St. James’ Park

We are definitely having a festival this year in the lovely little valley at the edge of Voditsa. The dates are: strong>13-15th September and you can find out more at: www.lunadolina.com
Come and join us!

Take note of those two little words…..you will be hearing them again. Luna Dolina means moon valley and thats the name of the Festival that going to start in Voditsa in 2013 and hopefully be the new Glastonbury of Eastern Europe!

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a most wonderful place just outside of the village - Dancho and I had gone there to look at a field that someone wasnted to sell. As soon as I saw the place I just knew that it was a brilliant spot to have a festival. I talked about this idea with everyone for a couple of years and then in the winter of 2011/12 I had a phone call from a guy called Brian who was looking for a place to put on a festival - it looked like a perfect match so we started working together to run the first music and arts festival in Voditsa in September 2012. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as we had hoped - to cut a long story short and in order to salvage something out of the situation, we decided to turn it into a free party.

About 100 hundred people turned up and we had a really good time. We learned that the site was really a wonderful place to have a festival and we also ended with a small group of people who are really interested in organising something properly for 2013.

Plans are happening as we speak - we’re looking for some money; we open to bands, DJs and artists who want a slot; we’re getting the website together and we’re starting to talk about stalls, marketing, generators…and stuff like that. This is going to happen…..September 13-15th 2013…and at the moment, EasyJet flights are about £35 - a few people have booked already.

If you, or anybody that you know, wants to perform at a small, new and interesting festival, get in touch. Sadly we can’t pay anybody this year but wwe will feed you. Watch this space for more news as it happens.

Come and camp in my lovely garden and experience life in a wonderful village.

tents available to rent and great food.

The plans and ideas for next year are coming on - I have loads of lists! But it is actually all coming together. I’m heading back to Voditsa at the beginning of March and between then and mid June, its just non stop work - the roof is on the barn so the next step is to make a floor and then plaster the walls. I have a couple of barrel loads of gleena (blue river clay) and I’ll be looking for a few volunteers to help because there is a lot of wall!.

Then I have to flatten the top end of the field and begin to make the stage and the terraced seats up the hillside. We have to build a shower block using all the bits of wood thats lying around (I have an actual design thanks to Casper a Dutch volunteer who is also an architect) , design and build a a water system to utilise the well, build another compost toilet, plants lots of roses, sort out the rest of the garden, make a kitchen in the barn and a few other things. So keep an eye on Helpx if you’re interested in any volunteering in the spring.

And the reason for all the rush?

I’m going to be running a range of courses and events from June onwards that will give people the opportunity to experience life in this village. watch this spot for more details as the dates get sorted. If you’re looking for a holiday with a difference, you might want to check out life in a typical Bulgarian village …..coming soon.