The Kind Kitchen

Come join our Kind Kitchen team as we prepare and serve food to feed us all during our Solstice Celebrations! We are an outdoor volunteer-run vegan kitchen, supplied by your donations. Please bring 30$ of food donations to stock our pantries. Visit the Kitchen page for a list of suggested items to bring.

Come join our team! Prep artists are in high demand, chopping and washing! Didn't get into the play list, we'll let you spin some dishes, we'll give a 2 hour set even, as our resident Dish Jockey. There's Compost Managing to do and organizing Donations. Not to mention some real keen General Organizers to step in and make sense of everything.

We also need people to take leads on different parts of the kitchen. Maybe you're even ready to take on a Meal Coordination. It's a big job, but there's lots of council and help. If you would like to lead a meal or take on a bigger responsibility in the kitchen, let us know ahead of time. Send us an email at kitchen@omreunionproject.org.

Go to Kitchen page...

WORKSHOPS

Every year Om Reunion Project encourages its members to take action in facilitating, leading, expressing, and exploring their skills and trades in the form of workshops. The term workshop can seem class structured, or teacher led, but here at Solstice we like to think of these workshops more as topic specific gatherings with facilitators aimed to generate sharing, exploring, discovery, brainstorming, and expanding consciousness. Consider hosting one yourself!

We are committed to providing a dry, comfortablly floor-matted and powered workshop dome for your use, and hopefully can accomodate any additional tools needed. The workshop dome will have a mic with mini pa system, access to a projector, and speakers. The workshop dome will be in a great central location, conducive to learning, group discussions, and film projection. Feel free to pop-in and check-out what awareness brewing is happening!

The workshop elves want members to feel comfortably inclined to pARTicipate and have considered deeply what would nourish the consciousness exchange during workshops. There are numerous places a workshop may be held:: the workshop dOMe, the field, art tent, at CALM, or wherever you feel inclined to meet! No need to be shy! Lots of room for workshops everywhere!

Last but not least, workshops and videos are welcomed to be added at any time during the Solstice festival on the workshop board! Keep checking the board for updates and all the various workshops offered. If help is needed, you can locate or leave a note for the workshop coordinator elf at the workshop dome.

Check out the details of each workshop and the member(s) facilitating it at schedule and descriptions.

For any other questions, comments, or edits, email the elves at workshops@omreunionproject.org

Art Department

The Art Department is responsible for Art at the Solstice Gathering. Connect with us for all things regarding Art Installations, Art Tent, Art Grants, Art Gallery, pre-festival Art Jams. The Art Crew makes this all happen!

Art is a powerful force of communication and connection in our community. There are so many ways we can connect with art.

The Art Department meets and works before the Solstice gathering begins. Get involved at the Art Jams.

On-site we help artist members with setup of their installations. We offer grants to help members make their visions come to life. We also build, setup and maintain the Art Tent.

Go to the Art Department page.

Email Art@omreunionproject.org

Stage Volunteers

We are seeking people with building and deco skills! Volunteering at the stages is a lot of fun and a lot of creative work! We need skilled people to help with building dancefloors, DJ and VJ booths, building and assembling projection screens, putting up heavy-duty tarps, running cables, mounting projectors, helping with deco, making signs, painting stuff, putting up lighting and fabrics and making the place look awesome! Also if you have ideas for installations or pieces of art you would like to create/bring etc... please get in touch asap and let us know your ideas skills and talents and we will try to find a way to wave your magic into the web... stages@omreunionproject.org

Long Crew

Ever wondered what it takes to create a festival? A lot of love, hard work, sweat, co-operation, and fun! We are looking for dedicated members to join LONG CREW. We think its one of the best summer experiences you’ll ever have. Rewarding in ways you wouldn’t imagine, and challenging in ways you can!

We are looking for capable, strong [body and mind!], motivated, creative, dedicated members to come on board with long crew. Do you have mad skills or tools to share? Do you have eagerness to co-create and work with others? Do you take pride in a hard job done well? But really, do YOU have what it takes to build a safe, fun land for us to play in?! Complete our long crew questionaire to get involved.

Go to Long Crew page for more info

Logistics

Logistics is the gatherings literal backbone; Logistics tasks can be very physically demanding. You'll be expected to be capable of lifting heavy materials in a safe way, sustained physical labour, and (hopefully!) a positive, helpful attitude. Keen attention to detail is required for precise construction, ALL structures must be functional and safe. We’re sure you'll be learning useful new skills!

