General information
For the last two weeks of June, we create a beautiful space in the woods for you to feel welcomed and be. Come enjoy the beauty of the woods, the song of the birds, the peace of the hearth, and take a moment to (re)connect with yourself and with other women.
The Red Hearth is open everyday from 10am until dark. You can come at any point, whether there is a workshop or not. Why not enjoy a break from the hectic day to day life, meet up with your friend in the woods, or take your book and rest between hawthorn and birch? There are activities offered during the day and evening time.
All facilitated events are by suggested donation £7-20, but please book in advance using dandelion.
The roundhouse is located at 7 Summer Close, Stroud, GL5 1PF. Please park on Summer Street and walk up Summer Close as there is very limited parking on Summer Close.
Camping: Over the solstice weekend, Friday 19th to Sunday 21st, you can also come camp up on the land. For more information: Camping at the Red Hearth.
Activities may be subject to change. Do visit our Facebook and Instagram pages for the latest updates.
Emerging Elders at the Red Hearth
Throughout Red Hearth 2026, there will be older women on site as “Pop-Up Emerging Elders”. They will be wearing either red or pink sashes, as in this pic. They are Emerging because, in our culture, we don’t really know what Elders are and what they offer. We are experimenting and learning. Younger women are welcome to talk to these Emerging Elders or ask them anything. These older women have chosen to be at Red Hearth and available for younger women to talk to. They will wait until someone approaches them and will not impose themselves. Do talk to them and make the most of their years of LIFE and join our ongoing experiment about what eldering means in our community. If you would like an ‘Emerging Elders Council’, where 2-5 Elders listen to you confidentially as you talk about a current issues/ decision / challenge in your life, then do please sign up to one of our slots of dandelion.
PROGRAMME 2026
Note: 13th-21st June have been removed for easier browsing of future events
Monday 22nd June
10am-2pm Open space
The roundhouse is open for anyone to enjoy. Come craft, read, enjoy a cup of tea with a friend, journal or simply rest. No need to register, just come! A kindling sister (volunteer) will be here if you need anything.
2pm – 4.30pm Midlife Goo – JLM Morton
‘When a caterpillar is ready for the next stage of its life, it finds a quiet and safe place and spins itself into a cocoon or chrysalis. Then, the caterpillar releases digestive enzymes and dissolves itself. It disintegrates into a goo.’ Lucy Jones Matrescence (2023). Midlife is ‘goo,’ a time of profound and irreversible change. In this workshop, we’ll explore this state through writing exercises and the making of ritual objects. We will take a deep dive into the beautiful creative mess of our imaginal midlife and emerge transformed, with the drafts of new poems and writings to take away.
Tuesday 23rd June
10am- 12pm Harp Lessons with Morwenna
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hands at harping then this little session is a great place to start. Morwenna teaches without music sheets or theory, by showing students step by step how to memorise and build a tune by ear and heart. The harp pre-dates music notation and so does her method of teaching. You don’t need any prior music knowledge to join, and even the self proclaimed “tone deaf” will sound beautiful at the end of the session.
Harps will be provided
Max 7 women
Wednesday 24th June
10am – 7pm: Open space
The roundhouse is open for anyone to enjoy. Come craft, read, enjoy a cup of tea with a friend, journal or simply rest. No need to book, just come! A kindling sister (volunteer) will be here if you need anything.
7pm – 9pm: Freeing Ourselves from Good Girl Syndrome with Lottie & Nicola
Part 1: A body-oriented workshop to bring awareness to where we focus our attention, noticing what happens in our body when our attention is oriented to different external people/sources, and what happens when we orient ourselves towards a more somatic experience of internal and other supportive sources.
Part 2: Exploring how we step forward from the places explored in part 1, to liberate ourselves and others from external (and internalised) narratives about what it means to be ‘good’ as a woman or person assigned female at birth.
Thursday 25th June
10am – 12pm Living From Our Wholeness with Irina Shigidina
This session is a soft, spacious, yet courageous space to explore how we connect, live, and make choices from the wholeness of our being — mind, body, and soul.
Together, we will gently explore how our relationships and connections with others begin to shift when we are rooted more deeply in our own wholeness. We will also reflect on the significance of being present in the body, especially during times of change, uncertainty, or challenge, and the wisdom the body can offer us when we learn to truly listen.
