A virtual exhibition by Freya Hope
Getting together: Festivals, family and community
Consecutive government policies have all but outlawed free festivals and mobile lifestyles, limiting opportunities for New (and other) Travellers to live and gather together as cultural communities.
These days, New Travellers put on their own small grassroots festivals, and are responsible for providing extensive sections of larger festivals such as Glastonbury, which, due to an entwined history, has been a kind of "home" for them. These smaller festivals, backstage areas and "Traveller fields" at larger festivals, and autonomous spaces such as Rockaway Park, offer the chance for the community to come together as a cultural group and catch up with friends and family.
The Horsedrawn Camp
The Horsedrawn Camp are a family collective of nomadic New Travellers spanning three generations. Along with 'Orrible Entertainments and Sangers Horsedrawn Stage, they have been putting on small grassroots community festivals for nearly two decades. Below are photographs of first and second generation New Travellers taken at their 'Not the end of the World' festival 2022.
Feral Fest
Feral Fest is a yearly grassroots punk festival with entertainment provided by people from the UK counterculture, including New Travellers. It is a not for profit event with all proceeds going to mental health charities. These pictures were taken at Feral Fest 2022.
Rockaway Park
Rockaway Park is an alternative arts and education space. The photographs below are taken at its Christmas Crafts Fair 2022, they feature New Traveller artisans, their work, and friends.