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Our fabulous fairy founder Tash just returned from 2 weeks in Portugal at the world-famous BOOM festival and we couldn’t wait to find out all about it. Her experience sounded so wondrous that we’ve decided to share some of it with you so that you can feel even a small fraction of the magic. A brief BOOM breakdown: BOOM was started in 1997 on the banks of lake Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal, with one stage, a chill area and a few hundred people. Since these early days, it has grown into one of the world’s largest trance-formational festivals, providing 45 thousand people with a chance to awaken to the wonders of life, music, art, environment and community in a loving and conscious way. With 5 dance floors, chill out zones, yoga fields, eco-domes and countless other tents and activities, BOOM is a far cry from the regular fist-banging festivals we’re used to in South Africa. Without further ado here are some of Tash’s highlights: The consciousness of the people at the festival. (If a festival of 45 000 people can have this conscious aspect to it then every festival can do it). All festivals should use Boom as an example. Waking up early was essential to get into the eco-loo before the 7am stampedes. Brushing teeth with our bamboo toothbrushes and homemade toothpaste (soooo great to see so many other people with the same toothbrush and toothpaste as you – it’s just that kind of festival!). Going for a quick wake-up dip in the lake and then heading over to the community kitchen to make brekkie. Then we would head over to a talk at the Luminal Village which was an area of the party for sustainability, they had this massive eco-dome that had stores and organisations. We would listen to a talk or two and have We never really had to be anywhere at any certain time and quickly got into the flow of the Boomvibe and just flowing with whatever happened. One night Gabe and I found ourselves at a Midnight tantra workshop with the Italian version of George Clooney. You can paint that picture…. Haha There were just too many to go through each one but basically FOOD IS THE SOLUTION. From Veganism, being a conscious consumer, bees, farming and and and… Oh, and I went to a workshop on how to make your own House Detergents! This was my best! Gabe and I bought most of our food from the zero-waste store Maria Granel before we left for Boom. We took a lot of grains like quinoa, beans, couscous, oats and lentils. Then made brekkie, lunch and dinner at the community kitchen. Every camp had a kitchen area that had open fires that we could use. We had to forage for wood to make our own fires which was so much fun! We also ate out a few times, there were endless restaurants to choose from. Vegan burgers, gluten-free options, salads, smoothies and fresh juices galore. There weren’t as many vegan options as I was expecting, but it was cheaper to make your own food anyway. If we ran out of any essentials there was also a BOOM Bio Market – Vegan/Gluten Free Grocery Store where you can buy anything from Coconut Yoghurt to frozen Acai and organic veggies that the surrounding farmers would drop off every morning. The main difference between BOOM and other festivals is that BOOM actually celebrates waste and makes it fun! There’s a Garbage van that rides around the festival’s camping grounds with 2 girls and 2 guys with a loudspeaker singing “DAH DAH LOVE YOUR GARBAGE DAH DAH LOVE YOUR GARBAGE”. We were laughing and having fun with trash which is often seen as so disgusting and something we don’t want to look at. I think what really stood out to me about BOOM was the unbelievably beautiful community. Everyone was beyond friendly! From a random person offering you fruit or some water to strangers coming up to you and just giving you the biggest hug and loves. One day I left my solar mobile phone charger in the sun and it wasn’t at my tent when I got back. I got really stressed because I needed it to work while I was there, but then saw that it had been moved into the light as the sun had moved. Our neighbour had moved it for us, so sweet!!! BOOM is beyond incredible and I would honestly encourage everyone to experience it at least once in their lifetime. You meet people from all over the world and form lifelong connections and, flip, I have come back to work feeling like a completely different humanbooming with so much energy and inspiration to share with the Cape Town community. Love,
ONENESS | MUSIC | ARTS | ENVIRONMENT | LOVE
1. What was the main takeaway from BOOM for you?
2. What did your average day look like?
a very light lunch – a piece of fruit or veggies with hummus.
We would then go to a yoga or meditation class in the Beings Field; this was my favourite area of the whole festival where they had a vegan gluten-free cafe where I spent a lot of money on yummy zoodles with pesto and sundried tomatoes, cold turmeric lattes etc., you can just imagine I was in my element! Hammocks, massages and spas…. Okay Tash shut up!! Haha
3. What talks did you go to? What were some that really stood out?
4. What did you eat? Were you inspired? Disappointed? Were there lots of vegan options?
5. How did BOOM cater to zero-waste living?
They made trash cool and catchy and everyone sang along while they picked up recycling and then dropped if off at the many recycling depots. There was also a ‘consciousness checklist’ outside all of the stores showing how environmentally friendly they were, which made it really easy to make informed decisions.
6. Anything else that you’d like to add?
Tasha