Treehouse Festival 2024
Welcome to Treehouse Festival 2024!
Welcome to Treehouse Festival 2024! It's great to see those who have been with us before. It’s nice to see some familiar faces and a special warm welcome to all of you who are with us for the first time. We hope you have a great week discovering new skills; becoming part of the community, trying new food and meeting new people.
2024 is the 15th year of the festival, and in all those years we always keep numbers to less than 150 people. By the end of the week you can meet everyone on site (if you wish!). If you ' re here for the first time, you probably came for the crafts, but if you ' ve been before, you ' re probably here for the friendship (and the food!). You are the community. Enjoy the week.
Roots of The Treehouse Festival
Treehouse Festival grew out of a group of friends who decided to build a real treehouse in their spare time. Every summer they’d spend a week or so camping out at the farm, working on the treehouse’s spiral staircase, balcony and roof - using only found and recycled materials. More friends started to come along to join in.
Eventually even more friends came, who didn’t particularly want to build but wanted to enjoy the camping, making things and the community spirit that quickly became something very special. Soon the week of camping became its own entity, while the magnificent treehouse continued to be built, and the Treehouse Festival was born.
The treehouse itself is now sadly gone (ask Adam for the full storyalthough be warned, he does go on a bit), but the values of community, heritage craft, and eco-building that brought it to life carries on in the Festival..
This Year's Workshops
Morning sessions start at about 10.00am. Then lunch is between 1.2.30pm-2.00pm. Afternoon sessions usually start at 2.30pm. The evening meal will be served around 6.00pm.
This is only a rough guide to times. Some workshops may start later or finish earlier than the times shown above.
All of the workshops listed are confirmed when this guide was put together but unforeseen things do happen so we cannot guarantee their availability and there may be sudden changes or cancellations. (Adam may meet someone at the last minute who does a craft he wants to try and we'll have a new workshop available!)
Workshops are either drop-in or you need to book. If the workshop you want to do is a bookable one then this is done at Root and Branch. Workshop bookings will be sorted using a fair, communityminded system.
We sadly cannot guarantee that everyone will do everything, but the community system ensures that everyone gets the chance to try something they are excited about.
If you change your mind about a workshop you ’ ve booked, or want to trade your place with someone else, please speak to the person at Root and Branch.
Wool, Cloth and Fibre
Knitting and Crochet (all week)
Kate Brittain
Pop along during the week to learn the basics of hand knitting and crochet. If you already have some knitting skills then this is your chance to share and develop your skills.
Drop-in (suitable for age 6 upwards)
Lace-Making (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Norfolk Guild of Lace Makers
Join the members of the Norfolk Guild of Lace Makers, watch them at work and have a go yourself at the intricate and beautiful world of lace-making.
Drop-in (suitable for age 8 upwards)
Dorset Button Making (Friday)
Alison Redding
Dorset buttons are buttons which are created with threads around a small metal ring. Their use died out with the arrival of factory-made buttons. Come along to have a go at making your own and play your part in their recent revival.
Drop-in (suitable for 12 years upwards)
Spinning
and Weaving (all week)
Maddie Goolden & Lorna Webb
Join Maddie and Lorna as you have a go at carding sheep’s wool, spinning the wool with drop spindles and with a spinning wheel and then using the wool for knitting and weaving.
Drop-in (suitable for age 5 upwards)
Fleece to Fibre (every day after lunch)
Join in with our spinners, weavers and knitters as they transform raw fleece into a final knitted product.
The rare breed Treehouse Festival sheep will be with us again. Don’t forget to pop along and say thank you for the wool that they’ve donated.
Paper, Paint and Ink
Paper-Making (Monday to Friday)
Rachel Burchill
In this workshop you’ll use different paper pulps to create paper and also take a short walk to collect natural materials to add into, or imprint onto, your paper.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 8 upwards)
Quill and Ink Making (Monday and Tuesday)
Candide Turner Bridger
Using goose and turkey feathers you’ll make a quill and then a selection of natural non-toxic inks that you can take away with you.
Drop-in (suitable for age 8 upwards)
Paper, Paint and Ink
Paint-Making (Thursday)
Candide Turner-Bridger
Explore your prehistoric roots as you use the natural colours of the earth to make your own paints and pigments and then create your own pictures.
Drop-in (suitable for age 8 upwards)
Charcoal Making (Wednesday)
Candide Turner-Bridger
Using locally sourced willow and sitting around the campfire you’ll make your own sticks of charcoal to take away with you and use for drawing.
Drop-in (suitable for age 8 and upwards)
Tunnel Book Making (Tuesday and Thursday)
Dea Fischer
Discover the exciting possibilities of designing and creating your own Woodland Tunnel Book in this introduction to paper engineering.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Paper, Paint and Ink
Paper Marbling (Monday and Wednesday)
Dea Fischer
An introduction to the exquisite beauty of Suminagsahi, the Japanese art of paper marbling. You’ll be guided step by step through creating your own marbled cloth or paper that you can take home or maybe incorporate into other projects.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Book Binding (Monday and
Friday)
Judith Ellis
Join local book binder Judith Ellis to create your own handstitched notebook to take home with you. Please note that there is an extra cost for this workshop to cover the cost of the materials.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 10 upwards)
Wood, Metal and Stone
Green Woodworking (Monday to Thursday)
Olly Brunton
Olly is a well-known and experienced local green woodworker. He’ll be bringing along his shave horse, pole lathe and lots of other tools for you to have a go shaping unseasoned wood into bowls, cups or even a stool to sit on.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Wood Whittling (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons)
Jack Teece
Sit around the campfire and join Jack in a spot of wood whittling. You could make a spoon, a spurtle or maybe bring along the shepherds crook you made in the morning to create some decorations.
