I spent the weekend at the Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire, where glamping is at its finest and the weather was on our side.
Held each August on a 5,000-acre estate owned by Lord Rotherwick, Wilderness is a jamboree of luxury glamping, seven-course menus from Michelin-starred chefs and debates, which I was there to take part in.
I am not a fan of festivals, having done Glastonbury a few times and vowed never again, but Wilderness is, I find, very different. It essentially entails taking lots of people with informed and thought-out views of what’s going on in the world and placing them around tents and tables for a weekend.
The festival has been nicknamed Poshtock by some mockers but it brings together people who wouldn’t normally meet. It’s a place where conversation is key and debate is good. Richard Dawkins was one of the speakers; when he was asked why he was so against religion, he said: “I wouldn’t take a teddy from a child but I wish people didn’t need this comfort blanket of religion”.
I congratulated him afterwards quite truthfully on a great talk but I really wished I’d also pointed out how patronsing his view of religion is. The topics of the talks I did were heavy but people listened and came up to me afterwards to carry on the conversation. Others put their assumptions about me aside and came to find out why I do the work I do rather than misunderstanding each other from a distance.
The weekend was not all bliss. The young men in the yurt next to me did get on my nerves as they called for “Freddie” at 3am in the morning, but after years of lockdown, it was great to be out and about, getting to meet people again as well as seeing some old mates.
I did not run into the Governor of the Bank of England or any childhood crush but I did meet some incredible men and women, who, like me, were seeking to use this weekend as a chance to reconnect with their idea of social activism. As things get tougher over the next few months and those in power run out of ideas, more communities will have to come together. It was good to find that many of the people I was with at Wilderness were ready to do more for those in need around them.
So, yes, Wilderness may be full of people who are comfortable in their daily lives, leaving nice houses for nice tents, but they are also there because they want to learn things and find like-minded people they can connect with. I will certainly keep in touch with an incredible female doctor with whom I talked about our mutual experience of being women who are now living outside the culture we grew up with and its codes about what a woman should be.
Luxury glamping? It’s a friend to feminism and free thought.
