Not heard of Yestival?  Nor had I until my friend went a couple of years ago.  He camped in a field in late October and listened to other people’s stories about their adventures and absolutely loved it.  At the time, I smiled and nodded as he told me about it, but decided it was not really my thing.  I’m not really into hugs with strangers, or talking to new people, or hearing stories about what other people have achieved so I can feel that I haven’t achieved enough.  Plus it’s in October, and who wants to camp in England in October!? 

I forgot about it until my friend asked me to go with him in 2018.  He was adamant that I’d have a good time so in the end I said ‘Yes’ to Yestival.  I booked a last minute ticket and turned up in a field of strangers alone in the dark on a chilly Friday evening (my friend could not make it until the Saturday) wondering what I was doing there. 

Spoiler – I actually had an truly amazing weekend – it far exceeded my expectations!

What possessed me to go? 

I think it had something to do with the Say Yes More ‘movement’.  I’d heard of this and had been making small steps to embrace the idea, like jumping in a swimming pool at a wedding fully clothed and sober.  I was stood on the side totally overthinking it like normal, and then decided to say yes, as I knew I wanted to be in there with everyone else and not missing out!

So far I’ve done a few things that I would never have done before, and I’ve not regretted doing any of them, which is making me braver and more willing to say yes the next time.  So it’s snowballing.  I can definitely say that #sayyesmore has improved my life and given me more experiences.

It turns out Yestival is the festival created by the man who started the whole Say Yes More thing.

Yestival is also the first UK Festival to be single use plastic free, so it gets major kudos from me for that.  Having been to the likes of Glastonbury and Download where the floor is strewn with plastic cups and polystyrene at the end of the day this was a very welcome change.

We are also planning to travel and I was sure that there would be people with some useful info about travelling if I could be brave enough to talk to them.  So I said yes.

o what is Yestival?

It’s a small festival (about 500 people in 2018) in a field in Sussex with a couple of larger tents full of hay bales, cushions and sofas, a camping area and a BIG firepit.  Pretty simple, and that’s part of the joy.  It was created a few years ago by Dave Cornthwaite as a way of getting his #sayyesmore followers together, meeting and sharing stories, and it’s grown from there.

The ticket price was £160.  I thought this was quite steep before I went and it very nearly put me off going at all.  At least the price includes all your meals and entertainment for the weekend so it’s an all in price.  Except for a few additional snacks if you need them or haven’t brought them and a decent coffee (or hot chocolate in my case). 

The food was amazing – huge portions of warming and wholesome food.  I went veggie the whole weekend as the veggie options were so amazing. 

Now that I’ve been I will not be pulling a face at paying that again – for me the weekend was totally worth it.

What’s it like to be at Yestival?  What did we actually do there?

In one word awesome – (what can I say – I’m a total convert!).  Friday night we were all in the main tent.  I didn’t know anyone (apart from the lovely chap who gave me a lift there 😊) so after getting a super helping of dinner I sat down next to the lovely Ann who was also there alone.  After swapping names and quick intros we were treated to a lovely evening of stories from some pretty inspiring people.  There was a para-olympian and a man who had walked from Munich to be here.  And we were treated to comedy and given the opportunity to share our own stories (totally optional).

Saturday morning I said ‘yes’ and got up just after 7 to join Project Awesome for a workout (yoga, a silent disco or staying in bed until breakfast were other options – I was just feeling keen).  It was hard but great and I felt I’d earned a double breakfast afterwards (managed to secure seconds #winning). 

The talks start with the four or so speakers doing a quick 30 second pitch to the crowd so you can choose which one to listen to.  I enjoyed the talks more than I expected –  these weren’t people standing up to brag about their achievements, the stories were meant to inspire and show you that anyone can do these things if they want.  And the talks weren’t just about the massive adventures like hiking Everest (although someone had!), but also about working with charities, micro-adventures like camping in your garden, overcoming mental health issues and disability.  There are three of four rounds of these with some lunch midway so you can be entertained pretty much all day.

Saturday evening saw us back in the main tent for more inspirational stories, laughter and some dancing. 

Sunday morning followed the same theme before a round up in the big tent.  What Dave wants is for you to go away with some motivation, inspiration and new friends so you can start your micro or macro adventure. 

The rest of the time I spent trying to talk to as many different people as possible, which was actually pretty easy as there were a lot of people on their own and everyone I spoke to and each group I approached were very happy to chat.

What did I learn from Yestival?

That the world is a kind, welcoming place in general – it was lovely to hear so many different stories about the generosity of people around the world, in all continents.

That any size of adventure is equally valid – for some getting out for a hike is the equivalent of kayaking the length of the Thames.  Everyone can make their life more memorable is the message, and there’s a whole field of people here who are willing to help you take the first step or brainstorm ideas 😊. 

What did I love most about Yestival?

As someone who’s normally pretty stressed out and never has time for me, I felt incredibly relaxed all weekend.  And very safe.  I don’t like crowds at all, but it’s a pretty amazing feeling to be surrounded by hundreds of like-minded people who are all feeling positive, and seem genuinely nice.  I missed that after I left and am very much looking forwards to my next dose.

Interestingly there was a general theme of mental health issues, illness or grief throughout.  I guess that it often takes something like that to make you realise that you need to make a change – that’s certainly how it was for me. 

Has Yestival inspired me?

Absolutely.  We were already planning to take the family travelling, but that has been thoroughly reinforced.  I feel so comforted by the amount of people I spoke to over the weekend who have shared stories of the kindness and generosity shown by the people they met around the world.  It’s made me feel safer and like our goal to get involved with local cultures is achievable if we open ourselves up to it.  It’s possible that if you’re willing to ask for help people will generally try to give it, which is a change in mindset for me.  I was expecting everyone to try and take us for a ride.

But I also want to do more before we go.  Everything for my family has been like we’re waiting until we go travelling before we’ll start our adventure.  But there’s time for so many micro adventures in between – we just need to change our mindset!  A lovely idea from a fellow mum at Yestival was for us all to write some micro-adventures down and include them in our advent calendars this year.  Then you do them the following year – lots of family fun.

Should you go?

If you’re someone who wants to get a bit more from life, who’s feeling lonely, or stuck and needs a bit of help to making life meaningful again, you will find the Yes Tribe to be a wholly welcoming, helpful and interesting bunch.  Join your local ‘tribe’ and try them out for yourself.  Or just try saying yes more (to yourself as much as others) and try new things, put yourself out there and enjoying new experiences.  After all you only get one life…

 #SAYYESMORE

Oh, and you should absolutely come to Yestival 2020 as I’m planning to get my family up on stage and share our travel experiences and learnings with everyone! (if it’s still on and coronavirus has left us alone that is…)