Theme Camps

::SOLSTICE::THEME CAMPS ::

We all want to camp with our friends and to have a great time. So why not come together and create a Solstice Theme Camp?!? Theme camps are a great way to interact with your fellow Solstice forest frolickers. Throughout the land, each theme camp is an oasis of creativity just waiting to be explored, experienced and shared!

To create a theme camp of your own, all you need is a willing group of friends to make a welcoming space that is both ::interactive:: and a ::welcoming atmosphere for all Solstice members::. This can be as simple as sharing a place to hang out (hammock camp!!), to play, or learn (Circus camp) or to dress up or share yummy stuff with your neighbours (Amazing Fruit tree camp!) The limit is only your imaginations! It is an wonderful and authentic way to meet your neighbours, engage newbies and make new friends!

As our members are aware that gifting, not vending is one of our principal guidelines; to help defer the costs of sharing of yourself through theme camp participation, we have a few small grants available this year. To register your Theme camp, have it listed in our Gathering Guide, and or to apply for a grant, fill out our online form here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HFy8GoDX0zG2HRQZ6T54792ymJ7uzQbfkbeNwcPRBHk/viewform?usp=send_form

Get started on making your dreams into reality!

Please send any questions to themecamps@omreunionproject.org We can’t wait to hear from you!!!

2014 THEME CAMPS and INSTALLATIONS

::The Cozy Cactus Camp::

Aint nothin prickly about this place! It's a comfy, cuddly, cushy, easy, restful, snug as a bug in a rug, snuggled down, tucked up, little reprieve along the way. We offer you a warm, inviting, FUN and most of all COZY space for participants to visit, play in, explore conversation, and meet new people! ALSO: we are home to the only native cactus on the land. This year we bring you a very omie photo booth!!

::Magic: The Gathering theme camp::

Angels, wizards, vampires, dragons, and elves will be battling in their greatest numbers yet among the trees this year. We are providing a space to play Magic: The Gathering with tables and chairs under a 10' x10' shelter. There is seating for up to 12 players. Large cloth banners depicting the 5 colours of Magic will adorn the shelter. Every day at 2pm there will be two events: Pentagram and Cube Draft. Decks, tokens and life counters will be provided. Otherwise throughout the week people are encouraged to use our space to play with their own decks or borrow one from our collection. Free starter decks will be given to anyone wanting to learn the game. Drop by and play!

::Cat Camp!::

Where is all that purrrrrrring coming from? Follow the sounds of the meows, to find all your furry friends at Cat Camp! Join us at our campsite, or just come and mingle with the kittens, Meerkats, jungle cats, witches, mermaids, elves faeries and friends! All are welcome to enjoy our multiple plounge campsite including yarn ball deco, a tree plounge (for all you fiercely fearless felines...), installations, scratching posts, cat ear and tail making and more! Just don't forget to use the litter boxes because Leave No Trace! ~Blessed be~Prrrrrrr meow!

::The Horizom Portal and Tribe Culture theme camp::

Travelling together from festival to festival, we will explore the cultural dimensions that are emerging from behind transformational gatherings.

At each gathering we will share discussion and present the mission and goals of TribeCulture, our new magazine, and the Horizom Portal our social networking site.

Everyday activities at the camp include : workshops, classes and talks on various subjects such as: Yoga, acro-yoga, meditation, sacred singing, essential oils, medicinal and shamanic herbs, sustainable gathering and travelling etc..

Come and find us! <3

::BiOM::

The biodiversity themed camp is back for its third year at Solstice, as we begin what the UN has declared the Decade of Biodiversity. As the first stop on your journey closer to nature, BiOMe offers tons of information, activities, and workshops at OM to help raise awareness and share the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for humans to be caretakers of the world rather than just takers.

