24 Hour Vigil For Grief ❖ 29-30 July 2023
24 hour Vigil For Grief
An open air, large scale, arts infused free event.
Mullumbimby Showground Fig Tree Grove
4pm July 29 - 4pm July 30 2023
Created to be like an Open Air Cathedral…
this event will feature a number of the artistic and cultural aspects found in Renew Fest, including
a continuous immersive soundscape,
live musicians,
local poets,
spoken word artists,
contemplative installation art,
and quiet communal spaces.
About the Vigil
The Vigil will be an opportunity to quietly contemplate personal and collective grief and all it brings to the fore to feel, to heal, to love and to cherish. Doing this together connects us in our humanity and to all that must be felt and acknowledged to move forward in healthy ways as a society.
It will be a place to connect to the deep love and care for the earth and all living beings, which is found within all grief, sadness and loss.
Given how warmly this Vigil was experienced in 2019, and how much people said they needed it and wished it could happen every year, we are excited to bring it back for our community here in Mullumbimby and for all who feel the call from across the Bundjalung Nation and beyond. Many people said the experience of the Vigil in 2019 was like a deep exhale and a feeling of something within each of us that was finally given the communal space, visibility, care and respect it needs. You can read more about what it was like for those who attended in our VIGIL FOR GRIEF 2019 - Communal Diary of Post-Event Reflections here.
We had intended hold this event again in 2022 but rescheduled it to now to focus last year on supporting the coordination of the vital community-led flood response and recovery for Mullumbimby and surrounding ridges and valleys. We wanted to also give space for the acute phase of trauma brought about by these floods in the Bundjalung region.
Before the floods came we had intended to be putting Renew Fest on again this year. However we are still in recovery from the massive response efforts that HHUG coordinated and the harrowing political onslaught and abuse of power that we found ourselves suffering behind the scenes, whilst running one of the biggest community-led response hubs in the region.
A Vigil for Grief is much more true to how we are feeling and to what our current capacity is after such an experience.
We look forward to this Vigil being an inclusive and healing experience for all.
Vigil offerings and extra key details
An Evocative
Contemplative
Open Air Cathedral
Vigil Space
For Grief. Love. The Earth. Humanity.
With
A Labyrinth to walk through
Fires to sit around
Alters to be reverent by
A Prayer Tree for your prayers
And
Continuous Immersive Soundscape, Live Musicians, Poets, Spoken Word Artists.
Not as performances but as offerings to imbue your internal landscapes and contemplations with deep care and connection.
Entry By Donation
Drug and Alcohol Free Event
Parking via the Chinbible Avenue entrance
We will be keeping vigil for the full 24 hours. You are most welcome to do this with us or pop in for a moment and stay for as long as you want, at anytime within this period that suits you.
What to bring
❖ Enough food and water for the duration of the time you plan to stay
❖ Everything you need to be cosy and warm
❖ Flowers for the Earth Mandala.
❖ A torch to get back to your vehicle if you come at night
❖ A camping chair or picnic blanket to sit on if you’d like. There will also be some hay bails to sit on.
Children are very welcome if they are able to be quiet and contemplative and held in the care of their guardians.
If you live outside the Bundjalung Nation and feel the call you are most welcome. The Mullumbimby Showground has a lovely campground for staying overnight. To make a booking go to https://www.mullumbimbyshowground.org.au/camping-info
Introducing Grief & Gratitude Circles - hosted by Ella Rose Goninan
This years Vigil for Grief will be accompanied by a free online series of focused Grief & Gratitude Circles throughout June & July.
We acknowledge the long tail journey of all the many and varied layers of stress and trauma that have come from the impacts of the 2022 floods, from personal to societal. We recognise that sharing your story to people interested to listen, is an integral part of the healing process. This series of online Grief & Gratitude Circles are to give participants an opportunity to share their stories… stories of grief, of loss, of terror, of hurt, of frustration, of relief, of gratitude, of care, of whatever is needing to be shared... to simply connect and be heard.
These circles will be held in the format of a listening circle. Listening circles are a simple world wide adopted format that offer people the opportunity in a safe space to have their feelings and thoughts heard. Circles like this can really help to engender empathy, mutual understanding and support among people in stressful times. It is as the name suggests simply a listening circle. Those who attend sit in a circle and pass a talking stick around and take turns sharing. We will create this circle and listening stick virtually. The one with the talking stick is the only one permitted to speak, and the only requirement when its your turn is that you simply speak of your own story, not comment on anyone else’s or respond to anyone else’s. And otherwise it is required that whatever is shared in the circle stays in the circle, meaning is not talked about outside of the circle to anyone.
If this is something you feel would be supportive for you and you would like to participate you are warmly welcome to attend.
Ella has chosen to host these circles online to support ease of attendance across the Bundjalung Nation.
Dates: 5th, 12th, 28th June and 3rd, 10th, 17th July
Venue: Zoom
Time: 5th, 12th June and 3rd, 10th July 6pm-8pm. 28th June 7pm-9pm. 17th July 10am-12pm
RSVP: Click here to participate in a circle. Booking is essential as numbers for each circle are limited to ensure maximum opportunity for attendees to share.
About the circle host
Ella is a proud single mother of a 24 year old daughter and she loves her daughter to the moon and back. She has been living in the Bundjalung region for 25 years and has been a resident of Mullumbimby, on Arakwal and Minjungbal Country for 15 years. She has Italian, German and English known heritage in her blood and she is a second generation Australian, born in Booderee Country and raised in Dharawal Country, south of Sydney. Ella pays her respect to her known and unknown ancestry and acknowledges that she is living on stolen land, that sovereignty has never been ceded, and that it always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
Ella has been immersed in community work over the last 10 years largely within COREM, First Light Mental Health Peer Support Network and Renew Fest. She played a significant leadership role in coordinating the vital community-led 2022 flood response and recovery for Mullumbimby and surrounding ridges and valleys. Ella is trained in Biodynamic Craniosacral, Dynamic Governance Fundamentals, Contemporary Dance and Japanese Sword Arts. She experienced an extreme mental health breakdown in 2013, which felt as an internal and external full system emergency. Her healing journey from this time is what has led to her dedication, over the last 10 years, to focusing her time and care on supporting the plight of full system wide and deep regenerative change. Participating in the Bentley Protectors Camp in 2014 and getting to witness and be inspired by how many of the long term incredible activists of this region go about creating great change, had a huge positive affect on her and called her spirit forward.
Ella sees herself as a student of life and is deeply interested in what it is to truly care.
Having facilitated many listening circles and many a meeting and gathering, circles like this are one of her favourite ways to connect. She am really looking forward to being in circle with those who attend and hearing participants flood stories and all that they feel to share from such a huge experience.
Kindly funded by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal
We extend our sincere gratitude to FRRR for funding both the Vigil for Grief and this series of Grief and Gratitude Circles and enabling these events to be free for all communities of all backgrounds in the Bundjalung Nation.
These offerings are designed to assist with collective healing & shared mental health support, to help acknowledge & process the many layers of grief, loss, trauma & fragmentation that has occurred in the wake of the Northern Rivers 2022 Flood Crisis. They are also thoughtfully designed to offer safe, welcoming, collective spaces to connect with grief & gratitude & to honour & give respect to all personal & collective grief of any kind.