Ecstatic Dance Festival® 2024 - Conscious Dance, Music and Healthy Living

ECSTATIC DANCE FESTIVAL® 2024
Find your path. Unlock your potential. Learn. Explore. Create.

~ WHEN? Wed, 24 July - Sun, 28 July 2024
~ WHERE? Gillingham, North Dorset @ Osho Leela Personal Development Cetre

This is a wonderful invitation to get your dancing feet ready! Our very own festival devoted to Ecstatic Dance, movement and holistic wellbeing! No experience required to join the festival. All welcome! We invite you to co-create this unique experience of togetherness with us! Attune to Nature, Dance on the Earth and beneath the Summer Sky. A transformational adventure and personal growth gathering with around fellow conscious dancers! We are super excited to invite the wider community of DJ's/ Facilitators/ Musicians/ Bodyworkers to co-create this amazing festival with us! Our intention is to make this a really beautiful gathering so come along and join us at the Ecstatic Dance Festival! 

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME & LINE UP: ECSTATICDANCEFESTIVAL.CO.UK (will be updated soon with 2024 line up)

Festival takes place in the North Dorset countryside, at Osho Leela Personal Development Centre, situated on 18 acres of land, with ancient trees, small forests and a wildflower meadow, vegetable gardens created with permaculture principles, and an apple orchard. They have been creating a community here since 2000 by developing the land, building cabins and expanding a little more every year and we are really excited to host our retreats and festivals here!

Get your camping gear ready & join fellow conscious dance, music, nature, and healthy living enthusiasts! After a sold out festival in 2022 & 2023, we recommend booking in advance. 

Ticket includes all festival workshops, camping, 3x veggie meals per day (12 in total), afternoon & evening saunas (7 in total), camping with own gear.

ACCOMMODATION & CAMPERVANS ARE EXTRA: booking link will be published soon!

If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email: ecstaticdancefestivaluk@gmail.com

WHAT TO EXPECT?

• Beautiful dance and workshop spaces with great sound systems including 2 indoor spaces, large Marquee, large Geo Dome (if more than 100 attendees)  plus dancing outdoors and around the campfire (we will also have Silent Disco Headphone outdoor dances!)
• Great Ecstatic Dance DJ's and daily Live Music with the amazing URUBU Collective: Alua, Jansen, Carl & Seth plus awesome DJ's!  Full line up will be announced closer to the time!
• MVMNT Drum & Bass & Breakbeat sessions with James Buchanan and his powerful sound system!
• A variety of Transformational Embodiment, Wellbeing, Movement and Ecstatic Dance workshops with different facilitators (Active Meditations, Yoga, Breathwork, Bioenergetics, Playfulness, Connection, Intimacy, Conscious Touch, Hugging,  Singing, Cacao Ceremonies, Sound Journeys, Contact Impro, Authentic Movement, Ecstatic Dance and much more!)
• Relaxing and Rejuvenating Massage/ Bodywork offerings
• Alcohol and drug-free environment
• Delicious 3x vegetarian meals per day (we all eat together at set meal times)
• Indoor / Outdoor Cafe & Healthy Bar (for coffee, cake and other yummy creations!)
• Hangout on the sofas
• Campfire & Storytelling, Singing
• Saunas at lunchtime & evenings
• Beautiful nature walks
• Camping (bring your own camping gear)
• Campervan (stay in your own campervan) or Indoor Accommodation (limited availability) for additional cost. Booking link will be published soon! 
• Facilities: Shower & Toilet block with hot running water, covered indoor/outdoor dining areas, tea/coffee available at any time, phone charging stations, 2 indoor workshop/dance spaces + large Marque, large Geo Dome and plenty of outdoor space for outdoor activities (slacklining, frisbee etc) and camping!
• Photos/Videos: We live in the age of social media and so to capture our alcohol and drug free festival, we want to share to the world that we can have a great time without intoxicants. We will be photographing and videoing this festival. We thank you in advance for accepting this fact, and we ask please not to attend if you're not happy being captured. Our media team, will of course be sensitive, and will only use the best shots of you.

