On the 22nd to 24th July, almost 500 women and children from across the UK had their first experience of a women’s only festival held at Chetwynd Deer Park in Shropshire.
The festival was organised by Melissa and Emma, cofounders of the Wild Wanderers (and two of the loveliest, inspiring people you could want to meet) who host free events and activities for solo travellers, groups and those looking to travel with likeminded women in a safe and inclusive community.
In advance of this years festival, the founders said:
We created this community to unite women and help organise free events and meets from walks, wildswimming, wildcamping, mountaineering and many more. We met through social media on a wild camping group and had a small group of girls who would get together and do wild camps, hikes, wild swimming and lots of other outdoor activities. After a trip to Scotland and posting our adventures on social media platforms we had many women ask where they could find adventure friends. We decided that many more women may benefit from having a women only community in this male dominated hobby and that’s when the Wild Wanderers began.”
The event was ran in collaboration with a host of entertainers and live music:
- Rosie Riot
Wellness activities from happy yoga wales and other lovely instructors, food trucks, educational stands and outdoor brands including a representative from Vivo Barefoot (and Ryde - thank you to everyone for the support 😊). Oh and a broad range of solo adventurers, groups and families attended the weekend and left as a friends with a ton of great memories.
Melissa and Emma commented:
We wanted to put on a festival so that a high volume of people could have their first taste of a festival with wellness activities in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. We love the fact that people feel confident to come on their own, knowing that our team of organisers, volunteers and community will help them feel comfortable and safe.”
Best of all? The event hosts at Chetwynd Deer Park stated:
"It was like you hadn’t even been there."
There were no designated litter pickers, a handful of bins and not one piece of rubbish was left.
An incredible display of ‘leave no trace’ for an event that was 500 people hundred strong.
This post is both a shout out to a memorable event and a celebration of women coming together to support other women. Melissa and Emma have created an amazing community and we couldn't be happier to be a part of the journey.
Next year the festival will be back bigger and better than ever.
See you there 🫶