::Glam Camp::

Since 2005, Glam Camp has been a space for exchanging costumes and whimsically adorning ourselves for the glorious days and nights we share at solstice. (Donations of extra fun clothing and accessories very welcome this year.) Glam camp is also a space to do your hair, polish your nails, dust on some sparkle and mend/adjust/rework an outfit. We have ribbons, lace, jewels, fun fur, etc to make accessories or put accents on existing garments. Bring other supplies to complement our craftiness or just bring you. XO

::Ayatana Guided Meditation Cushion::

A sign along the path will invite anyone to sit on the cushion and to clear their minds. The meditations will introduce mindfulness, to find oneself in the present, to cleanse the mind of clutter and to fill the self with love and warmth. I'd like to offer a private, quiet experience to people in a semi public setting. A mosquito net will create a barrier around the meditator to reduce interruptions but will allow others to see the meditator and hopefully create interest, curiosity and conversation about mindfulness and meditation practice.

::OM PHOTOBOOTH::

The Photobooth will provide free photos of members. Digital images will be emailed to the subjects. Charged with solar power, the Om photobooth is more of an experience than an installation. Come find Kevin and have your portrait taken!

::TORONTO SEED LIBRARY::

Started as a grassroots movement to decommodify food and put power back into the hands of the people, the Toronto Seed Library has expanded significantly since 2012 The travelling branch appears at a variety of events and festivals. Seed libraries work much like conventional public libraries, but focus instead on lending organic, native, heirloom and open pollinated seeds. People visit the library to borrow and return seeds, meet other gardeners, and attend classes. People then plant the seeds in their gardens, raise the plant, let a bit of it go to seed and bring some of those mature seeds back to the library so that the collection continues to grow. For more info, please visitwww.torontoseedlibrary.org or come find us.

Where kids can be as rowdy as the parents!

KIDS UNDER 10 ARE FREE AND WILL BE COVERED UNDER THE PARENTS MEMBERSHIP

This year's Family Area is going to be bigger, more developed and even more fun! Our vision is to have a children's area that will be outfitted with kybos, snack shack, forested and sunny play areas, rain resistant play area and nap zone. This whole area will be superdupervised by Parents on Duty (pod people) between 10 am – 4 pm each day.

Now we need our family and friends to volunteer and make this mega wonderland vision a brilliant reality.
Who wants to lead a kiddie workshop? You could make balloon animals, paint faces, tell a story, make bubbles, set up a play, circus, volunteer as/with a pod person ... the possibilities are endless! As well, we are making a call-out for materials to be used in the area (bins, door type bits of wood for tables, milk crates, toys, tarps, carpets, pillows, crafts etc). Let us know what ya got and we can figure out how to get it to the forest. For more practical news, please remember to bring a food donation for the snack shack in addition to your kitchen donation andbring a walkie talkie type device if your child is of the age where being far away is likely to occur.

We are currently drafting a parental safety guide. Parents will be asked to have their family picture taken (with a poloriod film camera) and a few new safety guidelines will be outlined in waiver at the gate.
All family members are encouraged to participate in these new developments. To get in on the drawing board with family activities, stuff donations, volunteering or safety guidelines, please family@omreunionproject.org

Health and Safety:

Promoting the Well-being of the Community

As a community, we are responsible for our collective well-being. Getting enough rest, accessing emotional support from friends, keeping well hydrated, partying responsibly, taking the medications we need to take, swimming with a buddy, eating regularly and protecting ourselves from the sun are all things we can do to protect our health and well-being. Don’t forget to use proper knife technique in the kitchen to avoid cuts (see the kitchen posters to learn how) and don’t touch the stove in the hot tub (it will burn you, even under water). Consider coming to a women’s or a men’s circle, attending a health-related workshop or yoga class or going to CALM for a massage or other body treatment.

We>I. We are all in the forest together and it takes everyone to create an environment that’s physically and emotionally safe and welcoming. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your friends and check in with your camp mates throughout the week.

Health & Safety

Health and Safety’s goal is to keep everyone safe, healthy and happy at the gathering. We offer nonjudgmental care and support around the clock all week.

In need of self-serve first aid supplies or basic medications?

Come visit the Health & Safety tent near the kitchen. There you’ll find self-serve bandages, wound cleaning and basic over-the-counter medications. We also have ear plugs for hearing protection, condoms and harm-reduction supplies. Please fill out the log book. We love to hear from you!

Having a health issue?

Visit the Emergency Medical Responders (EMRs) Wednesday to Sunday. Adam and the crew have us covered around the clock! Look for the smiling paramedics, nurses and other health professionals at EMR station by the front gate. Need some medical advice? Some first aid? Directions to the local walk-in clinic or hospital? Delicious homemade carrot cake? Look no further than the amazing EMRs!

