HESFES
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HESFES (Home Educators' Seaside Festival) is the largest gathering of Home Educators in the world. Organised annually since 1998 by Andy Blewett, and his loyal HESFES Crew, the festival offers music, entertainment, crafts, life skills, technology, discussion, conferences and many other activities. HESFES is friendly and cooperative and most of the entertainment is family focused.
HESFES has grown from a small camp at Monkton Wylde farm, Charmouth, Dorset (1998, 1999) - advertised in the Education Otherwise newsletter December 1997 as an EO-By-The-Seaside-Weekend-Camp; moving onto a larger site at Manor Farm Charmouth, Dorset, (2000 - 2005)). Since 2006 HESFES has resided on Mersea Island, near Colchester. The festival has grown from around 50 families in 1998 to around 1500 families in 2006.
There is a focus on kids, but with a comfortable intermingling of all age-groups. At each HESFES there is the "Kids Cabaret" where any child can sign up to do a performance of their own making, either on their own or in a group. HESFES 2007 holds the record for the longest cabaret so far.
Most activities take place in marquees - a useful precaution given the unpredictability of English weather! The day is mostly composed of socialising, either in the camping fields or the beach, but with the option of doing various activities, eg. Circus skills, Weaving, Football, fabric painting, and music workshops. In the evening, live bands play in the main marquee, generally to riotus applause and dancing!
[edit] External links
- HESFES Web site
- The HesFes MySpace website
- HESFES pics on Flickr
- Lulie.org's Photos - photos from late 2003 onwards.
- Photos at Psand - photos, mostly of the satellite internet truck.
- Thin client information - Information about the LTSP setup used for the internet marquee.
