Trillium 2005 (April 21 - 24)

I attended Trillium first last year on the recommendation of several of my friends from the Heartland Region. This year, I attended it based on last year's experience.

This particular festival is truly enjoyable. Before we had even chosen a place to camp, we had met up with old friends and encountered new ones, including Modig, the Senior Druid of Raven's Cry Grove, who had traveled over 2,500 miles in order to be at the festival, and to share in our fellowship!

This year, Trillium was in a new location, a campground owned by two ADF members. It was a beautiful camp, with plenty of room for the festival attendees to camp apart, but not so much that anyone was isolated.

I didn't manage to attend many workshops myself, but this wasn't because I didn't want to; rather it was because I was dead tired and working on my workshops for Desert Magic that was two weeks away. The workshops I did attend, though, lived up to the expectation I've grown to have from ADF festivals: they are always informative.

The most memorable workshop that I attended was Kirk's workshop on Clergy Craft. It brought new ideas and new paradigms of ritual to my mind, and I've found the skills taught to be useful and easy to learn (if still difficult to master).

The warrior games were quite the spectator sport. There are some pictures floating around of the games, and you can see the crowd in the background enjoying the show. I really enjoyed teaching archery to a few people that weekend.

The whisky tasting and bardic circle were excellent, and I was pleased to find that we hadn't missed it when we rolled in late on the first night. I always appreciate the chance to hang out and try new and varied burning sensations as the whisky rolls down your throat.

Trillium isn't a large festival, but it's very tight. You learn names and get to relax with people on a much more personal basis than you do at other festivals. You can have an intimate conversation with people you won't even get close to at the larger festivals like Wellspring. Everyone is always friendly and always willing to help.

The weather was strange, ranging from warm, dry sun to drizzling rain to an impressive blizzard of snow on our way home. Even the trip to and from the festival was fun and eventful! This festival really helped bind the group of new Grove members I took, too. My Grove gained at least one new member from the festival's feeling of closeness and camaraderie, and we enjoyed singing gospel, chatting about knife-fighting monkeys, and sandwich schedules on the way down and back.

It is Trillium that kicks off the festival season for me each year, and it always shows me what to expect in the coming year, and reminds me of why I'm in ADF: there is a fellowship and a level of trust and joy that you simply don't find anywhere else, and at $25 (pre-registered), this could very well have been the best deal of the festival season. If you have the chance, come next year!

Pictures from this festival include these:

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