Concerned about someone or something?

You can contact the Coordination Team on-site around the clock using the walkie-talkie “phone booths” located at the Health & Safety Tent, Kitchen, Gate, Island, Children’s Village, Women’s Camping Area and at each of the three stages. Look for the lit plastic boxes, turn on the walkie-talkie inside the box, and press and hold the button on the side to talk. Nonjudgmental support is just a walkie call away.

Have a Health and Safety concern you want to share with us before the gathering?

Email us at help@omreunionproject.org

Our Volunteers:

Vibe Patrol – Our volunteers on Vibe Patrol are out and about, making sure that people are safe, healthy and happy. These responsible people have some health, mental health, first aid, healing or crisis de-escalation training. You may see them walking around in groups of two or three with patrol bags and walkie-talkies checking the walkie-talkie phone booths, refilling water jugs at the stages and bringing platters of fruit to people dancing at sunrise. Vibers keep an eye out for people who are having difficulty or are in distress, reorient lost campers and are generally helpful and awesome.

*Vibers sign up at the gate. Email VibePatrol@omreunionproject.org for more info

Vibe Patrol Shift Leader – Our volunteer Shift Leaders are experienced and responsible Vibe Patrollers who help coordinate the Vibe Patrol Teams. As the main contact person for their shift, Shift Leaders are in walkie-talkie contact with all Vibers and send them where they’re needed. They also act as the liaison to the EMRs and to Health and Safety Cru and Coordinators.

*Shift Coordinators sign up at the gate. Email VibePatrol@omreunionproject.org for more info

New This Year: There is Shift Coordinator Training on the land immediately following the De-escalation Worskshop (please come to that too) Tuesday through Friday around 1:30pm in the back field past CALM.

Crisis De-escalation Workshop – Have you ever seen someone having a psychedelic crisis? Do you have the skills to help in that kind of situation? This workshop will teach you the basics of how to understand and intervene safely in a mental health crisis. Health and Safety has been teaching this workshop since 2009! Hundreds of Community Members have been trained, increasing our capacity to help others. *Workshops happen at the gathering in the back field at noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday* Meet at the Health and Safety Tent. All Vibe Patrollers are strongly encouraged to attend.

Want to learn more about Health and Safety?

Email us at safetyfirst@omreunionproject.org or visit us on-site at the de-escalation workshop at noon Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Health and Safety Tent or visit the Emergency Medical Responders Wednesday through Sunday at their medic station near the gate.

**Health and Safety is a proud sponsor of the 2014 Sketch Games**

Alternative Energetics!

In the past we had Alice the green bus providing solar power, ran coffee grinders with car batteries, attempted to erect a wind turbine in the middle of a forest, and, of course, relied on the hard work of decomposed plant and animal matter refined into a highly combustible substance that we burn. This year we’re bringing back the famed bicycle-powered water pump, replacing our reliance on the ancient fossil fuels to pump our drinking water. And our small solar power system is growing, we are powering the OmRadio Station and everything you would need to power an office at the Gate! Wanna help/learn? Can you generate some new ideas? Do you have any Solar panels you’d like to lend to the cause? Please contact energy@omreunionproject.org.

Tea Tent and Coffee’D OM

Herbs and Hot water. Come join us in the quiet space of the Tea Tent. The tea tent continues to be a calming space where people can stoke the fire and make teas that help keep us healthy and nourished during the festival. We are looking for individuals with herbal medicinal knowledge who would like to sit and share this knowledge at the tea tent to any who may stop by.. Or if anyone wanted to host a herbal workshop this would be a sweet place to do it! If you are interested in sharing your knowledge and exchanging with other herbalists please email orpworkshopelf@gmail.com. We are currently rebuilding of team of herbal fairies and wizards!

A note for this years tea tent fire.

When we sit with intention, and watch our thoughts around the tea tent fire, we honor the earths sacred elements and participate in actively creating healing and well being for ourselves and others that brings the water to a boil. As we place logs on the fire, we give thanks and ask to put our better selves forward. This year we invite folks to help keep the fire in a good way by inviting and empowering others to do so through out our time together on the land.. We don't want a large fire, but a consistent one that is actively watched can provide much healing and medicines for all. If you see that the water is low, or that the compost needs emptying, or if you can bring some wood from off site, we will all be able to benefit from the healing herbal medicines being shared! As we expand our healing village, we continue to ask how our community can take collective responsibility to create safer spaces. Help keep the tea fire a safer space by respecting ourselves and others connection to spirit.

