Wild Medicine Festival is ‘shore’ to heal
This year’s Wild Medicine Festival on the shores of Loch Fyne and Tarbert’s West Loch is back bigger and even better.
It all starts today (Friday April 12), and runs through until late afternoon on Sunday (April 14).
Organisers following the success of their first festival in the village are spreading events and activities across three different zones.
Tarbert Holiday Park, out by West Loch Shores, is being turned into a base for the Wild Medicine Village, and there will be things to do and see in the Marina Marquee as well as family activities at The Gather.
The programme is packed with inspirational talks, interactive workshops, classes, and outdoor experiences, plus evening entertainment today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) night in the West Loch Marquee.
There will also be an entire squad of Scotland’s Wim Hof Method instructors there for the entire weekend, delivering fundamentals workshops as well as co-hosting The Big Breathe on Sunday.
The festival, now in its second year, is “one-of-a-kind” say organisers, celebrating wild medicine in all its forms from the food people eat to the way they move and dance. The community, the craic and the ceilidh just about sums up the three-day experience.
Not all sessions need to be booked in advance. Activities are not confined to the land either, as part of this year’s programme Kayak Majik are offering paddlesports taster sessions to give festival-goers the opportunity to get out on the water at West Loch. Spaces are limited, so you do need to book for this.
Founder of Heal Scotland, Lilia Sinclair will be at the West Loch Marquee at 1pm tomorrow to kick the festival off with a high-energy welcome, getting festival-goers fired up for the big weekend.
Breathwork and sound baths, meditations, a fermentation workshop, guided forest bathing and belly dancing for fitness are just some of what will be on offer, there is even a session on how to green clean your home.
Children’s fun will be plentiful, too, plus there is evening entertainment from storytelling to live music and disco sounds.
Lilia said: “We’re really excited about this year’s festival, it’s going to be bigger and better. We’ve got three zones instead of just two. We have a great new family area at The Gather where under 18s with adults can get in free. We’re hoping this means parents who can’t find baby or dog sitters can still come along and enjoy themselves, relax and meet others. We’ve also got the brilliantly entertaining Funky Chicken who will be doing face painting.
“We’ve sold about 100 weekend tickets so far, people can still book other sessions on the website. The idea is that we can give people a mini-retreat experience. Tarbert is a stunning village, it’s an ideal spot. We’re also hoping to get as many people as possible to come along to the Big Beach Breathe on the Sunday.”
All profits from the events go directly to Heal Scotland, a registered charity committed to providing resources and events that educate, inspire, and support people on their way to greater health and happiness. Proceeds from the festival will help create Heal Scotland’s first ever pop-up healing centre.
If you already have plans for this weekend, organisers have another fun-filled weekend celebrating Scotland’s wild medicine in all its forms at Broadford on Skye from Friday to Sunday, April 26-28.
Go to https://healscotland. eventcalendarapp.com/.