Come and spend Findhorn’s 64th birthday with us
When we're 64: A Living Story: 14 to 21 November
written by Mathijs Mulder-Barge
On the 17th of November the Ecovillage Findhorn Community turns 64. Every year around that date local and global community members come together for a few days: there is a play, there is cake, there is a ceilidh, and a lot of people who have known each other for decades celebrate together. It is one of our favourite weeks of the year, and this time we would like you to be part of it.
We are inviting you to join us for our birthday week in the Ecovillage Findhorn Community. You would live here, join our rhythms, and alongside that spend your mornings on your own creative project, with the people and the archives of this place to use for your inspiration.
What the week is like
You don’t need to know Findhorn, and you don’t need to have done Experience Week. You arrive on the Saturday afternoon, meet the people you’ll spend the week with, and from Sunday morning you are held by the programme.
The rhythm is simple. A short meditation in the Light of Findhorn Sanctuary at half past eight. Before each session and each meal, a few minutes of stillness together, which we call an attunement. Singing, time in the garden, meals cooked for you. And each afternoon some time for yourself, to walk in the dunes or along the bay, have a nap, write in your journal.
What we hear from people who come, over and over, is that the group is an important part of their stay. You arrive with strangers and go home with connections that last beyond the week.
The birthday celebrations
On the 17th of November the community celebrates the day in 1962 when Eileen and Peter Caddy and their friend Dorothy Maclean parked their caravan on this bit of coast. Together with your group you’ll join the birthday festivities: Jonathan’s Birthday Play on the Sunday, cake and bubbly in the Universal Hall foyer on the Tuesday, Joachim and Barbara’s Colours of Homecoming concert on the Thursday, and the ceilidh on the Wednesday, which is Scottish country dancing with live traditional music and a caller who shows you the steps. (Nobody has ever needed to know the steps to join in and have fun!)
The evenings are good ways to meet the community: Inspiring conversations, a lot of fun, and a sense of what it is like to live in the Ecovillage.
Bring a question
This is the part we are most excited about.
Alongside the celebrations, we are inviting you to bring something you are curious about or working through, and to spend the mornings on it with help from the people who live here. It could be research: how the garden actually worked in the early years, what happened in the 1980s, who built the Universal Hall and how. It could be personal: you are between two chapters of your life and want to sit with people who went through many changes, or you might be curious about how to apply our core practices in daily life. It could be both.
If you don’t have a question yet, come anyway. It will become clear once you arrive.
In the mornings you sit with the people best placed to help. People who were here in the sixties and remember the caravans. People who ran the garden for many years. Cornelia who looks after the Findhorn Foundation archives, which hold photographs, writings, newsletters and recordings going back to 1962, and which are not usually open to anyone. You get to go in. The focalisers will help you with interviewing and writing, and there is a writing tutorial on the Monday so you have the tools before you need them.
By Friday you shape what you have found into something small: a few pages, a recording, a drawing, a letter to someone. It can be just for you, or it can be your gift back to the story of this place. On the Saturday morning you share it with your group, and then you close the week together.
Hear from our focalisers Cornelia and Laura
Our wonderful focalisers Cornelia Featherstone and Laura Pasetti tell you a bit more about ‘When we’re 64: A Living Story’ in the videos below.
“Dig into our story and find your personal story in the collective story. Intertwine past, present and future in this week full of creativity.” - Laura Pasetti
“Look behind the scenes and find out the things that you’ve always wanted to know about our community from way back, the last five years or the last five days.” - Cornelia Featherstone
Frequently asked questions
Where you stay. The Guest Lodge, a single-storey building with a living roof at the centre of the Park, a short walk from the Sanctuary, the Universal Hall and the Phoenix Café, and ten minutes on foot from the beach. Eight bedrooms share a kitchen, dining area and living room, with three bathrooms including an accessible walk-in shower. Linen, towels and WiFi included. Most rooms are shared with one other person; a single room is available for a supplement, subject to availability.
Getting here. Fly to Inverness and Findhorn is about half an hour by car. Trains run to Forres, ten minutes from the Park, from Inverness and Aberdeen.
The weather. Cooler and darker than you might expect, though the Moray coast is one of the drier parts of Scotland. Daytime temperatures of around 5 to 9 degrees, sunrise near 7.45am, sunset near 4pm, and a mix of bright still days and some wind and rain. Bring layers, waterproofs, warm boots and something comfortable for the sanctuary.
Food. Vegetarian, seasonal and local where possible. Breakfast is provided; lunch and dinner are catered. Gluten free, dairy free and vegan are easily accommodated. For anything more specific, tell us when you book.
Price. Three tiers: Supported £945, Sustaining £1,045, Regenerative £1,145. Choose the level that fits your circumstances; those who pay more make it possible for others to pay less. The price covers accommodation, all meals, the programme and the celebrations. Travel and any nights before or after are not included.
Financial support. If the price is a barrier, email bookings@findhorn.org about our Financial Support Fund. We have a limited number of supported places and would rather have the conversation than have you stay away.
Staying longer. You can arrive early or stay on afterwards by booking with our partners at Ecovillage Findhorn CBS.