The experience will include meditation, gentle movement, reflection, connection with others, and optional sharing within the circle.
If you wish, you are welcome to bring an intention, question, or reflection to hold for yourself as we move through the experience together. It can remain entirely your own if you choose not to share it.
7pm – 9pm Earth Women Songs, Chants & Voice Cauldron with Mali
Songs and chants honouring the wilds within and without. Most songs will be call-and-response and ALL voices are welcome! We will sing in community and circle for connection and expression – not to sound any particular way or learn technique. We will also create a ‘voice cauldron’, a chance to sing and sound intuitively, creating an immersive vocal sound-bath accompanied by the shruti box.
Friday 26th June:
11am – 1pm – Land Work
Join the woodland women who steward Sladebank Woods, where the Red Hearth is hosted. The work varies on the day and women are encouraged to work at their own pace. This is an opportunity to give back to the land that holds us during the gathering, and to connect with other women through physical work.
Drop in, no need to book
1pm – 3pm Intentional High-Vibrational Jewellery Making Workshop with Irina Shigidina
Join me for a heart-centred Jewellery Making Workshop where we will weave the energy and wisdom of crystals into a meaningful piece of jewellery created by your own hands. Together, we will enter a gentle, sacred space through meditation, allowing ourselves to slow down, connect with our hearts, and tune into the wisdom within. From this place of presence, you will be invited to intuitively choose the crystals that are calling to you and create a piece infused with your own intention and energy. You will have the choice of creating either a bracelet or a pair of earrings, using brass, copper, or silver-coloured copper wire. As we create, you are invited to embrace the beauty of the process, the joy of self-expression, and the quiet wisdom that emerges when we allow ourselves to listen deeply. We will complete our time together with a short intention and gratitude meditation, honouring both the journey and the unique creation you will take home with you.
All materials will be lovingly provided.
7pm – 9pm Dryadic Acoustic Gig
Come and join us for a very special, unplugged accoustic gig, returning because we love them at the Red Hearth!
Since forming in 2017, Dryadic have built a reputation as one of the UK’s most compelling contemporary folk-roots bands, known for their rousing live shows, unapologetically feminist songwriting, and rich, string-led arrangements. Founded by Zora McDonald and Joanna Dziecelska, and now fronted by McDonald alongside Aly Rainey on fiddle and Liz Tucker on double bass, the band have toured extensively across the UK and Europe, appearing on stages including Glastonbury Avalon, Chai Wallahs, Brighton Pride, Hackney Empire, and Drayton Arms Theatre. Recent highlights include their song “Rainbow Family”.
Saturday 27th June:
10am – 12pm Grief Circle with Veronica and Nika
A gentle space to come together and be with what is here. In a culture that often asks us to keep our grief to ourselves or move past it quickly, this circle offers a place to slow down and remember something older: that we don’t have to carry grief alone.
We gather in circle to listen, to feel and to be witnessed. There is nowhere to get to, nothing to fix and no obligation to share. You are welcome exactly as you are.
Grief can take many forms – a loss, death, life change, longing, parts of us that haven’t known love or even something empty or harder to name. Whatever is present for you, there is a place for it here.
Through guided holding, presence and shared humanity, we begin to remember that grief connects us. And we’re not alone.
12- 2pm Afghan Lunch with Reena
Come and celebrate the Afghan culture with Reena. This workshop will include cooking around a fire, learning some traditional Afghan dishes, hearing about the culture and sharing food and music, all in the beautiful woodland setting.
Attending this workshop supports refugees and values their skills.
Minimum donation: £20 to include food.
2pm- 4pm Singing by the fire with Pearl and Vavara
As the festival draws to a close, join us for a joyful afternoon of singing, connection, and collective expression. Together we’ll raise our voices in celebration, learning empowering songs and rounds, exploring gentle group improvisation, and sharing the uplifting experience of singing in community. All voices are welcome, come as you are and be part of this special gathering. Accompanied children are welcome.
4pm Red Hearth Closing Ceremony with the Red Hearth team
Join us as we gather joyfully for the final time to weave together our memories of the last two weeks, celebrate each other, and thank the land until we meet again next year!
Red Hearth 