Rushbearing Festival: Program
Details and links for July 18 - 19, 2025
To-day we come from farm and fell,
Wild flowers and rushes green we twine;
We sing the hymn we love so well
And worship at St. Oswald’s shrine.Canon Rawnsley, Hymn for the Rushbearing
Friends, it’s time to deck your carts with rushes, flowers & herbs - the Rushbearing Festival is happening this weekend!!
Ever since I first stumbled upon the tradition of rushbearing several years ago, I’ve been enamored - it so beautifully integrates our locale with our faith journey, calling us toward a deeply sacramental imagination.
“The whole philosophy of St. Francis revolved round the idea of a new supernatural light on natural things, which meant the ultimate recovery, not the ultimate refusal of natural things.”
G. K. Chesterton, Saint Francis of Assisi
In a way, rushbearing has become somewhat of an emblem for my work and for our community here - a hope that we would gather what rushes we can, and bear them out into our own lives and landscapes.
So, I’m delighted to begin the tradition of our first annual Rushbearing Festival with you! Let’s gather to learn, grow, ask questions…and bring the fruit of these discussions into our communities.
Hop over to the introduction post to learn more about the wonderful speakers who will be joining us (as well as the fun door prizes!):
The Rushbearing Festival will be available to all Paid Members - thank you for your continued support, which in turn is helping to fund this festival and support our wonderful speakers!
Here’s the full schedule - with links - for our weekend of rushbearing! We will have a mix of live discussions and pre-recorded chats.