Greenbelt
Christian arts festival, England
Greenbelt takes place across the late-August public holiday weekend [Friday to Monday inclusive] every year.
Greenbelt began in 1974 and by the 1980s was Britain's biggest Christian music festival. The venue changed periodically but was always under canvas in a green-field location in central England. In the 1990s the emphasis broadened towards arts, social justice and spiritual exploration. The growing 'alternative worship' movement found in Greenbelt a supportive home to experiment with worship and work through theological and practical issues.
After a crisis in the late 1990s partly caused by terrible weather the Festival moved to Cheltenham racecourse, where events could be in permanent buildings and the central site was paved. This enabled the creation of 'New Forms', a dedicated alternative worship venue with a full sound and audiovisual setup and a rolling programme of worship events and related talks. Many of the events on this site took place in New Forms. During the 2000s Greenbelt was a major showcase for creative worship and a place for practitioners from all over the world to get together.
However, major building works at Cheltenham racecourse from 2014 meant that it could no longer host the Festival, so Greenbelt moved to the grounds of Boughton House under canvas again. Creative worship does not currently form a major part of the festival programme.
Greenbelt website
Flickr groups: 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
