Create your own green festival at home for WOMAD at Home 2020

We’re really proud of our partnership with WOMAD. Since 2013, we’ve been running Green Britain Debates chaired by Jon Snow, rustled up some delicious – and planet saving – vegan food on the Taste the World stage, and met a huge number of amazing, like-minded people who want to do something to fight the climate crisis.

WOMAD at Home is a chance to enjoy music and culture from all around the world, so to make the most of it, we’ve gathered together our top tips for recreating that WOMAD vibe at home, put together a must-see list of performances for the weekend and thrown in a few suggestions for festival fashion.

Enjoy the weekend!

2. Planning = fun! WOMAD at Home will be providing the music, along with a few other goodies, but festivals are about more than sounds – they’re about the whole experience. So, depending on how much space you have, set out the face paints, the outdoor games, the slackline and the juggling balls, and whatever else you can find, and let loose your inner child. For extra festival points, put each one in a specific area of your space to add a bit of novelty.

3. The dark is your friend. By day, a fun and colourful home festival. By night, a breath-taking sea of glittering lights. Plump for solar lights that won’t need batteries or charging so you can see what you’re doing, then add a touch of magic with fairy lights on just about everything. Make sure they’re LED lights so they’re more energy efficient – they’ll give you the same ambience as a campfire but without the smelly smoke and carbon release into the atmosphere.

4. Time for a tipi. Whether you’re indoors or out, you need somewhere to chill out and enjoy the performances from WOMAD at Home. We’re going out on a limb here but we think no festival is really complete without a tipi. You can buy some beautiful ones for the garden but if you’re handy, why not make a small one with a few poles and some fabric… Make sure you’re got blankets and sleeping bags to spread out (it’ll get chilly later) and plenty of pillows, cushions and throws to make it into the kind of luxurious festival space you’ve always wanted.

5. Party all night (or until it’s your bedtime). It’s your festival, so you make the rules – but when you’re at home and not in the middle of the countryside, how can you fire up the festival spirit without torching your relationship with your neighbours? Our top tip – unless you can get them to join you! – is to put on a silent disco. They’re a festival favourite and will make sure you spend your time enjoying the music and not answering the door every five minutes.

6. Decorate your space. Festivals are colourful, vibrant and not afraid to overdo things more than a little! So get out the sustainable decorations and go to town on your garden, terrace or inside rooms. Use ribbons, paper streamers or daisy chains to give it that WOMAD vibe – and a bit of homemade pop-up art definitely adds a certain something.

7. And decorate yourself! We’re going to talk about festival fashion a bit later but this is about unfashion. Get out the dressing up box, those hats you never wear, the stripy waistcoats, those weird belts that haven’t come out of the drawer in the past five years and have some fun. Don’t forget the glitter – festivals basically run on the sparkly stuff – but make sure it’s sustainable and biodegradable. Check out Eco Glitter Fun for inspiration.

8. Stretch out… Ah, the ultimate festival indulgence – lying in a hammock in a dappled wood listening to an artist you’ve never heard of knocking out some great tunes. You might not have a dappled wood to hand but you’ve got the tunes, courtesy of WOMAD at Home and putting up a hammock is five minutes spent that’ll pay you back a thousand times over in snoozes.

9. Enjoy new food. We’ve got to be honest, we love festival food. All that choice, all those sizzling flavours just crying out to be tried. Ditch your usual fodder and be creative with plant based food. There are loads of recipes to try – and don’t miss the WOMAD Taste the World stage at the weekend – but we think the trick with festival grub is to go big on flavours and combinations. After the travails of the past few months, this is a time for indulgence and fun.

10. Make a photo booth. Photo booths are a great excuse to take ridiculous selfies and… well, actually that’s reason enough. Make your own with an old cardboard, the wonkier the better, and decorate it to the max with festival spirit (don’t forget the props). Let the selfie-taking commence!