​The Carters describe Greenbelt

August bank holiday weekend, 9 young people bundled into a borrowed mini bus and noisily made their way to Kettering, for Frodsham Methodist Church’s third annual trip to Greenbelt festival.
On entrance we received our non-plastic wrist bands (the whole festival attempts to be plastic-free) and then chugged our belongings across the field to set up camp. We were very glad that it wasn’t raining this year, in fact it turned out to be one of the hottest weekends on record.

After set up, we went to explore the festival area and eye up the food. The site looked amazing with extra venues and a huge variety of food outlets: pancakes, potato wedges, pizza, chips, doughnuts, sweets, Chocolate Brownies ... so many to choose from. Like any other festival, Greenbelt is a bustle of vibrancy, energy, noise, and great sound and visuals. However Greenbelt is unique in its focus on ‘arts, justice and faith’. So the line up was an eclectic mix of Russell Brand, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Nadia Boltz Weber, Lucy Sproggon, John Bell and award winning comedians such as Harry and Chris. We particularly enjoyed the silent discos.

Sunday Morning, we all got up early so we could sit together for the communion service. This took place in a Big Marquee in scorching August heat; the theme was Christmas! There were party games, live camels, Christmas jumpers, carols. Worship was provided by a DJ and drummer, which divided opinions among the group. We then united as we shared communion together.
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The organisers describe the festival as ‘somewhere that welcomes anyone and everyone, where punks meet priests, debate meets Dancefloor and belief meets beats: somewhere to believe in’. There was definitely a great sense of community, inclusivity and warmth. We came away feeling inspired by what humans are capable of when they come together and feeling empowered that we can be people who make a difference. A very big thank you to Andrew Ellams who stepped in as an extra youth leader at the last minute and to Frodsham Scouts who allowed us to use their minibus, we are very grateful.