The old Newcastle Green Festival was a much-appreciated part of Newcastle’s social scene. UK Festival Guides commented:

“The Green Festival began in 1995 as an offshoot from Newcastle University’s Green Society and has evolved over the years into the event we know today. The first ‘Green Fair’ had a music stage, held direct action workshops and hosted stalls and craft workshops. Within a year, the range had expanded to include three stages, a bar and many more green activities for all the family.”

Unfortunately, the last Green Festival was held in 2016, financial difficulties making it impossible to run in 2017, and many of us thought it was, sadly, gone for good.

However, all was not lost! In 2023, the Newcastle Climate Action Network and Star and Shadow Cinema decided to revive a minature version of the Green Festival at City Stadium in Ouseburn. A smaller version with stalls and film on show, we decided to join in, alongside many other Newcastle organisations including Extinction Rebellion Tyneside, Global Justice Now, Medact, and many more.

Since we are a spiritual organisation, not a climate campaigning organisation, we wondered what we could offer, and decided to offer a Prayer Tree (below), where people could write and tie on a prayer, concern, or hope for the Earth.

Here’s what they said!

Two of us staffed the stall all day, and we got lucky with the weather! It was glorious sunshine. The festival had many visitors, we talked to lots of people and got the word out, and the cinema’s cafe sold out of vegan flapjack. We will be back!