too many of them and not enough happy
punters to go round. Diversification can be fun but not if
it fragments the tribes and scatters the energy too thinly.
Collaboration, mutual support and pooling of resources could be the
most sustainable avenue now... Watch this space... :-) MAY 2008 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Weirdigan Arrested at Anti-Nuclear Protest! --- Protesters locked into concrete cylinders and blockaded Derby Rolls Royce, to protest at its production of reactor cores for the UK’s nuclear deterrent Trident. Ten protesters (including one Weirdigan) were arrested for 'aggravated trespass' and released on police bail to appear in court on 22nd May. "Hang on!" screeched the arrestee. "I need to be at Knockengorroch then". So the other Weirdigans got together and created a great big hand-made organic 'Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free' card. And it worked. The court date was changed and our Kristen will be in attendance at the Knockengorroch World Ceilidh after all :-) www.tridentploughshares.org for more info about peaceful nuclear disarmament campaigns. APRIL 2008 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Spring has Sprung! --- The website is being updated, the nights are getting lighter, the days are warmer, the calendar is almost full, the crew are in training, the tents are at the tailors. We still have the odd gap in our diaries and we're building up a reserve list of wannabe Weirdigans in case any of the crew have to drop out; so if you want to book us or get booked yourselves, email us soon :-) The Good Ship Weird prepares to set sail... MARCH 2008 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Big Green Phoenix Slowly Rising --- After a winter of hard work, fund-raising, negotiating and soul-searching, the Big Green Gathering is looking set to rise from the ashes... in 2009. This year will be about rebuilding and renewing, next year the BGG will be back... To find out what's been going on, or how you can help, see the October newsflash below and go to www.big-green-gathering.com for more info.
NEWSFLASH!!! --- Winter Wanderings --- Weirdigans will be wandering and working hither and thither around the UK and Europe this winter. We'll try to keep the website updated and our email and snailmail checked regularly. Our phones may not always be switched on and our communications may be a little delayed, but if you're trying to get hold of us, don't worry - we will get back to you :-) OCTOBER 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Big Green Gathering Crisis --- The Big Green Gathering is having a serious financial crisis partly due to a massive ramping up of licensing and legal costs. BGG is a non-profit-making company with a lot of good people involved and as far as we're concerned it's right up there, one of the very best festies on the circuit. It's a proper gathering of the tribes, a socially and financially important part of the calendar with a fantastic mix of traditional crafts, new technologies, creative anarchy, networking, vibrancy and fun. If it goes under we and a lot of other festie-goers and traders will be bereft. Check out www.big-green-gathering.com for how you can help. Become a share-holder (it costs £40 and you can then get involved in how BGG runs if you want to). Or send a donation or offer a loan. Please! We have. SEPTEMBER 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Would you like to be a Weirdigan next summer??? --- We'll be looking for new crew members to join the merry band of cavorting Weirdies you've seen in green and muddy fields this year. Can you wash up, make tea, bang in tent pegs, heft heavy canvasses, bake cakes, stay up all night, drive, plant plastic flowers, get up early in the morning, be a skivvy while wearing sequins, banter with customers, chop veg...or some of the above? And would you like to work with Weirdigans at one or more festivals? If so email us, tell us about yourself, and we'll tell you more about us. AUGUST 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Sun shines at last!!!--- We've survived rivers of mud, floods, almost-cancellations and almost-evacuations at Glastonbury, Workhouse and Glade. Followed by glorious sun at BGG, NGG and Solfest. Reviews, pics and comments are here and up to date... JULY 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- On The Road--- Weirdigans hit the road running... From now on we'll be in perpetual motion for the rest of the season. We'll be checking email as often as possible, updating the website with reviews and photos when we can, and trying to keep our mobile phones charged. Sorry if you're trying to contact us and experience a delay. If one method fails, try another. We will get back to you. Hope to see you in a field somewhere... JUNE 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- From www.mutatoes.org --- "It's not too late to stop GM spuds. Following extensive local and national resistance, BASF (the company trialing the GM potatoes), announced that they will not be conducting a GM potato trial near Hull this year. This means the BASF/NIAB site in Cambridge (planted around the beginning of May) is now the only location in Britain where GM crops are contaminating the countryside… One down, one to go - let's keep Britain GM free! There's going to be a walk to see the trial site and a protest picnic, starting noon on Sunday 1st July. Bring costumes, families, footwear and clothing for a country stroll and your favourite potato-based dish. Starting from Girton Parish Church, Girton, Cambridgeshire. See www.mutatoes.org for directions and more detailed information on the campaign." Unfortunately Weirdigans won't be going as we'll be at the Workhouse Festival. But if you can't get a ticket to Workhouse...MAY 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Organic Bars & Special Tents--- We're growing new twigs and sprigs this Spring: if you need a quirky bar or tented venue for a special event, we may be able to provide... APRIL 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Campaign against Genetically-Modified Crop Trials--- There are plans afoot for a German chemicals company to test GM potatoes in the UK this year. Weirdigans have been involved in campaigning against this. GM crops potentially threaten the environment, wildlife, our health and our freedom of choice. Please help us keep them at bay. Write to supermarkets and politicians. They have the power to allow or prevent GM crops and foods flooding into the UK. To sign a petition go to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/notogmspuds Check out www.mutatoes.org - this website is very informative. It includes referenced research as well as a basic overview of the issues and campaigns. MARCH 2007 NEWSFLASH!!! --- Mad Hatters & March Hares Party--- Weirdigans Season Launch 30 March 2007. See Review and Photos for how it was... FEBRUARY 2007 NEWSFLASH!!!---Trying to reduce our carbon footprint--- In an attempt to reduce our impact on climate change we’ve offset Weirdigans carbon emissions for the year ahead. The money we've paid has gone into 'sustainable energy and forest restoration' projects. The idea is to do something towards repairing the damage done to the environment by our driving around and by our use of gas in baking, making drinks and refrigeration. Our electric for lights and music is solar-powered so is already green and good. We know offsetting isn't as good as not consuming in the first place, but we’re trying to keep our ‘footprint’ as light and pixie-like as possible without vanishing ourselves altogether…
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