Coffee D'OM

The kitchen simply can't keep up with the demands for coffee. Last year's do it yourself coffee dome was such a success that we are going to do it again! Are you someone who can’t get enough? Maybe you just love the smell ... or the simplicity of a hot cup of organic joe. Once again we are asking folks to bring donations of sweetners, vegan milk products and delicious, pre-ground organic coffee (french press grind please) for our home grown cafe. Likewise, we are looking for artists to decorate, and baristas and staff to service our “coffee’D OM” cafe. To volunteer, drop a line to cafe@omreunionproject.org.

Greeters / Security Elves

The Security Check-point / Gate Dome are the first stops we all make at the gathering. Reminding you about the Solstice 2014 guidelines, retreiving your waivers, confirming your memberships AND keeping our community safe - It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!

Volunteers will help to orient all members to the Solstice Festival Guidelines as per the waiver; help direct traffic; and provide overall support and welcoming-ness at the Front gate. Helpful skills/talents/personality traits: cheerleading, traffic directing, public speaking, word search, customer service, retail experience, sense of humor, FUN!

Safer Spaces!

Safer Space will be teaming the Workshop Dome this year to better serve the community as a resourceful information hub that facilitates learning, active listening, and discussion circles. This year, there will still be female, male, gender non-conforming, and mixed gendered talking circles, as well as topic specific discussion circles that are member driven; topics such as social anxiety, bullying, and identifying sexual assault.

An anti-oppression workshop event will be held at Bellevue Park in Kensington, Toronto on Sunday, May 31st, 2014 to serve as a day of learning and exercising what safer space means prior to the festival; this way, we can really implement them in the forest and our daily lives. It is very much encouraged that members of the community start to talk about what safer space means to them and the movement created in the safer space dome.

The safer space dOMe aims to work towards healing though shedding light on less talked about topics and to raise awareness and sharing alternative perspectives in a respectful manner. If people feel the need to discuss important topics such as consent, rape, or abuse it is our hope that the safer space circles are used as a tool to help that communication. As these discussion circles will vary in heaviness and depth, they have the potential to facilitate deep healing and transformation through catharsis and therapeutic supportive sharing.

Here at the safer space dOMe, we strive to practice non judgemental active listening, anti-oppressive speech and behaviour, inclusivity and accessibility. The space can not guarantee that nobody is upset or triggered by another's word(s) but the space is intended the space be a safer environment to face these complex and sometimes difficult topics.

Come out to support your fellow members by simply being present and listening, and participating. Safer space is a place to meet and show fellow members true compassion, intent, and healing before and after we meet on the dance floor!

If you have any experience in facilitating or moderating anti-oppression workshops, please let us know! We would also love to hear any requests and feedback regarding your experience with safer spaces at Solstice.

Om Radio

Om Radio wants your participation! Got a mix you'd like to share, or a knack for producing entertaining audio? We want your participation in this year's radio project. We're looking for pre-recorded audio content -- whether it's music, a documentary, or a newscast you recorded with your kids! Send your content, as MP3 or another common format, to radio@omreunionproject.org to participate! We'll also have plenty of time for live broadcasts at the festival. So come ready to perform a live DJ set, a report on the action in the kitchen, or just go off on a tangent about that guy you saw carrying a wizard staff. The radio waves are your oyster!

The Gathering Zine and Festival Guide

Add your content!

Our Zine is a guide of what’s where, and what’s when, but it is also your voice into the community. We strive to have member submitted content, and be a space members can share their ideas and express themselves in print. We accept submissions of any topic close to your heart, drawings, graphics and other visual art (scanned into graphics files,) poetry, short stories (a few hundred words), and pretty much anything else you can think of to share.

The absolute final deadline for submissions is May 20th. So, please search your journals, sketchbooks and computer drives for older pieces you want to contribute, or write / design some new work. Just make sure it’s in by Monday May 20th or it will be TOO LATE!

Email submissions to zine@omreunionproject.org