You might have heard, or maybe you were even there yourself; But we just had the biggest, greenest Conscious Festival in all our years of running it. Here’s what you missed!
10. Seeing all the NEW FRIENDS everybody made
Nothing brightened our hearts more than seeing everybody who came to better themselves, make friends out of the strangers around them! It was truly heart-warming to know that at The Conscious Festival 2018, people felt happy, safe and comfortable enough to reach out and have uncomfortable conversations, and to connect meaningfully with those around them.
9. All the FOOD that fed our tummies
Oh. My. God. Where do we even begin? Not only did every single one of our vendors serve SCRUMPTIOUS, plate-lickingly good food, all of it was also vegetarian or vegan! They changed many a staunch meat-eater’s mind about going plant-based that day, and they definitely knew their way around our bursting hearts (and tummies!). Between the incredible vegan gelato from Butterknife Folk, the mouth-watering burgers from Veganburg and the incredibly yummy sweet potato fries from Lime, we were too full to decide on a winner. Which was your favourite?
8. The POETS who intrigued us
Did you see them? