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The Official Web site of the NZ Pagan Festival
2010 !
Our History
Out of a need to meet fellow pagans the NZ Pagan Festival
was born!
They started out as Sabbats and took on a life of their own, growing
and evolving over the years with various people dedicating their
time to be involved in "making the magick happen!"
1st Sabbat - Samhain 2000
A very relaxed affair, held at a farm in the Waikato,
this Sabbat was by invite only and about 60 people attended. The
feasting, storytelling and sword fighting entertainment was all
organised and taken care of by the Waikato Norse Group with Tracey
organising the bookings and rituals.
2nd Open Sabbat - Summer Solstice 2000
A friend, who most will know as Shelley (she has since
entertained at ALL of our subsequent festivals as an accomplished
guitarist and beautiful songtress!), offered her wonderful organic
orchard in which to hold this sabbat. This time we decided to make
it 'open'. Roughly 100 people attended and were subject to a yummy
feast, beautiful Norse singing, a live band, sword fighting fun,
a bonfire and rituals. It was at this Sabbat the NZ Pagan
Festival came into being! Wandering around the site, Tracey heard
many a magical conversation and the thought of lectures/workshops
at the next one sprang to mind ! Then came the amount of people
who were craftspeople of some kind so the concept of a Marketplace
was also put into action...
3rd -
NZ Pagan Festival 2002
The site for this festival was Waharau Regional Park.
Acres upon acres of stunning scenery with
a stream running through the festival site, this is considered the
1st NZ Pagan Festival. Most will agree the site was magickal ! We
booked Wiccan International lecturers and authors Janet Farrar and
Gavin Bone from Ireland to fly over for this, as
well as various NZ lecturers. An evening BBQ was
held and Janet mesmerised all with her storytelling in
the Marquee by candlelight. Various rituals were
held over the course of the weekend with live music throughout the
day.
4th -
NZ Pagan Festival 2003
Held at the Matamata Aerodrome, this Festival was attended
by approximately 160 people and offered camping as well as cabins
in the way of accommodation. With an array of International and
National Lecturers as well as a Hangi Feast, 5 Live Bands, Rituals,
Morris Dancers, Drumming, Marketplace and an evening bonfire.
5th -
NZ Pagan Festival 2004
This Festival was handed to the NZ Pagan Centre Charitable
Trust to run. With over 300 camping for the weekend and 1500 through
the gate as Day Visitors this was our biggest Festival yet !
Again Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone flew in from Ireland,
as well as Philip Carr-Gomm, chosen Chief Druid from the Order of
Bards, Ovates and Druids from the UK and they were our International
Guest Speakers. A fantastic array of national lecturers were also
present, as well as live music, entertainment displays, rituals,
a catered feast in the evening and a fantastic market place.
After the success of the 2004 festival and due to other constraints
on our time
we felt that the time had come for us to take a break. After 6 years
we are back, with a bigger, brighter and better festival than ever
before!
2010 NZ Pagan Festival!
All the goodies still apply from previous years as well
as some new additions to the weekend schedule that are sure to delight
fans both old and new. To find out exactly what is happening over
the weekend you will need to visit the above links.
We have tried to accommodate as many people as possible ensuring
an array of entertainment and Lectures are on offer, so whether
you are coming for the socialising or the learning, you are bound
to find something of interest to you!!
We have booked Lecturers who are experts in their
fields and have decades of experience in their chosen topics. These
lecturers speak from experience as opposed to book learning so you
are sure to receive a lecture of a high standard and hopefully learn
something new in the process!
© Natures Magick Ltd 2009
www.naturesmagick.co.nz
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