Wild Goose Festival

WHAT IS THE WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL?
We are a community creating a festival at the intersection of justice, spirituality, and art. The first festival took place in June 2011. We take inspiration from many places, such as Greenbelt, Burning Man, the Iona Community, SXSW, and others. The festival is open to everyone; we don't censor what can be said; we invite respectful - but fearless - conversation and action for the common good.

WHY WILD GOOSE?
The Wild Goose is a Celtic spirituality metaphor that evokes unpredictability, beauty, and grace. The festival resonates with this image because we recognize that in the current climate of religious and political division and lack of civility, embracing the creative and open nature of our faith is perhaps our greatest asset for re-building and strengthening our relationships with each other, with our enemies, with our stories, our questions, and the other. In that spirit, in an informal setting, and in the context of creative and respectful relationships, we invite you to imagine a new world with us.

WHAT IS WILD GOOSE LIKE?
In addition to being a venue for notable bands, high-profile speakers, and a warm, welcoming community, Wild Goose seeks to be a place that inspires justice activism.
At a typical day at the festival, an attender might take in a main stage performance, a conversation with a screenwriter and director, a faith dialogue, and dozens of open air conversations under trees, around drinks, and at their campsites.

The atmosphere intentionally lowers class and social barriers, creating free interaction between even the most accomplished speakers and attenders. And attenders have the chance to request and host informal conversations about topics they're interested in during the event, which may be attended by producers, seminary presidents, New York Times best-selling authors, and a host of others they wouldn't normally interact with.
You are invited to come talk, listen, eat, and camp together as equals, as those who are captivated by the story of Jesus seek to celebrate the rich learning of community, remembering that none of us by ourselves can understand all that is God.

These four days are a refreshing investment in how we relate to each other as human beings, how we care for the earth, how we live peace on the planet, and how we reduce violence in our lives and communities.

WHEN IS THE WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL?
July 13-16, 2017

WHERE IS THE WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL?
The event will be hosted at Hot Springs, near Asheville, NC:


Hot Springs, near Asheville, NC, is nestled in the mountains of Western North Carolina and along the banks of the beautiful French Broad River. It serves as an intersection along the historic Appalachian Trail and is part of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Located across the road from the Hot Springs Resort & Spa is the Hot Springs Campground, where Wild Goose Festival will be held in 2017. The site features ample sites for tent camping, as well as some full RV hookups. On site comfort stations feature hot showers (seasonal) and clean bathrooms. Numerous rental cabins/cottages are also available in the town, many within walking distance of the campground.



WHO WOULD GO TO THE WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL?
-Music and art lovers
-People who want to be part of a movement for change
-People exploring and growing their faith
-People who feel like exiles from faith, and traditional church.
-People who enjoy socializing in an upbeat environment with live music and open air conversation
-People who appreciate contemplative time outdoors in nature
-Camping enthusiasts
-Facebook friends finally meeting face-to-face
-Adults and families with children (CHILDREN FIVE AND UNDER ARE FREE!!)
-Youth, college, church, and other groups
-While the conference comes from progressive Christians roots, pulling from a variety of camps across the faith spectrum, it is a comfortable environment for those who don't identify Christianity as their background but have interest in music, justice, and art
-Whoever you are, and wherever you come from, and whatever you're looking for, you're welcome at the Wild Goose Festival!

WILD GOOSE'S HISTORY:
For the last 20 years, groups of U.S. Americans have flown to England to participate in Greenbelt, an outdoor music festival with spiritual and justice-oriented undertones.

Several years ago, a group of people -- some who are now on Wild Goose's board -- were moved by the fact that there was nothing comparable to Greenbelt in the United States. They began studying Greenbelt and learning from their experiences to shape a similarly-inspired event stateside. The result is the Wild Goose Festival, previously held at Shakori Hills in North Carolina.

At our debut festival, Jim Wallis, T-Bone Burnett, Phyllis Tickle, Vincent Harding, Over The Rhine, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Brian McLaren, Peggy & Tony Campolo, InterVarsity Press, Restoring Eden, Michelle Shocked, William Barber, Jim Forbes, Gabriel Salguero, Paul Fromberg, Lynne Hybels, and 1,700 others met at the intersection of justice, spirituality, and art. We sang, learned, taught, argued, prayed, ate, danced, and imagined a new world.

STAY UP-TO-DATE
Please feel free to join our group or follow us on Twitter (@wildgoosefest) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/wildgoosefestival) for the latest updates and information. You can also join our email list at the Wild Goose website (http://www.wildgoosefestival.org).