Why you should be at Greenpop’s Eden Festival of Action 2019.

Greenpop, my favourite tree planters, are to host their 8th annual Festival of Action on the Garden Route.

The 2019 Eden Festival of Action will be Greenpop’s 8th annual Festival of Action event. Hosted over three weeks from 22-29 June, 30 June -7 July and 7 July – 14 July 2019. They will host high school students over the first two weeks of the programme and adults in the third week. ​In 2018 they hosted the Festival of Action in the Garden Route for the first time and are returning to this beautiful space to continue the essential work in the area after the devastation of the 2017 fires.

This years event will be hosted at Wild Spirit Lodge, located near Plettenberg Bay in the heart of the Garden Route. ​The area is surrounded by the indigenous forests, pristine beaches and the mountains of the Tsitsikamma National Park. The location is a perfect place to take a break in nature and give back to the surrounding area which is still suffering after the wildfires that have recently ravaged the area.

Every June/July, the Greenpop Festival of Action brings people together from around the globe to learn, connect, give back and get active. Greenpop’s vision for attendees is to create a space for personal growth, personal sustainability and create an empowered regenerative community. They want to equip guests to become custodians of the natural world. This year they plan to plant over 4500 indigenous trees, participate in much needed alien clearing, paint environmental murals in collaboration with local communities and attend workshops on sustainability.

Greepop believes in getting active (not anxious) about the future of our planet.

They are on a mission to green communities with indigenous forest trees. Furthermore, the indigenous trees will allow for the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the area to be increased. They aim to immerse attendees in this week-long sustainability experience through their 8 pillars – Reforestation, Wellness, Plant-Based eating, Permaculture, Personal Growth, Connection, Arts and Creation as well as Sustainability.

The Eden Festival of Action 2019 will be an opportunity for people to get involved with the global community, connect with sustainability leaders and build crucial leadership skills, all while furthering their knowledge about the environment. The goal is to create a platform where current and future leaders can collaborate in searching for sustainable solutions together. Curating the programme for this year’s event will be Matthew Koehorst – ​Matthew of Six Kingdoms is eager to sink deep into the world of applied human ecology, working on projects that are close to our waste streams, increase our efficiency, and allow us to reconnect with the ecosystems of this planet.

The programme will include reforestation within the Garden Route, alien clearing, biomimicry, permaculture, natural building, eco-enterprise, environmental mural painting and beekeeping. Attendees will also have time for hikes, nature immersion, quiz nights, movie evenings under the stars, listening to live music and connecting with like-minded people. There will also be free time to enjoy the venue and a day to enjoy all the incredible activities and nature that the Garden Route has to offer.

Another aim is to make this event as inclusive and accessible as possible. We want anyone to be able to come and change their world and become an active citizen, no matter their background. Which is why, thanks to amazing support from ​Bitou Municipality, Knysna Municipality, Garden Route Initiative​ and CapeNature, Greenpop will offer scholarship spaces for low-income youth as well as some (still available) sponsored tickets that will be offered to the public through a competition they are hosting. As the world around us is changing faster than expected, Greenpop aims to provide the tools to grow with it. Greenpop’s festivals are centred around getting active (not anxious) about the future of our planet. With their world-class team of experienced facilitators and environmental experts curating the experience from start to finish. Attendees will stay in a tented village, fostering a new community throughout the week.

Every day you will have time to learn in our various eco-workshops, get active by planting trees, doing alien clearing or greening local communities. They also facilitate yoga and movement, creative sessions and upcycling and encourage unplugging, finding headspace and engaging with the natural environment. This year the United Nations General Assembly declared 2021 – 2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Studies say that restoration could remove up to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and that Ecosystem restoration is fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, mainly those on climate change, poverty eradication, food security, water and biodiversity conservation. They aim to plant over 4500 indigenous trees in the Garden Route at the 2019 Festival of Action.

The festival is a three-week programme with the first two weeks dedicated to high school students and the last week open to adults. Incorporating tree-planting, alien vegetation clearing, environmental workshops and talks, natural building, eco-art pieces and murals, and community work.