Festivals

The Leela festivals are the highlights of the year. A wondrous celebration of music, meditation and heart. They feel like a huge house party with many opportunities to meet others and make friends, participate in a variety of workshops and enjoy live music, lots of hugs, meditations and parties into the night. Children also love our festivals as we have 15 acres of grounds to explore and a fantastic, professionally run kids' club with lots of activities. The biggest festivals are during the spring and summer. Most people camp but there are single rooms and dormitory accommodation available.

Background
The first Leela Music and Arts Festival was in May 1997 at our old site near Wimborne. Musicians came from all over Europe to support us in making it happen. They played music for us all to dance to, celebrate and meditate. It was a huge success and since then we have run two a year. Out of that original festival came our first CD, the Leela Groove which is still being played and sold and enjoyed. Over the last few years our festivals have grown and grown and now we run a month long festival in August called 'A Month in Paradise'. There is a week of dance and movement, a weekend of healing, a week of theatre, song & art and finally a week of celebration. In the final week we welcome up to 300 people here. If the centre was a little closer to the Equator we would have a continuous festival. It is what we do best.

A typical day could look like this:
7.30 Dynamic meditation or Yoga
8.30 Breakfast
9.30 Tour and intro to Leela and grounds
10.00 Morning meeting – a get together for everyone to dance, meet, hug, find out about the day, be entertained. It is here that the tone of the day is set.
11.00 Morning Satsang – a beautiful meditation of soft live music and silence with a short period of humming
12.00 Workshop – could be singing, theatre, dance, comedy, painting, personal development
1.00 Lunch – all vegetarian food
2:00 Campcare – 45 mins
3.00 Concert or workshop
5.00 Kundalini meditation – shaking, dancing, sitting and lying down. An hour-long meditation specifically designed for this time of day
6.00 Temple treats – Everyday a different cocktail is on offer in the coffee shop
7.00 Dinner
8.00 Campcare – 45 mins
9.00 Evening concert
11.00 Bar is open and the party begins. Fantastic DJ's every night.

You can also treat yourself to a session in the healing centre;
Massage, Shiatsu, Reflexology, Reiki, or take a hot tub in the garden.

Other things you can enjoy:
Humaniversity Aum Meditation, Sannyas ceremony, Talent show, Introductory events for groups coming up in the calendar.

Food
We provide excellent vegetarian food from our own kitchen which most people opt for. You are also welcome, however, to cater for yourselves to keep the price down. Unfortunately, we cannot have campfires in the camping areas so gas stoves are essential.

Campcare
During the Spring and Summer festivals, we ask that everyone contributes 45 mins each day to camp care. This can be chopping veggies, cleaning or washing up and it makes a huge difference to the smooth running of the event. During the Christmas/New Year and Easter Festivals, we generally have longer work periods. For those who do not want to participate in campcare, an extra £5 per day is paid on top of the festival entrance fee.

Children at Festivals
We have a professionally run Kids' Club for 4-11 year olds offering workshops and organised play throughout the day. We have recently developed a Teens Club to give the teenagers their own hang-out space, with opportunities to participate in video making, martial arts, dance, drama, etc. This year we also began developing a Tweens programme for 10 and 11 year olds, to give them a space of their own and “at arm’s length” supervision with their activities. There are huge grounds to explore, which are safe and away from main roads, and there is a playground with swings, slide, a wendy house and huge trampoline. We also have an above-ground swimming pool which is closely supervised when in use.

The Music
Over the years during the spring and summer festivals we have had: Maneesh & Praful (Lovers Lounge, One Day Deep, Pyramid in Your Backyard) Miten & Deva Premal (Music for the Inner Lover, Strength of a Rose, The Essence, Embrace, Dakshina) Bliss (100,000 Angels, Through These Eyes, Bliss, You) Sika and Caitlin ( One World, One Family, The Earth Album, Laxshmi's Dream, Lightening Man) Sudha (Planet Love) Tarisha (All Your Faces) Ravi (Kora Colours, Korus) Seize The Day (It's Your Life, It's Our World, All Hands That Are Ready) Kangaroo Moon And a host of meditation musicians from the world of OSHO: Subodha, Rishi, Kai, Chetan, Satgyan, Satyam, Surabhi, Prabodh, Manu, Paro, Vikas, Adarsha, Somesh.

Suggestions to newcomers
If you are not a party goer, we suggest you camp or stay in a pine cabin, mobile home or caravan. Being in the house is fairly loud till late, but peace prevails in the fields. The caravan park has an amenities block with showers and toilets.

What you need to bring
Whatever you need to make camping easy and comfortable. If you are indoors, we provide bedding but you need to bring towels. Clothes for all weathers plus party gear.

> Read what past participants say