Do you feel the call to unwind and reconnect with a beautiful earthy community? Are you longing to see your kids deepen their connection to the natural world? Village Camp Rekindled is what you have been looking for to ease your weary heart and soul. Rediscover your inner wild. Come alive with a vibrant community of humans. Immerse yourself in the wonder and wisdom of nature. Gather around the campfire, share stories, songs and earth-based skills. 

‘Attending Village Camp was a turning point in my life… There was a magic at camp that has stayed with me, long after my tent was packed away. I left feeling so inspired, it was a remembering, an opening to possibilities for living that I had never conceived before.’
Becky, a mentor and mother of two young children.

What is Village Camp?

Village Camp is just that – a pop up village! It is a gathering of humans of all ages coming together to connect with ourselves, each other and the non-human world around us. You will arrive on day one with your tent and camping gear to a warm bush welcome and settle into our beautiful surroundings as village life awakens around you. For five days we will explore the natural world around us, create fire without matches, share earth-based skills, play games, share stories around the campfire, laugh and sing, and take a much-needed breath of fresh air.

What happens at Village Camp?
Each day at village camp will be bookended by a gathering of the village. Each morning we touch base, play a game and share what’s happening for the day. Each evening at dinner time, we come together around the fire to share a meal, weave our stories together, sing songs and share in the ancient magic of oral storytelling.

Between those two meeting times, adventures abound! The mornings are taken up with official program offerings. From 8:30am-12:30pm the kids and adults head their separate ways for a morning of play, creation and discovery. More on different aspects of the morning program below.

At 12:30pm, the kids return to the responsibility of their parents for lunch and a free flowing afternoon. Afternoons are mostly unprogrammed time where anything is possible – rest, wander, practise skills, paint, draw, weave, play with new and old friends. Some days you and your clan will take a bit of time in the afternoon to do village service, and tend to some part of the village hearth.

Read more about the flow of days at Village Camp here.

Clans
Each individual or family group will be sorted into a clan at the start of the week. Your clan is an intergenerational group of about 10-12 people, who will be your little extended family within the bigger village. Clans will check in with each other each morning and are an opportunity to practise supporting each other. Ask for what you need and offer support where you can. Help each other feel welcome and at home within the village.

Village service
Village service is a practice in reciprocity that is at the heart of village life. It is how we all contribute to the smooth running of our village. A village service roster will be posted in the shared space and we will remind you of your clan’s responsibilities each morning. These clan jobs are divided into the elements: Earth (supporting the chef and serving dinner); Air (clean bathrooms, tidying and prettying camp); Fire (chopping wood, keeping wood dry, tidying fire areas, lighting the evening fires); Water (dishwashing stations set up/refresh, assist with kitchen dishes); and Heart (keeping watch over afternoon play and tending to members of camp who need support).

Morning program
Kids (aged 4 and up) venture into the wild to experience a free-flowing exploration of the surrounding bush with our experienced nature connection mentors. Together the mentors and kids immerse themselves in story and song, play games, follow their curiosity and creativity as they wander and explore, find animal tracks and practice wild skills and crafts. Over the days, they will open into a deep awareness of the wild world as they connect with plants, earth, animals and each other. The kids program is as diverse as the kids and mentors themselves, and we can’t wait to see what they get up to each camp!
*Mentors all have Working with Children Checks, and bring along their love of nature, diverse skills, passion for village culture and supporting young folks. You will get to meet them after you arrive and on the first evening after dinner.

Teens in our village have the opportunity to lean in and co-design their own journey and bring forth their own interests and passions. We aim to offer teens opportunities to deepen their nature-based skills and exploration, apprentice as mentors with the younger kids, honour rites of passage and/or join in with the adult program.

Joeys (little ones still “in the pouch”) gather together with their parents and other villagers to play and have adventures a little closer to camp. There will be some mentors available to provide activities for the little ones and assist parents who would like to participate in the adult program.

