Every year we ask you what you thought about our gathering - and this year, these were your responses! Thank you so much to everyone who filled it out - not only does it give help us make our festival better year on year, it's amazing to read about all your love for GG! Here's what ranked top in 2024.
Your top 5 favourite things at the festival
1. The people, the community, the friendliness
2. Music
3. The atmosphere, the vibe - relaxed, safe, and free
4. Talks and skillshares
5. The food
Plus plenty of love for our festival site, the sheer depth and variety of our programme, the GG ethos and how family friendly the festival is.
Your top 5 festival areas
1. Craft Area
2. The Uncommon
3. Campaigns Field
4. The Enchanted Woods
5. Healing Circle
Hill Village, our Permaculture Community, and TrAd (Transformative Adaptation) all moved up the ratings in 2024. Our Green Markets, Kids’ Area and Assisted Access field also received lots of love.
Looking at venues, Floating Lotus really floated your boats this year, while Soundscape was the favourite for younger folk, the Raconteurs’ Delight spoken word and cabaret stage jumped up into 4th place after Triban, and of course our Speakers’ Forum rated highly too.
Music you were especially moved by
The Trouble Notes, Seize The Day, One Eyed God, 3 Daft Monkeys, Bethan Lloyd, Arcadia Roots, Global Collective, and Good Habits.
A good pile of votes for Dizraeli, TwoMinutesHate, Dub Catalyst, Just Like Clay, and The Golden Guild too… and, of course, the djs at The Uncommon who kept the dance floor packed night after night.
Spoken word that wowed you
Pete the Temp, Salena Godden, Richbutnotfamous, Bearded Tit, Johnny Fluffypunk and the Poetry Slam poets topped the ratings at The Raconteurs’ Delight.
Seed Sistas, Manda Scott, Clive Lewis MP, Tom Fowler, Rupert Read, Fred Gillam and Natasha Kenyon were your favourites at the Speakers’ Forum and our Voices of Gaia talkspace. We have video footage of talks and will send out links once the editing is done and film loaded onto our youtube channel.
You loved participating, sharing and learning with…
The Festival Choir, Ukejam, Tez Roberts' Raku Pottery, Laughter Yoga, Gong Baths, the blacksmiths on Anvil Avenue, our willow weavers and felters in the Craft Area and Enchanted Woods, the Permaculture 'Mother Nature' space and our Radical Regenerative Rewilders.
Workshops, participatory arts, skillshares and silly activities to join in with are core elements of Green Gathering – just as inspiring and engaging as the music for many of you.
Creative workshops and costume making for all ages in The Uncommon, culminating in a Sunday procession around the festival site, were rated as excellent by those who found them – new this year, The Uncommon’s daytime activities are definitely worth checking out in ‘25 if you missed them this time around!
Food and shopping
Lalita's South Indian fare (all vegan and gluten free), Mr Croquewich's toasties and delicious dirty spuds, and Ice Green's vegan ice cream topped the food ratings. Cuttlefish's jewellery made from upcycled cutlery, Big Fab's pre-loved clothes, and Tat 4 Tibet's bus filled with wholefoods and tat were best shops.
Best Random Happenings: those wild moments that can make your festival
Unexpected meetings with friends old and new always wins in this category! Next up:
1. Becoming engrossed in campfire music, singalongs and chats
2. Interacting with characters at The Uncommon - special mentions for Border Control, Eva the Polar Bear, and Pockets of Resistance
3. Stumbling across the Museum of Roadside Magic and their wacky shows in Hill Village
4. Meeting the Insecurity Guards
5. The Silent Disco
Your least favourite things this year
The top answer in this category was "Nothing!" closely followed by "having to go home at the end". This is hugely heartwarming for all the crew who pour so much energy and passion into creating a magical, entertaining, safe, engaging space for you all to play in!
But also, we know you'd appreciate a few tweaks, especially to loos and shuttle buses, so we'll be working on that for sure.
Thanks so much for all your feedback - we'll use it to make GG 2025 even more inspiring, soulful and fun!
