Nest 2020

Thanks to everyone who joined us on May 30th for Nest Online! Our individual login numbers sat at around 370 over the course of the day – very similar to the attendance numbers of Burning Nest 2019!

All the traditional Burn elements were present – a cabaret, a beautiful Burn, and the love and energy that makes our event and community so special.

Hilda has written up her account of the day:

We are still on a high from a wonderful virtual burn on Saturday.  Just because we are indoors doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, and with this in mind, we held Nest Online, as a way of staying connected with each other, holding our workshops, dance parties and communal activities, all via the magic of video conferencing.

Six separate Zoom rooms (or theme camps) were curated under a ticketed free event, and participants were encouraged to move between rooms in a whole day of activities.  While it was impossible to see everything, my day went something like this:

Starting with Lexicorn Unicorn’s Brunch, we learned how to make playa French Toast, then there was an hour of Qi Gong lead by Rachel.  I took my laptop into the garden and loved stretching with the feel of the grass between my toes (fewer thistles than on the actual site, too!).  After that we needed a rest, which Hammock Half Hour provided, then there was a crafting session, where we were encouraged to bring an unfinished project to work on together.  A personal highlight was Simon’s ‘hundred years of being a hippy talk, followed by the Embassy of Nowhere Ambassador’s party – we dressed in our finest outfits and brought our own cocktails and bubbles.  People made an effort with a beautiful array of hats and formal dress. We jumped rooms again to watch the Barnacles, a talented jazz trio who are on lockdown together, performing live, followed by the chance for us all to join in with the Great Rainbow Piano Singalong, which was a lot of fun, latency notwithstanding!

I only caught part of the cabaret, hosted by the ebullient Rob, but Lara Hopwood reported back that she enjoyed Xavier’s dramatic recitation of French cheeses, Yon’s story of playfulness and collaboration at one Burning Nest between the bridge builders and the trolls stealing the bridge, trying a Zoom body popping wave with everyone, John’s poems of oneness and nature in his excellent bee-bird costume and Iona’s dancing the alphabet game.

Finally, we had drumming from Michelle to accompany the fire spinners which were co-ordinated by Alison, who, while in lockdown on her own, had co-opted her neighbours to standby with a blanket, just in case!  This lead on to some beautiful fireworks and an appropriate burn of the Phoenix effigy on the actual Nest site, in the hope that Nest will rise again next in the not so socially distant form that we all know and love.

We may be in lockdown, but we are not alone.  I love our community!

Thank you Hilda, for a fantastic report of the day!

What were your favourite memories from Nest Online? Feel free to share in the comments below! x

We’re all missing our yearly opportunity to let loose, meet up with friends, learn something new, and share our skills and experiences with our fellow Nestlings. It’s to this end we created Nest Online – a day of workshops, events, parties and get-togethers on 30th May! We can’t do this alone though – after all, you make Nest happen with your contributions, every member brings something unique to our community!

Workshops, talks, whatever!

Whether it’s a yoga class, poetry reading, philosophical discussion or craft-a-long, you can hold your workshop in a Zoom room. Register nice and early to make sure people can see it and sign up in time and plan their day – we all know the pain of having to choose between two conflicting workshops at the same time! To register your workshop, please use this form to let us know by 27th May what you have planned and when you’d like to hold it. Check out the workshops already registered here.

Theme Camp-stravaganza!

We are also offering Zoom rooms to theme camps or groups to use for an extended period – whether you plan to hold an all-day rave, whisky tasting session (BYOB, unfortunately) or meditation circle, we have space for you at Nest Online. All you need to do is register your interest here by 24th May, and if you’d like to see who has already registered to host a theme camp, click here.

Burn, baby burn!

We will even be hosting a Burn in the main room, between 9 – 10pm! Alex, the landowner, has agreed to build and stream the flaming heart of our yearly celebration. What better way to look forward to next Nest, than all coming together virtually to set things on fire? We are hoping to have some fire spinners perform too, for a properly authentic Burn!

How do I join in?

To join in with Nest Online, we will need you to register for a membership on Quicket (don’t worry, it’s free!) – that way, we can send you the Zoom access information for the workshops we are hosting. We have also created a Facebook Event, where you can promote your workshop, team up with others for ideas, or see what we have planned!

We’re also looking for people to help us out on the day – think of it as Virtual Rangering! If you have tech/video skills, or can offer any time to co-ordinate, please get in touch.

All this information is, as always, available on the Nest website. If you have any questions at all, please do get in touch using this form.