Now into our 31st year of partnership, it’s hard to think of Greenbelt without Christian Aid. And this year, we’re excited to collaborate with them on a brand new venue for Greenbelt – No Fly Zone will connect us with the world without costing the earth.
Together with Christian Aid, we wanted to build a venue to showcase artistry, activism and belief from around the world, to connect with our global village without flying folks to the field. No Fly Zone will be a brand new venue with brilliant AV and reliable broadband so that guests from other countries can join those on stage at the festival, and so that we, in turn, can be present to those who cannot join us in the field.
Each day, Christian Aid will focus on three different aspects of their work – racial justice, economic justice and climate justice – with a mix of provocation, education and inspiration. We’ll also screen some wonderful films in the venue, too – including Tinderbox, After the Flood, I Am Somebody and Song of the Prophets.
No Fly Zone will be a space at the heart of the festival, held open, like a buffer; a space in which we can think and see and then act differently. No Fly Zone is where we will listen to see that another world is still possible – and where, like Arundhati Roy, we might even hear her breathing.
The sort of issues addressed, in panel conversations and through film, will be the church and reparations, the legacy of Make Poverty History (almost 20 years on), the role that faith communities can play in the fight against climate change – and many, many more.
There will also be live, remote contributions from key theologians and leaders from around the world, including Aboriginal Brooke Prentis, American Franciscan Richard Rohr, and Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate.
Each day the venue will begin with Prayers for the World, led by the Iona Community. Other highlights will include a live-link to drama students in Bethlehem in the West Bank and a daily round-up show, which we will also livestream out from Greenbelt, hosted by Azariah France-Williams and friends.
The venue will close with a ‘Requiem’ curated by Amos Trust, featuring the Palestinian musicians, artists and speakers at the festival and providing a space for Greenbelters to respond to the horror that has unfolded in Israel and Gaza since we last hosted the festival.