♥ EXAMPLE DAILY *SCHEDULE

7:30 AM – 8:30 AM Good Morning Meditations /Yoga
8:30 AM – 9:45 AM Yummy Breakfast
9:45 AM – 1:00 PM Morning Ecstatic Dance / Workshops
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM Magnificent Lunch
1:50 PM – 2:30 PM Dishes Help
2:30 PM – 6:30 PM Sauna/ Nature Walks / Massages/ Workshops
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Delicious Dinner
7:10 PM – 8PM Dishes Help
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM Evening Ecstatic Dance
10:00 PM – 00:00 AM Campfire/ Sauna/Performances/ Dance Parties

*SCHEDULE-PLEASE NOTE: there will be a few different workshop/dance spaces and schedules, this is just an example schedule, all workshops and timings might change slightly as we want to offer some flexibility with the schedule during the festival.

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME & LINE UP: ECSTATICDANCEFESTIVAL.CO.UK

WHAT IS THE ECSTATIC DANCE FESTIVAL ABOUT:

• Ecstatic Dance Festival® is an invitation to awaken the dancer within! Dance to feel alive, find your creativity and freedom through conscious dance!
• An experiential playground for co-creating transformational experiences through dance and other movement and embodiment practices
• It is full of Life-affirming transformational workshops beyond the old Drug and Alcohol paradigm
• Live music with outstanding musicians
• Connection with ourselves and our bodies explored through a cross-section of approaches.
• Learn powerful exercises for grounding, releasing fear/stress/ tension/ trauma from the body and developing deeper presence and body awareness.
• Explore as individuals and a group, a wide variety of ecstatic dance and active meditation processes.
• Using music, movement, ritual, and connection to achieve a unified field of being.
• Rest, Relax & Rejuvenate
• Attune to Nature and the living environment, release stress and come home to your Ecstatic-Self!
• Experiential not-to-be-missed festival!

Whether you are looking for a way to better deal with the everyday stresses of life, get away from the City life and connect to Nature or whether you just simply want to try new body-mind based exercises, dance & laugh, meet and connect with new people, relax in the sauna, we invite you to explore the tools & practices during this deep dive of 4 days or day/weekend and discover positive benefits for yourself.

BELOW IS THE VIDEO OF OUR ECSTATIC CAMPOUT IN THE UK, IN 2020. 

PRICES

PRICES: Included in the festival ticket price: All workshops, 3 x vegetarian meals per day (12 meals in total), teas/coffees, lunchtime and evening sauna sessions. Remaining Balance due 1 months prior to the festival. Please note camping is included in the ticket price, but indoor accommodation/campervan space is an additional cost, see more info below.

- 1ST RELEASE £420 (Food, Workshops + Sauna) DEPOSIT £100 + Fee (Balance of £320 due by 24 June. Option to pay the remaining balance in 2x £160 payments. Please pay via bank transfer, details in order confirmation email) Accommodation is Extra!

- 2ND RELEASE £470 (Food, Workshops + Sauna) DEPOSIT £100 + Fee (Balance of £370 due by 24 June or as soon as if you've booked after 26 June. Option to pay the remaining balance in 2x £185 payments. Please pay via bank transfer, details in order confirmation email) Accommodation is Extra!

- FINAL RELEASE £520 (Food, Workshops + Sauna) DEPOSIT £100 + Fee (balance of £420 due by 24 June or as soon as if you've booked after 24 June. Option to pay the remaining balance in 2x £210 payments. Please pay via bank transfer, details in order confirmation email) Accommodation is Extra!

ORDER CONFIRMATION: Email might be in the spam folder. Please check. Do not print any paper tickets, we will check you in by your name.

- Unfortunately no dogs/ other pets are permitted on site.

- Children/kids: Unfortunately this year's festival will not be suitable for under 18's.

CANCELLATION POLICY

We offer this festival in order to support the growth of physical and mental wellness of attendees and it requires many hours of organisation and planning. We ensure we have sufficient funds to do this with the following policy:

- Participants join the festival at their own risk. Ecstatic Dance London accepts no responsibility for spontaneous joy, open-heartedness or sore cheeks from too much smiling.

CANCELLATION BY ATTENDEES: 
-All festival tickets are non-refundable and deposit of £100 is non refundable. If you cannot attend the festival due to any reason or personal matter including covid, we will not be able to issue a festival ticket refund, sorry. 
-Accommodation bookings are refundable if minimum of 30 days notice is provided.
-You are welcome to pass on your festival ticket to a friend, colleague or family member, resell your ticket or consider gifting your place to someone, there are many people in our network who do not have the funds to attend such a festival. Please let us know name and email address of the person attending in your place by sending us an email with replacement person’s details to: ecstaticdancefestivaluk@gmail.com
- If you cannot attend the festival and less then 30 days notice is provided, we can try to resell your ticket to someone on the waitlist (only if the festival is sold out) and partially refund your festival ticket fee if the ticket gets sold (£100 deposit is non refundable)

