ConFest Site Visits - A View from the Past
From 1976 to the late
2002 ConFests were held on land that was leased typically from farmers. Some
sites were used once or twice before DTE – the organising cooperative
relocated. During these years DTE used to put on ConFest with little by way of
resources – 44 gallon drums (whole or cut in half), water pipe, water
filtering/purifying equipment, plumbing fittings, old tarps, old ropes, some
old signs, a large tin box of first aid supplies, and assorted tools. At first
glance our treasured resources may seem to some to be good only for sending to
the local tip. The fewness of resources aided in the shift to a new site. The
core group regularly did the site relocations and so we thought little of the task.
Relocating to a new site was what we regularly did. And we knew how to do it. A
few know how to evaluate a site as to its suitability for putting on a ConFest.
One person has looked at over 85 sites; another over 70 sites. A few know how
to negotiate with the land owner and how to negotiate a council permit.
Since 2002/3 DTE has
only used its own two properties, Bylands on Gulpa Creek South of Deniliquin
NSW and a property out of Moulamein NSW on the Edwards River.
From the early days
of pre-ConFest Festivals it was a common understanding that:
‘Evolving Community’ and ‘Learning How to Relate Well
Together’ were core themes of ConFest. And the best way they knew to evolve community and learn how to relate
well was during all of the preparatory work in putting on a ConFest.
Including:
o
Looking for and evaluating potential sites
o
Walking the sites to become familiar with them
o
Evolving the layout
o
Evolving the infrastructure
(This focus on social relating (rather than power) is a
core theme in New Social Movements
evolving in many parts of the World.)
Further evolving of
community occurred during pull down, clean up and pack up of the ConFest site.
Purposes of Site Visits
From the above experience
emerged the following primary purposes
of site visits:
1)
Evolving:
i.
Social relating between the core group
ii.
A very close caring nurturing DTE community
iii.
Understandings and experience about evolving community to
take into the wider world
iv.
Mutual help processes
v.
Ways to Engage well within self-organising systems
vi.
Abilities and Agency (can do) in our lives
vii.
Understanding between members
viii.New members and
friends of DTE and ConFest
ix.
Wider understandings and appreciating of how and why the DTE
community does things the way we do
x.
Enriching the processes of the Committees of the DTE Board
xi.
Providing scope for members and new potential members to
participate in the Primary Activity of the Cooperative – ‘Putting on ConFest’
2)
Exploring ways people can work together as
individuals and as collectivities. Also exploring group and crowd behaviour
during big groups of 50 plus was a constant theme. For example, an archival
file note called ‘Colindivism’ describes the interactive nature of collective
and individual behaviour in evolving the 1960s Festivals. In talking of
colindivism, the file note spoke of festival organising as a time and place
where some people acted as individuals. These people did their own thing,
though linked in with the various micro-networks. This linking of individuals
acting as individuals was called an 'indivity'. Linking of micro-networks was
called a 'collectivity'. A linking of an indivity and a collectivity in
cooperative activity was called a 'colindivity’ - a social form where
individuals following their individual action and interests work well with
groups of people who are following their collective passion and way, and each
aspect of this web of micro-networks and individuals was doing their own thing
in a loose self-organising kind of way. Collindivity is a particularly
Australian cultural phenomenon
3)
Learning about DTE and ConFest culture – our way of life
together and learning and appreciating our history
4)
Familiarising everyone present with the site as it is
constantly changing
5)
Embodying the site - having the site inside us so we can go
anywhere in our mind’s eye and appreciate subtle nuances, e.g. land topography
and where water will run and lie during and after rain and flood
6)
Being open to the site informing us what to do
7)
Having shared understandings of tentative possibilities as
the site changes
8)
Evolving tentative site layouts
9)
Having the layout emerging from our walking and talking
together
10)
Sharing with newer ones all of the aspects of ConFest and
how they may best be fostered in the emerging layout
11)
Increasing the quality of our listening and attending
competencies and evolving our communal and group processes and group process
facilitators
12)
Having an increasing understanding of everyone’s interests,
capabilities, limitations, whims, dysfunctionality, and the like, and learning
how to live, grow, transform and work together
13)
Having a shared knowing of our various transforming
competencies, roles and knowing
14)
Being guided by Dr
Jim Cairns comment that ‘social ideology is governed by contradictory altruism,
by guilt, and the
inability to experience work and action as a pleasure. This results in tendencies towards violence.’ All
of the previous purposes for going to the Site were to ensure that working and
action together on the Site was an absolute pleasure for the DTE Community, not
a burden for the few, or all done by one, heaven forbid, ‘site manager’
15)
As an opportunity to walk with
and sit with and listen to the DTE and ConFest elders, particularly those who
are the keepers of the Way and the holders of the way of the myriad bits contribute
to the magic happening. At the moment a few have the experience and they are
getting on in years; its well time to tap and spread their experience
16)
Having consensus emerge from all of the forgoing
17)
Working easily and well together
as a mode of evolving community as we layout, prepare, and pack up the site
with ease.
18)
All of the above supported by everyone on site camping close
together and sharing food and social and celebratory time together as an
evolving community; where people who have not done physical ‘work’ are not
excluded and where all of these 17 points are ‘work’.