Information for attendees

We’re so happy you’re coming to the second Evolve Community Festival! Below is some important information for the event, so please read it all carefully.

Contribution

As you’re hopefully aware by now 😀, Evolve is a co-creation. As such, we all contribute not only to the running of the festival, but also to making it a rich and magical experience for us all. To streamline this contribution process, we’ve created a set of different pods, each of which is responsible for a different aspect of the festival. The pods are:

Setup, Packdown, Potluck dinner support team, Car patrol team, Site patrol (litter patrol, waste management, fire patrol), Lost property team, First Aid (means being on-call part of the time and carrying a walkie-talkie, requires current first aid training), Welcome crew (requires arriving by Friday lunchtime), Workshop facilitation, Media (photos / video), Decor.

To choose which pod you’d like to contribute to, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/umq1NHrngU3AyXNX6

You can select more than one pod you’d be happy to contribute to (you’ll only need to be in one), as it will make it easier to keep the pods balanced.

Gifting

Evolve is built on the spirit of gifting; we all gift our time and skills to make the event special. We also encourage you to think of something you might bring that you can give to others at the festival to brighten their day a little. It might be a crystal, or a piece of simple jewelry, or an oracle card. It could be a written invitation to do something expansive (e.g. introduce yourself to a stranger, make someone laugh, etc.). It could be some delectable edible treats, or a delicious beverage. To be clear, the focus here is not on material gifts, but energetic / spiritual ones (though of course these can have a material aspect too!).

Directions

Evolve is at Gilwell Park Scout Camp in Gembrook, about 1 hour east of Melbourne.

Carpooling

Carpooling supports those in the community who don’t have their own vehicles, reduces emissions 🌿, saves money 💰, and gives you a chance to meet someone new 🤝 before the festival!
📜 Add your name to the carpooling sheet here if you need or can offer a ride:

Carpooling

Vehicles on-site

For safety and insurance purposes, vehicles may only move on-site without supervision before sunset on Friday and on Monday morning. At all other times, supervision is required.

If you need to move your vehicle at all during the festival, get in touch with the Evolve crew to organise a car patrol member to escort the movement.

Unless you’re sleeping in your vehicle, we require that you leave your car in the car park after dropping your gear at your site.

Cooking

For fire safety, there is to be no cooking in campsites (even for tea / coffee etc.). We’ll be setting up a big communal cooking area where you can set up your camp stoves etc. We’ll also have a shaded area nearby for eskies. We’ve done this for previous gatherings, and it creates a lovely community vibe with people cooking together and sharing.

We're planning a delicious vegetarian meal for Friday dinner so you can just arrive and eat, without needing to set up cooking gear etc. We’re still looking for someone to lead this effort, so let us know if you’d like to do that! We’ll confirm whether this is happening in a follow-up email.

We’ll have an urn for tea and coffee, and we’ll provide some herbal teas. If you want coffee, milk, or other teas, please bring them yourself (and/or share!).

Fire safety

Due to the recent fires in Victoria, Gilwell Park has recently changed its rules around fires. There are to be no open fires at all during the festival. This includes candles, incense, or other flammables in camp. All cooking must be done on gas burners, and in the communal cooking area.

Alcohol

In part for insurance reasons, Evolve this year will be a sober festival, so please leave your alcohol (and other intoxicants) at home. Thanks for your cooperation!

Pets

Gilwell Park does not allow pets on-site, so please leave animal companions at home (unless they’re registered service animals). Thanks!

Potluck

We’re planning to have a potluck feast on the Sunday evening, so please bring something delicious and nutritious to share. If you can bring a card listing the ingredients too, that would be super helpful, as some people will have food allergies and intolerances.

Waste management

There will be a rubbish skip on-site for landfill waste, but we request that you separate your own waste and take home all of your recycling, and in general try to minimise packaging and waste where possible.

Event schedule

Here’s the current schedule. It’s still “evolving” as more workshops get added, but gives a basic idea of what will be available and when.

Stuff to bring

• Camping gear: tent, sleeping bag / bedding, sleeping mat / mattress, pillow.
• Torch
• Warm clothes
• Wet weather gear
• Something to sit on in workshops (e.g. a cushion or low camp chair)
• Rugs / blankets for the workshop spaces.
• Plates, cutlery, cups
• A meal to contribute for the Sunday night potluck
• Your own food (basic meals, snacks, and some treats to share)
• Cooking equipment (camp stove, pots / pans etc.). Make a little meal pod with friends so you can share meals / equipment. Pro-tip: making bulk food and freezing it a couple of days before the festival makes this really easy.
• A water bottle (there is drinking water on-site)
• An offering of some sort
• Insect repellent
• Musical instruments
• Bonus points if you can also bring:
  • Cushions
  • Fairy lights / other nice lights
  • Decor
  • Bunting
  • Vintage lamps
  • Extra trestle tables
  • A performance for the open mic

Areas where we need support

• Setup crew. Ideally this involves arriving Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, but anytime up until Friday morning will be useful.
• Decor crew: those with a love of and talent for beautifying spaces! Bonus points if you have decor elements you can contribute.
• Sticking around on Monday for packdown. There’s always a ton of little tasks to do, and many hands make light work. The longer you can stay to help, the easier it will be for all of us 🙏.
• If you have friends who are on the fence about coming and you think they would contribute to making the festival more amazing, give them a (gentle) nudge 😁.