I know, I've been pretty bad about making posts. I have had tons of ideas and thoughts I have wanted to commit to the blog (including a very wonderful trip to the Lake District over the summer which had lots of Pagan fun for me) but... ah, this term has been startlingly busy. Over the summer, my dance school's timetable more than doubled and I barely have time to sleep, let alone anything else! But the Christmas holidays are approaching (2 and a half weeks... not that I'm counting down or anything...) so I wholly look forward to buckling down and writing posts, articles, developing my Tarot card designs and maybe making some progress on my books.
Today, I'm here to talk about Witchfest International and its new home in Brighton.
Some of you may already know the saga. Witchfest International (and England, when that was still on) has always had its home in Fairfield Halls in Croydon. However, the council announced last year that the Halls were being closed for a two-year-long refurbishment (I have my doubts that the hall will ever reopen, but that's another rant for another time), which left Witchfest kind of high and dry, although Cath and Merlyn were determined to keep the event going. London was proving stupidly expensive, so in swoops the amazing John Belham-Payne to save the day and suggest The Brighton Centre.
Brighton seemed absolutely perfect, being already a haven for us hippies, being on the coast (sea magick, anyone?) and also home to the Mother of Modern Witchcraft, the late Doreen Valiente. With his help and connections, Witchfest at the Brighton Centre became a reality.
Sadly, John passed away in February this year so he never got to see the event itself. The weekend was dedicated to John and his legacy (more on that later).
I will start off by saying this was one of the best Witchfests ever! Although many of you will know that it would take something truly bad for me to say anything disparaging about CoA and Witchfest, this is not an empty compliment. Buckle up for a breakdown of the weekend (and I do mean weekend).