CANCELLATION BY THE ORGANIZER/VENUE:
Due to situations beyond our control, Ecstatic Dance London reserves the right to change booking or cancel the festival and shall inform the customer as soon as possible. You may transfer your full payment to another festival/ retreat or you may request a refund of your payment to us, constituting a full settlement. Alternative arrangements will be offered but we do not accept responsibility for any costs incurred, including travel. Ecstatic Dance London is not responsible for your expenses incurred in preparation for any cancelled festival such as travel costs, loss of work, and/or other costs associated with preparing for your trip. As organizers of this festival, we do not take any responsibility for any matters beyond our control or for any covid related matters that occur during the festival

ACCOMMODATION/ CAMPERVANS: EXTRA COST! 

Please book on the venue's website (limited availability)  LINK WILL BE PUBLISHED SOON! 

CAMPING: Camping is included in the ticket price!
GLAMPING: £60 for 4 nights Female or Male glamping tents.
SHARED DORMS: £80-£120 for 4 nights Female or Male dorms. Please do not book a dorm if you snore.
CAMPERVAN SPACE: £40 for 4 nights (stay in your own live-in vehicle, hook up available for extra £12)
PRIVATE ROOMS: £120-£220 for 4 nights (rooms in house, mobile homes, pods, pine lodge)
NEARBY ACCOMMODATION: Please check local Airbnb options if you prefer.

<<<<<*~ PRACTICAL INFORMATION ~*>>>>>

CARS/ TRAINS/TRAVEL

CAR PARK ON SITE FREE OF CHARGE: there is a car park available on site free of charge to all festival attendees. As much as possible, please arrange car shares to limit the carbon footprint and reduce the amount of cars on site.

LIFT SHARES: Attendees will receive a link to a WhatsApp group & a spreadsheet to arrange lift shares and train journeys. Link will be sent at the beginning of July. 

TRAINS: Nearest train station Gillingham, Dorset. Please check https://www.thetrainline.com for train tickets and train schedules. There are local taxi services and we will send a list in July with contact details to all participants. One way journey from station to venue will cost under £10. We do encourage car & taxi sharing if possible as it's more eco friendly.

FOOD: All meals are included (3 meals per day, total 12 meals). Venue runs a vegetarian/vegan kitchen and does its best to meet the most common food requirements for guests such as gluten free/ lactose free/ vegan and all dishes will be clearly labelled. Venue might not be able to cater for other special diets. Please complete dietary requirement section in the booking form. Teas/coffees available at anytime with a selection of alternative milks. Filtered drinking water also available to refill your water bottles. There is also a Coffee/cake shop/healthy bar which is run by Osho Leela community and will be open at certain times during the day.

PLEASE NOTE: Festival takes place at Osho Leela and there is a community of people who already live there or have joined one of their live-in programmes. To support the community and help with the practicalities, festival participants will be required to help once during the festival with the dishes- either one day after lunch or dinner. Many thanks in advance for your support with this.

VENUE: Ecstatic Dance Festival site is located 10 minute drive by car from Gillingham train station in North Dorset
ADDRESS: Osho Leela Personal Development Centre, Thorngrove House, Common Mead Ln, Gillingham SP8 4RE
DIRECTIONS AND HOW TO GET THERE: https://osholeela.uk/getting-here/

WHEN: Wed, 24 July – Sun, 38 July 
We might also release weekend tickets closer to the festival start date, depending on capacity.

ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE: We ask participants to arrive between 4pm-6pm on the first day to allow time to check-in, explore the grounds and settle in before we start. The festival will start with dinner at 6:30pm followed by a welcome session from 8pm. The festival will end after lunch 1pm-3pm on the last day and there will be plenty of time to pack up and depart. Please do not leave before the end of the festival. Aim to depart around 4pm to give yourself enough time.

EXTRA NIGHT’S STAY: Option to stay at the venue until Mon, 29 July 11am for a reduced rate including dinner & breakfast. If you're staying in any accommodation, there will be a charge for extra night accordingly. Sign ups and payments - please go to the Osho Leela office directly on Sun, 28 July after lunch.

