We ask for accessibility requirements when you book your tickets, but we thought this might be useful to know now:

The physical space

• The site is a working farm with made-up roads around the barn (main stages, bar and indoor toilets), dining area and B&B.  Our on-site programming is situated close together.

• The car park is very close to the Long Meadow camping field (less than 300m) 

• Camping, glamping and some activities/workshops are in the Long Meadow field, which is ‘flat’ but as it is a natural surface is not completely even ground

• Access between the camping area and main performance area is around 500m over the fields, some of this is uneven ground and may get muddy.

• There is an accessible indoor toilet at the barn and an accessible portaloo and shower in the Long Meadow camping field.

• There are two indoor stages - The Threshold Stage and The Undercroft. One upstairs, one down, both accessible to wheelchair users. 

• To move between the lower ground Undercroft stage and the Barn’s main stage (upper floor)  is an uncovered made-up road of approx 100m.

• We will be designating the gardens of Crow How Guesthouse as a quiet area. 

• Areas around site will be clearly signposted. Please bring a torch for getting around at night as we cannot light the whole site.

• We are planning some limited off-site programming including a walk along The Coffin Route from the site (Barn In the Fells) to Grasmere. These activities will be supported by outdoor guides along well established public routes. We will share more information about these closer to the time. 

• If you want to attend Sunday’s off-site performance in St Oswald’s Church in Grasmere without doing the Coffin Route walk, this can be reached by bus or taxi in about 15 minutes.

• If you require additional supplies - the nearest town is Ambleside (20 minute walk, 5-10 minute taxi or frequent public transport)

Our staff / your support

• Our staff have all had Neurodiversity and Inclusion training.

• We have on site first-aiders and a welfare team offering physiological and emotional support within their professional scope.

• Our staff and supporters will be wearing something identifiable so you can easily spot them. Once onsite, just let our team know if there is anything that you need. We’ll update this section closer to the event so you’ll know what they’ll be wearing.

• If you have any questions or concerns in advance of coming, you can contact our staff via either email, phonecall or text message at : hello@thesondering.co.uk / 07719125068

• We have made it clear in our attendance guideline that we have a zero tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination – if you are a witness to this type of behaviour, please let a member of staff know.

Adjustments that we are happy to make 

• We can reserve camping and parking spaces nearest the Long Meadow entrance 

• We can help carry bags to your pitch/glamping tent if we know your requirements in advance. 

• If we know in advance we can produce a programme in large print or make it available audibly. 

• We have limited sensory packs available for use over the weekend

• Once our full lineup is confirmed, you can ask to see our ‘sensory timetable’; a list of all of the main sensory experiences that you may encounter. This will include some performances and spaces that will be scented with natural oils and incense.

• Our food vendors will highlight any allergens but are also happy to discuss this with you if you have any questions or concerns

  If you would benefit from any other reasonable adjustments that we have not mentioned, then please just let us know in advance of the festival and we will do our best to facilitate what we can.

We know death, dying, and grief are topics that can bring up strong emotional and physical responses. The Sondering is intentionally small in this first year so we can look out for one another - but it’s important to acknowledge the natural limitations of a festival setting.

This is a space for exploring difficult topics through art, ritual, nature immersion and community. It’s also a space for joy, laughter and celebrating life. While it is supported by deep care, it is not a continually ‘fully held’ therapeutic space, and it is not a grief retreat.

What there is

• Expert Facilitation: Experienced practitioners across somatics, breathwork, grief work and ancestral healing.

• Welfare Team: Friendly, grounded, experienced humans on hand if you need a moment of extra support.

• Free Tea & Hugs: A designated area for chats, proper brews, laughs, tears and low-stakes connection.

• Quiet Zone: A beautiful garden as a dedicated quiet space where you can retreat to decompress.

• Considerate curation: Artistic and holistic programming created to support reflection, release and return.

• Content Transparency: Brief content warnings before sessions and performances so you can choose what feels right for you in the moment.