Drop-in (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Wood, Metal and Stone
Steam Bending Shepherds Crooks (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings)
Jack Teece
Jack learnt his steam-bending skills when he started making yurts. You can have a go at steaming a piece of hazel to make your very own shepherds crook. There’ll also be a chance to decorate them with a bit of whittling.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Making Amber Jewellery (Tuesday)
Vanessa
Bunton
A practical workshop in which you’ll find out how our ancestors worked amber to make and trade amber jewelry.
Booking Essential (adults only)
Blacksmithing (all week)
Daniel Johnson & Henry Ball
Our blacksmithing workshops are introductory sessions for complete beginners who have never used a hammer on an anvil. You’ll learn the art of blacksmithing with hands-on personal instruction as you create your very own hand-forged item.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 13 upwards)
Wood, Metal and Stone
Journeyman Stonemason talk (Thursday)
Tobias Wright
Tobias started his training as a stonemason in Norwich before setting off to carry on with his training as a travelling journeyman. He’ll talk about his experiences as well as the history of itinerant journeyman in different parts of Europe and the many traditions that they uphold that continue today.
Drop-in (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Renovating and Sharpening Tools (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)
Stephen Biddle
Looking after tools is an important part of any craftsperson’s work. Join Stephen and find out how to bring your old tools back to life.
Drop-in (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Wood, Metal and Stone
Willow Weaving (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday)
The Coddiwomplers
The Coddiwomblers are offering six separate workshops on willow weaving: four of them for adults only and two suitable for families.
Wednesday morning (adults only)
Making a Wooden and Willow Bread Basket
Use traditional basketry techniques to create your own bread basket just in time for those al fresco meals.
Wednesday afternoon (adults only)
Making a Willow Platter
Use a variety of willows and foraged materials to make a willow platter.
Wood, Metal and Stone
Thursday morning (adults only)
Willow Flower-Making
Use traditional basketry techniques to create your own willow flowers. Perfect decoration for the garden.
Thursday afternoon (adults and children aged from 6 with an accompanying adult)
Trying Willow Crafts
Come along and make a range of simple willow crafts to take away with you.
Friday morning (adults only)
Teepee Bird Feeder
Help our feathered friends by creating a teepee-shaped bird feeder.
Friday afternoon (adults and children aged from 6 with an accompanying adult)
Trying Willow Crafts
Come along and make a range of simple willow crafts to take away with you.
Booking for all willow workshops are essential
Back to Nature
Bioluminescence Walk (Tuesday)
David Atthowe
Recently featured in the ‘Guardian’ and on the BBC David will lead you round the farm at night. With UV torches you’ll witness a stunning display of animals and plants coming alive in bright and vibrant hues. It’s an amazing chance to see the natural world as you ’ ve never seen it before.
Booking Essential (suitable for 10 upwards. Children must be accompanied by an adult)
Poultry Keeping (Wednesday)
Kathryn Clifford
If you ’ ve ever thought about keeping poultry then you couldn’t do better than this introduction to the subject from Kathryn, who used to organise training sessions for smallholders in Suffolk and still keeps ex-battery hens.
Drop-in (suitable for 12 upwards)
Edible Plants and Foraging Walk (Monday and Friday)
Maria Pearson
Take a foraging stroll around the farm with Maria seeking out plants that can be gathered (responsibly obviously) for food. There will also be hints and tips on how to prepare what you have harvested.
Drop-in (suitable for all ages)
Tree ID walk (Wednesday)
Maria Pearson
A wander around the farm looking at how to identify trees in the summer through their leaves, their bark and so on. You’ll also find out the various uses that the wood from the trees have.
Drop-in (all welcome)
Back to Nature
Lacto-Fermentation (Thursday)
Maria Pearson
A demonstration of lacto-fermentation along with the chance to make some of your own.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Invertebrate Foray (Thursday)
Robert Yaxley
Have a close look around the farm for insects and other invertebrates to find out more about their habitats and lives. There’ll be a moth trap on the farm overnight so you can see what kind of moths we share our festival space with.
Drop-in (suitable for all ages)
Fruit Vinegars (Saturday)
Maria Pearson
A talk on how to make and use your own fruit vinegars along with the chance to make some of your own.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 12 upwards)
Ancient Crafts and Skills
A Day in the Life of a Saxon Weaver (all week)
Jackie Bush
Come and join Jackie as she recreates the duties and lifestyle of a Saxon weaver from 10th century England. There will be demonstrations of weaving, spinning and Nalbinding (single- needled knitting popular in Viking Scandinavia and Saxon England).