FACILITIES: 2 indoor workshop/dance spaces plus + large Marque, large Geo Dome, indoor and outdoor dining areas, tea/coffee available at any time, coffee/cake shop & healthy bar, plenty of outdoor space for outdoor activities (slacklining, frisbee etc) and camping, beautiful nature for walks, sauna at lunchtime and in the evenings, showers/toilets in the main house and also in the purpose build shower/toilet block with hot running water, power sockets available in all accommodation, hang out areas & sofas in the main house. 

MASSAGES: Available for additional cost, card payments will be accepted. More details and sign up at the festival.

WHAT TO BRING

We encourage all participants to have a Digital Detox during the festival and to switch off phones. Maybe bring a simple alarm clock so you can wake up for morning meditations/yoga.
-If you have booked accommodation, please note that all bedding is provided .
-Camping gear for those who choose to camp (tent, pegs, mattress, insulating mat, sleeping bag or duvet, pillow, extra blanket, hot water bottle, lights to put inside the tent etc)
-Reusable water bottle
-Yoga Mat & blanket
-Ground coffee & cafetiere for coffee lovers (venue provides instant coffee and has limited cafetiere’s so please bring your own if you have one). Community run coffee & cake shop will be open at certain times so you will be able to buy a proper coffee/lattes etc if you wish to.
-Torch (head torches are really useful)
-Clothing in layers suitable for movement/ dancing
-Clothing & boots/shoes suitable for hiking/ outdoors
-Waterproofs or umbrella in case of rain
-Warm jacket or jumper for evenings as temperature will drop during the night
-Swimsuit/ swim shorts for sauna
-Towel
-Ear-plugs (if you’re a light sleeper)
-Toiletries: (natural & biodegradable products if possible please)
-Acoustic music instruments if you wish to such as guitar, ukulele, drums etc.
-Snacks such as nuts/ dried fruit/ flapjacks/ chocolate, avocados etc for when you get peckish or if you want extra yummy things
-Personal items such as phone/ charger/ card/ keys etc.
-Anything else you think will make the festival more comfortable for you!

FESTIVAL ORGANISERS & HOSTS:

♥ Seth Newman: As the founder of the URUBU School of Transformational Arts, he integrates the roots of Humanistic therapies, Bioenergetics & Body Psychotherapy, Transpersonal Psychology and Tantra in creative and life-transforming workshops, retreats, festivals and trainings. As a coach, Seth is dedicated to helping people calm, empower and rejuvenate their busy minds and bodies to achieve the best versions of themselves. Seth brings a wealth of experience holding heart-centered spaces. His in-depth studies, trainings and personal experiences of many therapeutic modalities infuse his approach to living a creative, holistic & embodied life and sharing his unique offerings with others. Seth has been facilitating regular workshops for many years.

As a musician, Seth is deeply passionate about rhythm & drumming, has an MA in Community Music from Goldsmith College, worked as a world music percussion teacher in East London schools for almost 20 years and started URUBU collective back in 2009 as a Live Music Ecstatic Dance experience with Afro-Brazilian drummers & musicians, started his journey as an avid DJ with a love for Afro-Beat, Cuban and Brazilian music and created an Ecstatic Dance scene in London and the UK. Seth has a life-long passion for 5 Rhythms and other movement and Ecstatic Dance practices.

URUBU has since evolved into a School of Transformational Arts – offering a variety of powerful holistic body-mind tools and practices.

♥ Diana Upite: Trained in classical music from a young age, and later in contemporary music, Diana carries a life-long passion for singing, improvising and re-imagining traditional Celtic and folk songs with her own melodic vision.  A singer at heart, she connects deeply with the melodies and harmonies of ancient Europe and beyond.

She is passionate about bringing practices of rest and embodiment to others. Through her singing, her intention is to guide you on a journey of reconnection and self-discovery, reuniting you with the source of who you are.

Diana also has a keen interest in making delicious raw chocolates and raw cacao drinks for cacao ceremonies, private clients and is constantly experimenting with new flavours. She is a co-creator and co-facilitator of many URUBU wellbeing classes, workshops, retreats and festivals and is a multitasking fairy!

💜SEE ALL OUR UPCOMING WELLBEING EVENTS, RETREATS & FESTIVALS: 
ecstaticdancelondon.com/events

We look forward to welcoming you! 
Dee, Seth & Ecstatic Dance London team
www.ecstaticdancelondon.com

INSTAGRAM: @ecstaticdance_london  @urubu_school_of_transformation
FACEBOOK: Ecstatic Dance London, URUBU, Ecstatic Dance Temple
EMAIL: youareyoubeyou@gmail.com