• Ritual Scaffolding: Simple rituals big and small to help us bring intention and presence to the moment.

• Solidarity: A friendly community of fellow participants and plenty of space to get to know them and share your lived experiences.

• Community Guidelines: Informed by grief-tending practices to help us all show up for each other and ourselves safely. We’ll be sharing these with ticket buyers in the coming months.

• Practical Safety: On-site First Aiders and outdoor guides for offsite activity.

• Nature: She’ll be by our side (+ under foot and overhead).

• A good tissue budget

What there isn’t

• Therapy: We are not a substitute for professional 1:1 mental health support.

• Personalised Crisis Care: We cannot provide sessions tailored to your specific clinical needs or history.

• 24/7 Holding: While the vibe is supportive, the space is not ‘fully held’ at scale for the duration of the weekend.

• Distress Management: Our team is here to support, but they aren't tasked with ‘absorbing’ or managing individual distress for you.

• A Prescriptive Journey: There is no ‘right’ way to do this festival. You have the total freedom (and responsibility) to opt out of anything that feels like too much.

We ask that your primary focus remains on being present and responsible for your own emotional capacity and well-being. We are here to witness and support each other, and whilst the festival has specialised first-line support on-hand, all we can ask is that you choose what you engage with, and step away when you need to. 

The truth is we cannot promise you won't find things upsetting - sometimes, confronting these difficult emotions and topics is precisely the point. In allowing for a range of artistic interpretations we can’t always predict exactly what performances may include - some may be triggering or cover deaths that are distressing. ‘Gallows Humour’ that one person finds cathartic may be too much for another. We invite you to ‘choose your journey’ according to your own thresholds, and be understanding that other people’s might look different.

Thank you for understanding the complexity of the topic and for playing your part in co-creating the compassionate community we are trying to build together. 

Ultimately only you can decide whether the festival or the timing is right for you. If you have more questions we are happy to talk to you please drop us an email at hello@thesondering.co.uk and we will have a chat.

We are committed to creating an equitable community that respects and supports each other. Weirdly we kinda wonder if addressing the universal experience of death is something that can bring people together.

We expect our community will reflect the myriad ways in which we can be human, this includes people with a range of spiritual beliefs, cultural backgrounds, skin tones, financial pasts and presents, gender identities, ages, sexualities, world views, and ways of experiencing the world physically and neurologically.

If you’re coming we ask that you bring your humanity and respect for all when you do. 

We want to make sure as many people as need The Sondering can attend. Here’s some ways we’re making that happen.

• Kept tickets priced as fairly as we can

• Providing an allocation of free tickets to those facing financial barriers and who are affected by the themes. These are being distributed within the community via local groups such as Anti Racist Cumbria.

• Subsidising 10% of tickets for those on low/no income 

• Working with artists and practitioners from a range of backgrounds to bring experience, insight and relevance from and to a wide variety of humans

• Choosing a site which is as accessible as we can make it to those with mobility issues

• Organisers (which include neurodivergent women) are supported by a diverse lived-experience panel - ensuring sensitivities are managed as best we can.  

• Providing intersectional welfare support that is trauma informed across the topics

• Prepared to fail forward. We know we might not get everything right, but we would rather try and risk getting it wrong than not try at all. Let us know!

We have a zero-tolerance policy for hate language, discrimination, or any behaviour that undermines the safety and dignity of others. We reserve the right to ask people to leave for these or any reasons.

The Sondering is treading as lightly as possible. This land has looked after us so much, we want to love and look after her.

We are

• Using recycled and upcycled materials wherever possible - including dead and discarded items.

• Using local suppliers who also use local suppliers.

• Encouraging public transport by choosing a site well connected by public transport and charging for car parking.

• Implementing a strict no single-use plastic policy on site.

• Sharing the ways you can help us keep the site as healthy as possible. Full info to follow.

• Tracking and reviewing environmental impact after the event. Can you tell The Sondering happened one month later? We hope not.