This year we are celebrating 30 years since we arrived to Lower Merripit Farm, along with two small children, dog, electric typewriter, only one chair and plenty of excited wonder! It has been a deep joy and a vast honour to have the care and protection of this piece of Dartmoor, to grow and tend this place of wild sanctuary during these years, to seed it with music and song and prayer and love. During this time so many family, friends and fellow travellers have come here to share this land with us. Together we have created and experienced intimate circles and huge gatherings; festivals and concerts and ceremonies; rituals for the dead, for peace, for mending, for human kindness. We have wept and laughed; danced together in the meadow under full moons; sat alone beside the whispering river. We have welcomed kindred souls from all around the world, from mountain and ice and island and desert, carrying their wondrous songs and different cultural cloths. We have anchored prayers and spells with vibrant wild fire ceremonies – and by the quiet placing of a single small pebble beneath a tree. It has all been extraordinary and we want to celebrate it with you!

We are opening the land at the end of August for three days, offering a menu of tickets for daytime and evening so you can dip or dive in however you choose. Part of the story of this farm has been the wonderful Rivenstone festivals that took place between 2000 to 2014, but this summer’s celebration is planned as smaller and more gently paced…

We invite you to join us for the River Stone Gathering.

This weekend will be a chance to revisit the energy of all those earlier gatherings, but also to step into the present dynamic of the land. To come together for a magical blend of music and song, community ritual and joyous celebration, with plenty of time to wander quietly around the meadows, marshes and woods. We will share concerts and ceremonies each day, as well as shrine tending, ancestor pole carving, tale spinning, prayer binding… and the second opportunity to experience Carolyn’s new exhibition of paintings, Ancient Women of the Mûkthno Wailî (marsh wolves). Each day is shaped around a different theme and intention…

August 29 Friday THE GRATITUDE

Ticket 1 Friday evening, 4pm-11pm, 100 tickets, £30
(concessions available for those on low income benefits – please email us to ask)

The farm and wild shrines will be open from 4pm. Opening ceremony on the land (6pm-7pm) followed by a prayer concert (8pm-10pm) with Nigel & Carolyn, playing tender music and songs that give thanks to the land, the earth and the community of people who have helped to care for this place for so many years. Dinner available to buy from Earthwise Kitchen, as well as sweet and savoury snacks, hot and cold drinks (vegan, organic, gluten free options). Farm closes at 11pm.

August 30 Saturday THE CELEBRATION

Ticket 2  Saturday whole day, midday-midnight, 100 tickets, £60   
Ticket 3  Saturday evening only, 6pm-midnight, 50 tickets, £30
(concessions available for those on low income benefits – please email us to ask)

During the afternoon there will be wild shrine wandering, roundhouse rituals and mythic tales, deer camp crafting, mossheart spell binding and ancestor pole carving. The evening will begin with the chance to wander around the land and shrines, which will be lit with candles and lanterns as the darkness arrives. We will also share a magnificent fire ceremony to bring our celebrations to a peak – led by Carol Asuray who has created fire rituals at our events here since 2000. The concert sessions will begin with a wonderful weave of special guests who have all been a cherished part of our musical journey over the years (7pm-8.30pm). Carolyn and Nigel will play music from 9pm, slipping seamlessly into a Global dance set with members of the original band as well other guest musicians. We will keep playing music to the land, dancing with the half moon, until the night is ready to be returned to silence. Evening dinner available from Earthwise Kitchen, as well as sweet and savoury snacks throughout the day, hot and cold drinks (vegan, organic, gluten free options). Evening bar offering mead, organic wine and local ales. Farm closes at midnight.

August 31 Sunday THE PRAYER SEED

Ticket 4  Sunday sister gathering, midday-10pm, for women, 50 tickets, £60
Ticket 5  Sunday ancestor circle, midday-10pm, for everyone, 20 tickets, £60
Ticket 6  Sunday evening only, 6pm-10pm, 30 tickets, £20
(concessions available for those on low income benefits – please email us to ask)

We have two strands happening on this day. Carolyn will host a gathering of sisters to honour the prayers, songs, tears and love that have been given into the land by women during these thirty years. Nigel hosts an ancestor circle which will continue and complete carving work on the new set of Arctic-style ancestor poles, share a sacred flute circle, and ceremonially raise the poles in the woodland. Both gatherings will merge from 5pm; we will share a final ceremony on the land (from 7pm), have time for everyone to meander around the candlelit shrines, then share a closing concert which will be co-created and participatory; a chance to plant our prayer seeds for the future, for the land, for the earth and for us all. Evening dinner available from Earthwise Kitchen, as well as sweet and savoury snacks throughout the day, hot and cold drinks (vegan, organic, gluten free options). Farm closes at 11pm.     

PLEASE NOTE: Food and drinks are prepared by Earthwise Kitchen, which caters for all our workshops and events – the ingredients are carefully sourced and exquisitely prepared. You do not need to book dinner in advance. Parking will be on our farm but space and access limitations mean that we cannot give entry to camper vans larger than a car. Disabled access and facilities – please email us if you would like to discuss. Small children are welcome to attend the evening concerts. Accommodation or camping – we are not offering these but you can book locally (Runnage Farm, Bellever YHA, and B&B/hotels in the area).

Please email us if you are wanting a ticket that has sold out – we can place you on the reserve list in case of cancellations…

Outside the newly finished roundhouse in 2002…