Bringing a group

ARE YOU NEW TO BRINGING A GROUP?

Bringing a church or group to New Wine Festival is such a rewarding and often transformational experience – for you and for those you’re leading. We pray that as you worship and join in, you’ll encounter God, and grow together in community.

Whether this is your first time or you’re returning, there’s plenty of support available to help you every step of the way.

We’ve pulled together some helpful information and practical tips below, but if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@new-wine.org – we’re here to help.

GATHERING A GROUP

Here are a few easy ways to get your group excited about coming to New Wine Festival together, as well as some ideas to help enable others to attend.

Download the promo pack and you’ll find promo videos, social graphics, slides and more – we’ll also be adding new resources regularly throughout the year. These are a great resource for church noticeboards, newsletters, and social media to let people know your church is going to New Wine Festival.

Lots of churches hold a ‘New Wine Sunday’ before the event to help prepare their church for the Festival You could include a Q & A session or show a highlights video/share some testimonies to give your group an idea of what the Festival might look like for them.

You could also hold a New Wine Sunday after the event as a celebration of stories/highlights to share with your church all that God did during the festival!

We offer various bursaries to support individuals and groups to attend the festival including carer, missionary and finance related.

Please email info@new-wine.org for more information.

Volunteering is a brilliant way to be part of the festival while also keeping costs down. It’s also a great way to meet people and feel more connected to what’s happening. There are over 30 teams to choose from including Kids, medical, stewarding and Accessible Church.

Find out more on our Teams page.

HOW DOES GROUP CAMPING WORK?

One of our key priorities for the festival is to ensure that churches and groups camp together – building community and creating connection.
Our village allocation process ensures this:

  1. A ‘Booking Lead’ will book themselves, or others on via our booking forms. They’ll submit camping requirements e.g. pitch/tent size and any additional needs that might be relevant (such as having wheelchair users, or needing to be close to facilities).

    • A booking lead can be the main contact for just themselves, or a family, a group of friends or a large church group.

  2. All bookings that have selected your church are then assigned to a ‘village’ (a shared campsite with other churches/groups) hosted by a friendly Village Host. You can find out more about these on our Accommodation page. The village will have enough space for all the pitch sizes listed by your group’s booking leads and will take into account any additional requirements.

  3. Your group camps together on your allocated village!

To make camping more comfortable as a group, there’s some handy tricks and a range of facilities that you can make use of including:
  • Electric Hook-Ups

    • Electric hook-ups (16A camping supply) are bookable, subject to availability, for a fee when you register. Groups can use these to power camping fridges, cooking facilities and other electrical needs.

  • Communal Gazebo/Marquee pitches

    • Ensure that a booking lead in your group chooses a ‘Small Gazebo’, ‘Medium Gazebo’ or a ‘Communal Cooking Tent’ on their accommodation page when booking to give your group room to set this up!

  • Village Halls

    • Ideal for smaller groups, Village Halls are marquees in each zone that provide some communal shared space undercover. They’re marked on the map and have benches, hot water supply and charging for mobility aids & mobile phones.

  • Ice Pack Exchange

    • If you’re storing food in coolboxes and need to keep ice packs frozen, you can exchange thawed ice packs for frozen ones daily at your local village hall.

  • Onsite Shop & Supermarket Deliveries

    • For fresh groceries or if you’ve forgotten any essentials, you can always pop to our onsite shop to stock up. Alternatively, supermarket deliveries can be send directly to the showground and can be collected from showground’s Main Gate (near the Medical Centre). We’d advise bringing a trolley or a team to carry shopping back to your campsite!

 

TOP TIPS FOR GROUP LEADERS

1. Create Daily Touch-Points

Plan some simple, regular times to gather as a group. These moments help your group stay connected in the middle of a busy festival and give space to share what they’re experiencing - both practically and spiritually.  This might be an evening hot chocolate, shared meals or just a daily catch-up between sessions!

2. Leadership Network Venue

Head to the Leadership Network Venue - a space for you as a church leader to step away from the busyness of the festival and network with other leaders over a free cup of tea or coffee.

3. It takes a village

This old saying really does apply at New Wine Festival. Think about who in your group could take on small roles, such as: - Coordinating kids’ group pick up (e.g. one parent collects all children from your church from a Kids Venue each day) - Organising shared meals - Exchanging your group’s ice-packs

4. Find the facilities

Get familiar with the site and what’s around. Check out the map beforehand and take time early on in the week to explore and locate key areas - cafés and food stalls, Medical Centre, Accessible Bus Stops, venues and meeting points.

5. Bring Spares!

If anyone in your group has spare tents, sleeping bags, pegs, plates, bring them! Bringing a few extra makes a big difference for your group if packing doesn’t go to plan!

6. The Fun Zone is always here!

The Fun Zone is always here and completely free, which makes it a great space for the whole church family to relax and have fun. If your group needs some energy-filled activities in the afternoon, head to the Fun Zone for crafts, garden games and to ride the Ferris Wheel as many times as you like!

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