Infinite EarthFest (Spring Equinox)

It's on this Saturday, so come along and celebrate the spring equinox with us! Local band Island Time (Michael Kinnear, Ricki Thavenot, Ed Barker and Terry Stapleton) will be providing music throughout the day and we're so happy they'll be playing again. Visitors to our last festival enjoyed them so much and many people have been asking if they'll be back. So yes. Yes they will! Island Time certainly have a loyal and dedicated fan base! Understandably so, because they are rather awesome!

A Star Weave Jam will be running on the day in support of the One Million Stars to End Violence project, so get your weave on and make some stars...

All materials and assistance will be provided to weave your stars and we will be recycling materials rather than weaving with ribbon. Junk mail, packaging and even chicken feed bags... #zerowaste

The lovely Eileen Lawson commenced a collaborative rag rug making activity at our very first Infinite EarthFest event back in March and will be back this Saturday. So if you'd like to learn the art of rag rug making and join in on the large community rug being created look for the ever-so-charming vintage tent for some crafty fun!

There will also be some cool activities for the little ones happening such as painting sweet designs on rocks with Brook, making juggling balls with William, and Ayla & Leah will be coordinating some fun activities and games between 10am and 11.30am as detailed in the image below to keep the kids well and truly entertained! The Retro Farmyard Obstacle Relay sounds like a blast!

 There will be talks and demos during the day as well. Simon from Let it Bee Farm will be giving an "Introduction to Keeping Bees" (10am), resident Homeopath Camilla (Homworx) will be giving a talk about Homeopathy (11am) and Troy will demonstrate how to make a couple of different types of simple Wicking Beds for your garden (12pm) *some free materials will be provided on the day to take home should you wish to make your own* When arriving on the day, just look for the sign located near the entrance which will have the times for when various things will be happening. Also be sure to keep an eye out for these adorable bee drawings displayed at the festival. They were lovingly created by Miss Zaki's Prep A class from Macleay Island State School especially for the event in celebration of spring and the importance of bees!

And huge thanks to our friends from Food Connect for loaning us these super cool old rustic bee signs to display at the festival! As you may have guessed, we really really love bees! 

Artist Val from Russell Island will be demonstrating her beautiful dot painting skills. Below is the completed piece Val was painting at the previous festival. The gorgeous cabinet Val very kindly donated to local not-for-profit youth program Running Wild as a raffle prize for fundraising. The winner of such a prize was very lucky indeed! This time Val will be dot painting a native stingless bee hive box. Lucky bees!

There will be a great variety of market stalls selling things such as arts and crafts, local honey, garden products, crystal items, tarot readings, community group info stalls and loads more! Our Facebook Page is a great way of keeping up with festival info as we've been sharing many of our stall holders and other details there regularly. And you may wish to view the album of fabulous photos taken by stall holders and visitors at our previous Infinite EarthFest event right here.   

And of course what would a little festival be without food? Plenty of yummy food will be available on the day. The popular wood-fired pizzas will be on offer again, Byron Gourmet pies, homemade quiche served with fresh garden salad, Mai will be selling very tasty asian treats at her MI Street Food stall and Kellie will be there with her fairy floss machine selling organic/natural fairy floss! The market coffee bar will have all your favourite hot beverages with a selection of sweet treats available and the organic market will have plenty of cold drinks, organic snack foods and of course fresh produce, deli goods, dairy items etc for all your shopping needs!

We'll be offering courtesy pick ups and drop offs for our mainland and neighbouring island visitors throughout the day. So look out for the little market bus below at the Macleay Jetty when you hop off the ferry. The bus will be there to meet all incoming ferries on the day. See you this Saturday!

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Going Organic - September 2016

Going Organic

with Eleesa Zlatic of the

 The Organic Market, Macleay Island.

(monthly column from The Friendly Bay Islander magazine - September 2016 edition)

 

Spring is in the air, and we are excited to celebrate the Spring Equinox at our Infinite EarthFest on September 24^th

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The Spring Equinox actually marks the first day of Spring astrologically, it is a point in the year when the length of the day and night is almost equal. After the Equinox the days grow longer and the earth warms up from its winter dormancy. 

Spiritually it has throughout time and cultures signified moving into the light, having gone through the dark of winter and the dark night of the soul, we now move into new beginnings. We all know to plant new seeds in Spring, this is true of ourselves as well. Start making your dreams come true, take the first steps toward manifesting your ideas, welcome new relationships and nurture an acceptance and understanding of yourself.

  

Many people are awakening to their role as custodians of the earth and its creatures, and this Festival celebrates the role of Bees in our environment, and our opportunity to make a difference in our own backyards by working together to create ‘Chemical Free Islands’.

The plight of the honey bee and native bees is in our hands, we can either take responsibility for their future, or ignore it. If we understand that their future and ours is intertwined, then it is a no brainer as to which choice to make. Most of our food producing plants rely on bees to pollinate them, without the bees we lose a great variety of foods from the planet.  It is a big deal, and something we can change.  The best place to create any change for the world, is with ourselves first, in our own backyards, and in our own communities. 

Numerous studies are proving that colony collapse and disease in the hives is integrally connected with the use of herbicides and pesticides in our environment. Some of the main culprits are the large monoculture farms which spray intensively to produce better yield.  But it is also true of the many suburban homes that use weedkillers, and pesticides. 

We have put together a local campaign with the help of Miss Zaki and the Prep A class at Macleay Island State School, to educate and show locals how to create ‘Chemical Free Islands’.  We will have more information at the Festival, so please pop in and show your support.

The Festival is all about taking time out from life, enjoying the community gathering, meeting new people, supporting local stallholders, listening to great music, eating delicious food, attending talks about bees, participating in the workshops and enjoying the vibe, described as a ‘big warm hug’ at the last festival.

One of the activities to get involved in at the Infinite EarthFest is our Star Weave Jam. So come along and weave stars in support of the One Million Stars to End Violence project. All stars made will feature as part of an installation at Redland Performing Arts Centre in February 2017 thanks to the Redland Art Gallery Star Weave community which we’re supporting. The stars will again be displayed as part of the Arts and Cultural program at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018. We’ll provide all the materials and assistance needed to weave your stars on the day (and we will be utilising various recycled materials rather than using traditional ribbon!). More details about the activity can be found by following our social media accounts and for further information about the One Million Stars to End Violence project please visit www.onemillionstars.net

There will be loads of wonderful stalls showcasing recycling, eco-friendly products, and the wonderful work community groups do. Coffee and Food will be available on the day, plus of course our fabulous chemical free produce and dry goods for sale at The Organic Market.  We are blessed to have our fantastic and talented local band Island Time playing a great variety of music on the day. So please pop the 24^th September in your calendar…. we look forward to seeing you there!