Witchfest 2023

This year I was extremely lucky to be invited to talk at Witchfest International 2023. Witchfest is run by the Children of Artemis and has been going for years - I remember going to my first Witchfest back when I was at University over fifteen years ago! So I was extremely excited to be able to attend as a speaker.


Witchfest was held in Croydon which is convenient for me as a Londoner, and my journey to the venue was nice and easy. However, I was not prepared for the protesters outside! A large group of people had gathered outside, singing, chanting, holding signs about how we need to accept Jesus and trying to hand out leaflets. I have to admit, this is the first witchcraft orientated event I've been to that's been protested against! We even had the police in attendance at some points, and boy these protesters were not letting up! If anything, they got even louder as the day went on and were still present well into the evening celebrations. Luckily they did not seem to sway anyone and didn't prevent us from having a great Witchfest!


Walking into Witchfest kind of feels like coming home. The people and their dress is free and expressive - it very much made me feel underdressed in my jeans and hoodie! Unfortunately I haven't had any hot water for over a week and have been having to shower at the gym which has been massively inconvenient (my hair definitely looked as though I had been plugged into an electric outlet rather than its usual waves!). So next year I will definitely be making more of an effort on the dress front!


And don't even get my started on the stalls; the minute I walked into the main stall hall my debit card practically fell out of my pocket and into the hand of the stall holders. It was incredible to see the care and attention which had gone into handcrafting a lot of the items, and with so much variety and choice it was difficult not to walk away with a bag full of  goodies and a hole in the bank account. From wands, to jewellery, head dresses, books, crystals, crystal grids, pendulum boards, soaps, incense....a shopaholic witches dream!


The range of talks meant there was something for everyone; from chaos magick to hedgecraft, heathenry, crystals, and more, it was impossible not to find a speaker that would appeal to your particular path. Huge props to the speakers who had to deal with the noise from the protesters spilling into a couple of the conference rooms; it couldn't have been easy but most managed to make a joke out of it and still hold the audiences attention. And it wasn't just talks, but performances and practical workshops thrown in too. It's difficult to pick a highlight; I have to say though, the Pentacle Drummers performance in the Ashcroft Playhouse was incredible to watch.

To be honest, with so many fantastic talks on I was very nervous that no-one would turn up to mine! I actually couldn't believe the number of people who turned up. And I'll be honest - it wasn't the best conference talk I have ever done. When I chose the subject (using the cups tarot suit in your magickal practice) I was working heavily with the cups suit and thought if anything I would struggle to keep the talk short! Unfortunately it was actually quite difficult to speak at length on. I know I'm not the most confident or engaging speaker, so I always try and make sure my talks are more 'practical', giving people activities they can go away and try themselves to make up for it, and whilst working with the cups suit in your magickal practice can bring many benefits, it's difficult to talk at length about how you do it - the doing is most definitely more in-depth than the talking about it! Plus there was a lot of reading from my notes, as what with everything going on with the boiler and having to arrange trades people to come out, and this also being my last week in my current job and so having a lot to wrap up, I just didn't have the time to practice it as much as I usually would. So, to anyone who did attend my talk, I'm sorry!! I am usually a much better speaker than that!!


But despite all of that I really enjoyed doing the talk, and again and so grateful to everyone who did turn up to listen. I do sometimes feel a bit burnt out what with promoting the books, the website, recording the short courses, etc., on top of my fulltime job and general life, but its events like Witchfest that remind me why I love doing what I do.


After the talks came to an end, there was the music! I saw some great bands (over a couple of pints) including Green Diesel, and of course the legendary Damh the Bard, which I will definitely be keeping an eye on to see if they are ever playing around London; people were up and dancing, and everyone was in high spirits. It was a great end to what had been a great day, and really encapsulates the best bits about the community; the supportive nature of everyone there, the enthusiasm, the kind-heartedness, and the creativity. I am already looking forward to spending the day at Witchfest 2024, even if that is just as an attendee! I highly recommend Witchfest International to anyone who is even remotely interested in witchcraft, as in my eyes it truly encapsulates the best of our pagan community.