Last summer, John Bell said something that has stuck with us ever since. Explaining his rationale for 2025 being his last festival as an active contributor (so he could make way for others), he told us he has a sign at his door which says ‘Every day, give something away’.
“And for me”, he said, “that means more than just books that go to Oxfam.”
It really resonated with us, because what is a festival if not somewhere that demands you let go of things? That you give something away?
Leaving home for Greenbelt each year always involves a level of surrender. A letting go… of deadlines, expectations, reasonable amounts of sleep, home comforts and more.
Being at a gorgeous green field site like Boughton has always been an opportunity to travel lighter.
In fact it was our festival theme the very first year there. An invitation to loosen our grip a little, and step into something (and somewhere) bigger than ourselves.
So often the best experiences – the ones that shake us awake – arrive precisely in those moments when we stop trying to control everything. When we, instead, risk abandon. When we live, just for a moment, out of control.
It’s the idea that to follow the path, you have to leave something behind. This rhythm runs through scripture and life: emptying, releasing, relinquishing.
Jesus’ teachings are full of notions of letting go and starting over, of leaving everything behind in order to grow. ‘Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it shall bear no fruit.’
Sometimes you have to let it all go to be able to find the next thing. Because only when our hands are empty can they receive anything new.
In a culture that’s addicted to control, choosing to let go and live ‘out of control’ can become a counter-cultural act. A spiritual act. A hopeful act.
Festivals teach us this. They draw us away from our everyday cares, into a shared present where we can feel fully, fiercely alive.
A festival is one of the few places in our modern lives where it’s acceptable – maybe even expected – that we let it all go.
Whether it’s on the dancefloor or in the outfits we wear, or just the release of being with likeminded souls for a few days in a liminal space like Greenbelt.
Sometimes though, the hardest thing to give away is ourselves. To let go of the certainty, the spotlight, the security of staying where we’ve always been.
With us saying farewell to Boughton after a decade or so, we wanted a theme that spoke to all these ideas. We know there’s sadness for some at leaving its beautiful open spaces, as well as excitement for others about what’s next.
There will be time for all these emotions, but we also really want to focus on the present and enjoy every single moment of next year’s festival. To let it all go and enjoy every minute of our festival.
So whether it’s the burdens we arrived with, or the roles we cling to for the other 361 days of the year, this year’s festival theme is a chance to embrace abandon and acceptance.
Let It All Go is our invitation for all of us to do this together, next summer.
We really hope you’ll join us in living completely in the moment one last time at Boughton, before we turn our eyes and our empty hands to whatever – and wherever – is next.