Photo: Greenbelt
'Some of the furniture has been reshuffled around but nothing too dramatic.'

Lev Eakins looks at the new bits of the festival, and finds that not much has changed since last year, apart from the number of babies present

Judging by the sheer quantity of beautiful babies being pushed around at Greenbelt this year, it is probably the most child and family-friendly festival ever!

Whatever the sunshine provoked last year, it is the sun itself which is the theme this time round as we all consider what “Rising Sun” means at GB08.

Wandering across the site, I’m pleased to report few physical changes have occurred since the central area was introduced.

The central area providing many of the talk venues and food outlets closer to great unwashed continue to prove a popular success and is bedding in nicely.

Some of the furniture has been reshuffled around but nothing too dramatic.

Venues

The few changes that have occurred, in the shape of two new venues, seem to be broadly welcome, and their names at least, compliment each other. Liberal Christians, artisans and general GB punters, may I introduce you to The Garden and The Kitchen?

The Winged Ox bar has been closed to provide the space for “The Garden” – a Brighton based community described as “living obscurely on the fringe of religious life, gesturing and hinting at things that lie beyond language and thought.”

Inside you will find a visual arts installation, filled with artefacts, sounds and images centred around the ‘big stories’ of life – religious theology, philosophy ancient and modern, political ideology, modern culture and cuddly mammoths.

Large screens as well as many small TV sets provide an absorbing series of video clips set to an unearthly backdrop of noise. This engaging and well put together installation is interrupted at times to provide a venue for discussion and a performance.

Over at the centre course, conveniently near the (agonisingly named) ‘Jesus Arms’ is ‘The Kitchen’, where great ideas are ‘cooked up’ and discussed.

Unlike other expert panel presentation and Q&A sessions, the focus of the Kitchen shifts away from the stage and moves predominantly among the gathered assembly of punters, who chuck around ideas and thoughts through the portable microphones passed around.

Space

Somewhat like a social networking website such as Facebook, punters are own the space and time, and intriguingly, it works!

I sat in on a discussion over the demonised youth portrayed in the media, and how youth workers and community activists deal with the problems, and misplaced perceptions, of our next generation.

The quality of the contributions varied a little, but seemed to remain within the upper tier of debate and discussion. I was proud to witness this experiment working so well in the face of the randomness it inherently contains.

The aim of producing a space for debate, that isn’t organised into a hierarchy of expertise and ego, seems to have been met.

Once again Greenbelt – you've excelled with your inventiveness!

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