Drop-in (suitable for all ages)
Living in the Bronze Age (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday)
Vanessa Bunton
Come and join Vanessa to find out textile skills and amber skills from the Bronze Age, learn how to use nettles for cordage and twinned textiles.
Drop-in (suitable for all ages)
Ancient Crafts and Skills
Make and Play Ancient Board Games (Wednesday and Saturday)
Colin Hynson
Find out how to play board games from ancient China, Egypt and the Middle East, medieval Europe and pre-colonial Central America and New Zealand/Aotearoa and help bring them back to life by making your own set to take away.
Drop-in (suitable for age 8 upwards)
The Art of Traditional Storytelling (Monday)
David Tonge
For thousands of years people have told stories to each other for entertainment, to explain the world around them and as a commentary on the events that affected them. In this workshop you’ll learn some of the basic skills of storytelling, how to fill your stories with historic details and how to use objects in your stories to bring the past to life. You might want to tell a story in the evening at the open mic night or around the campfire one evening.
Booking Essential (suitable for age 8 upwards)
Crafts on Film and TV
Crafts on Screen (Thursday)
A morning of films and TV programmes in the barn all about traditional crafts and skills.
10.00-11.00
Craft in America: Community
A film about how traditional crafts can help build community
11.05-11.30
Handmade in Japan: Kimono
Follow the long process of raw silk being turned into a kimono
11.30- 11.45
Visible Mending
A short animation on the mental health benefits of knitting
11.45-1.15
The Sutton Hoo Ship: Rebuilding a Legend
A Time Team special following a team of volunteers building an Anglo-Saxon ship using traditional tools and materials
Start and finish times are approximate. You’re welcome to come in and leave at any time.
Evening Entertainments
All of our evening entertainments are listed below. There will still be plenty of time free so that you can just stare into the flames of the campfire, chat to your neighbours, look up at the stars or just have an early night so you ’ re fresh and ready for the next day.
Wednesday
The Treehouse Festival Pub Quiz Night
Get your teams together as we have our now traditional quiz night with your Questioner-in-Chief Sequoia Mallett. Sign up for a team at Root and Branch.
Thursday Band Night
A welcome return to the foot-stomping, hip-shaking, armwaving, singing-out-loud high-energy local rockabilly band Those Deadbeat Cats. Expect everything from rock and roll classics of the 1950s to cover versions of 1980s hits.
Friday Open Mic Night
Every year we have one evening where we get to entertain each other. Sometimes this is truly wonderful, sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it's something else. The community of Treehouse Festival are a pretty forgiving bunch, so why not have a go - music, dancing, stand-up comedy, ventriloquist or playing the spoons. You don't need to be a pro, it's just fun! Sign up at Root and Branch.
The bar will be open on all three of these nights (where you’ll be able to get your special Treehouse Festival pint mug).
Young Treehousers
The children and young people who come to Treehouse are a much-valued part of our community. A few of our workshops are suitable for all ages but many are not. So we have created special activities and workshops just for children and young people.
Children remain the responsibility of their parents/guardians at all times and we ask that you familiarize yourself with our Code of the Community.
Forest School for Children
We will be running forest schools for 0-16 again this year, with a range of activities such as knife skills, firemaking, and natural tie dyes. 0-5s must be accompanied by an adult, and registration for all forest school and teen groups will be on arrival/with the team in Root and Branch. These will run staggered (timings to be confirmed) so that where there are multiple groups for families, older children can be dropped off with ease.
Food at Treehouse Festival
‘If you really want to make a friend, go to someone ’ s house and eat with him’ (Cesar Chavez)
Meals at the Treehouse Festival are perhaps the most important way in which we come together as a community. Three times a day everyone gathers around the circus tent to eat together, share stories about Treehouse (as well as things that are not Treehouse).
This year our evening meals will be provided by ‘Saving Nemo’. They are an award-winning catering company that has loads of experience of creating delicious vegan meals for big events just like ours.
Breakfast and lunch will be slightly more modest (but will still be both tasty and nutritious) and Alison is in charge of those meals.
Everyone will still be part of a team to prepare and serve all meals as well as washing-up afterwards. It’s more fun than it sounds as it’s a great chance to talk, laugh, sing and even dance together.
Times for meals are flexible. Generally it’s about 8.00am for breakfast, 12.30pm for lunch and 6.00pm for dinner.
Other Things
Treehouse Festival Library
Pop along to the newly renovated Swamp Hut and you’ll find our new library of books all to do with crafts - both traditional and contemporary. You’re free to borrow them during the week so that if you fancy a bit of down-time you can relax with one of our books. Bring them back for next year though!
Root and Branch
This is the place where you can get information about workshops and other events as well as booking your place on any of those workshops. You’ll also find lots of Treehouserelated things you can take away. It's the brain hub of the festival.
Social Media
We love seeing your photos of Treehouse on your social media pages. Just two things to bear in mind. Please make sure that any pictures with children/young people are only shared with permission. Also remember to use #TF2024 as a hashtag.
We’ve also set up a Flickr group so that all of your photos can be shared with everyone else. There’s a QR code at Root and Branch so that you can sign up.