Adults will have the opportunity to create their own personal journey of adventure and discovery here in our village. There’ll be plenty of space for sit spots and solo bush adventures, to share and practice earth-based skills and to deepen your nature observation and ecological literacy. The archetypal ‘wild child’ will come alive through games, nature play and other spontaneous connective activities. Some folks might opt for deeply connective adult-sharing circles where parents and adults alike are held in a safer space to share how folks are really travelling. 

‘This camp is organised from the heart and holds connection to oneself, land and community in a truly caring balance.’ Village elder, mother and artist.

‘From 2 kids saying “Do we have to go” to “When is it happening again?- I don’t want to leave!”’ Journalist and parent of two boys 7 & 9

Logistics

Who is Village Camp for?
This is a family friendly, drug and alcohol-free event, with the program open to all. A true village embraces all ages and faces, we welcome diversity!

Program
Tickets include a Welcome to Country, youth nature connection mentoring and facilitation, morning and evening village program, camping accommodation (with flushing toilets and hot showers!), hot camp-cooked dinner each night and a deeply connective opportunity to reweave the village and tend to the world we want our young ones to inherit.

Participants need to bring a tent and camping gear (get in touch if you need some help here). A full packing list can be found here.

The morning program goes from 8:30-12:30, after which time the children are passed back into the responsibility of their parents/carers. Dinner is served around 6pm followed by an evening program by the fire in the Willum gathering space.

*All of our mentors have Working With Children Checks and we have qualified First Aiders.

All members are welcome to participate as much or as little in the activities as they need to feel at home in the village. We encourage individuals to listen to their own needs and follow their own curiosities.

Food
Each villager or family will bring their own breakfast, lunch and snacks. Depending on fire restrictions, there may be some space for campfire cooking, but if you want cooked breakfasts or lunches it’s a good idea to bring your own camp cooking equipment. Wholesome vegetarian dinners will be provided and shared around the campfire under the shelter of the Willum in the evenings.
 
*We are able to cater for vegan, gluten free and dairy free dietary requirements if notified on booking. If this isn’t you, you will need to bring extra food to supplement.

Ticket Pricing
As part of dreaming into what a sustainable community-led village camp looks like we have updated the ticketing model to be simpler and clearer. All tickets for program participants (adults and children) are the same price, with a lower price for joeys (children who are too young to participate in the program).

Prices for this camp are: 
Adult: $480
Child 4+: $480
Joey 3: $200
Joey 0-2: $50

All tickets – including volunteer tickets and joey tickets – include a contribution towards the Village Fund. The Village Fund celebrates the diversity of our community by acknowledging that not all of us have equally abundant access to funds. While some of us are able to support the village, others – including many of the essential volunteers and mentors who make camp possible – need the village’s support to be able to gather with us and share their gifts. If this is you, and you need the support of the village, you can enter the code ‘fundme’ at checkout to have the Village Fund discount of $50 per ticket applied. For those finding themselves in a place of abundance, you can also make an additional contribution to the Village Fund at checkout 🌱

We will be chopping wood and spinning the hand drill stalk ready to welcome you back into the community and nature again, will you join us for a yarn around the campfire these school holidays?

‘We left with a deep sense of belonging and community. A connection with the earth, ourselves, and each other’. Village Parent

Volunteering and Support

Do you love stepping in to share your skills and lend a hand? Do you feel called to mentor our village youngsters in deepening their connection to the more-than-human-world? We need your passion and presence to bring this camp to life! 
If you are excited to jump aboard as a mentor or member of the village support crew, please fill out an expression of interest form as soon as possible. Follow the link below according to the type of role you are interested in. This is important as it will help us to determine how many tickets we release. We can’t wait to see you there!
I am interested in mentoring at a Firekeepers Village Camp. 
I am interested in being on the support crew at a Firekeepers Village Camp.  
(Support crew roles include set up and pack down, coordinating one of the village service jobs and first aid coordinator.)

Volunteers (and their dependents) pay a reduced price ticket of $250 with a sliding scale option if that is still too stretchy for you.