I’ve just come back into my lovely little reality from an amazing weekend away at a festival called Jai Thep.
All of us crazy pyromaniacs were invited to spin fire for the festival in exchange for a free ticket and a bit of food.
It was unlike any other festival I’ve been to. There were huge art
We had our own fire space which we were invited to spin in every night for about 6 hours. Between about 20 of us, it was very easy to fill. I only ended up spinning twice in the three nights there. This wasn’t due to lack of wanting to, it was more an energy thing that was created there. During the meetings, there were a few men that I felt displayed dominant masculinity which is not what I want to be around at all. I spoke to a few others about it and they said that they felt the same feelings. And a couple of people I spoke to went to their defence saying that it was just this combination of people and this atmosphere, etc. Nope. I’m sorry but making excuses for men behaving like that is not going to fix the problem.
I’m going to go on a little rant here.
It’s that whole excuse that “boys will be boys” and it is dated and done. It is now “boys will be held accountable for their actions.” If you are a woman and you see it happening to yourself or those around you, confront it and point it out. And more importantly, if you are a man and you see it happening to women around you, SAY SOMETHING! Point out that it is not cool, whether a woman is there or not. Be the change you see in your friends. I feel like this is more important because unfortunately, a lot of men don’t listen to women. So guys, stop “dick swinging” around each other and be part of the good side.
End rant.
Anyway, so there was a bit of this happening at the festival and instead of excusing it, I decided to hold my friends to a higher standard than that. Which meant that I ended up spending most of the weekend with my girlfriends and away from the fire circle. (Yes, I guess I just avoided the problem, but, I did speak to some male friends and asked them to be mindful of it and point it out too.)
I realised as well that I’ve never really done a festival without a partner. I decided that this was going to be the time to do it so that I could open myself up to more experiences. I found so many installations were just waiting for me.
Here are some of the highlights:
- I spent the whole second night with my dear friend Olive who had her birthday at midnight, so I could safely say that I was the first one to say happy birthday. Huge win! We ran around like two little pixies all night and danced with her fun light up shoes. We saw a great 80’s aerobics guy called Tyrone and the Tyronettes (think Chris Lily’s, Mr G from Summer heights high) and some amazing British rappers called Too Many T’s on the main stage. We ran around between stages trying to find the best music. We sat by a fireplace until 5 am talking about absolutely nothing. She is one amazing little pocket rocket.
- I found Glitter Fingers. I met one of those amazing people that I knew instantly was going to be a friend. Olive and I met him at the silent disco (oh boy) and he had LED gloves and was dancing with his hands. It was so magical. The next day I was just saying to Olive that I hope we’d bump into him again, and there he was! He had to leave in the afternoon so we ended up spending a few hours together, watching some bands and sitting in the river. What a human that I was so lucky to meet.
- The silent disco! Oh wow! It was hilarious. Everyone just dancing, losing their minds, and then you take off the headphones and silence. So funny.
- I finally got to wear my glitter, disco kimono that the lovely Mae created. It was a huge hit.
- I was sharing a tent with McKenna and every night before we’d go to sleep, we sat by candlelight and talked for a while. Candlelight tent time we called it. It was a really beautiful way to finish off every day. McKenna also supplied mostly everything for our tent, so huge shout out to her for being such a great tent inhabiter.
- My little friend Kat dyed her hair blue. I got to accompany her to her first festival. We spent the last night together and found that we were both incredibly tired so we ate a lot of food, then went to bed at 11 pm. What nanas!
- The Dome! They had this huge set up that was a giant white dome that had about 6 different 30-minute movies going on inside. I got to see three of them and they were incredible! One especially called the Yogi’s Journey. It went through all 12 states of consciousness from Hindu philosophy and the artwork in it was just stunning. It must have taken years to do becuase there was so much detail. Each time we went up to the next level, it kept getting more and more beautiful.
- I saw this delightful band that played
blue grass songs. Three guys all wearing fruit dresses, and one lady wearing a moustache. I watching them whilst with glitter fingers and it was so perfect. Then once I got back to Pai and I spun at a new bar, I saw that they were all there and they played again. We’re now friends! They’re called Old Baby Mackerel and all their songs around about death, murder and watermelons.
I only have one complaint; my face hurt too much from smiling and laughing.
So, Jai Thep was a huge hit! But after
The countdown is now on for when I’m back home again and on to the next adventure.
Kat, McKenna and I. The only photo I took at the festival! We look a little bit like the powerpuff girls with our fun coloured hair!
Old Baby Mackerel at the new bar opening
Me, in my disco kimono, dancing my little heart out.
