Summer Madness launches new venue for 2012
On the 25th November Summer Madness holds a launch in Glenarm Castle Estate to herald its new home for 2012 and celebrate 25 years of – Madness!
As the journey for the Festival continues to unfold, the organisers felt that next year would be a good time to move to a new venue and take advantage of all of the facilities and opportunities that the wide open spaces that the countryside offers. The Kings Hall proved a fantastic arena for the event over the past ten years allowing us to come right into the centre of the ‘market place’ and develop new initiatives such as StreetReach. However, as the RUAS development plans for the Balmoral site move forward, the space to camp in the grounds continues to shrink and so the decision was taken to find fresh ‘pastures’ and new beginnings.
The Team are now greatly excited at the prospect of bringing the event to the oldest ‘estate’ in Ireland and developing the character of the programme within the context of the beautiful surroundings of 1500 acres of woodland, forest, open space, picturesque gardens – and even a beach on our doorstep! So along with the usual mix of seminars, worship, debate and deep/meaningful campfire discussions – we will also be able to enjoy a whole range of outdoor pursuits: mountain biking, pony trekking, orienteering, clay pigeon shooting, sea kayaking – there’s even a special ‘Bush Camp Experience’ for the really adventurous. So it’s worth coming prepared, as a group, as a family or individuals – to get the most out of what will be the best five days of the summer.
As for the theme in 2012, it explores the issue of ‘authenticity versus superficiality’ and goes under the title of FASHION GODS. Danielle Strickland from Canada, Rachel Gardner and Andy Hickford are just some of the platform speakers that will be helping us to unpack this vital topic. But you don’t even have to wait, the Summer Madness team have put together a fantastic project to help you engage with the issues in the build up to the Festival. The WEAR IT OUT campaign will be unleashed in the New Year and invite young people, leaders and – everyone, to take some time off the consumer treadmill and go on a ‘fashion fast’ for at least three months and put the money saved and the experience of self discipline and the learning, to good use.
Visit
www.summermadness.co.uk
for the latest news on how the plans are unfolding over the next few months.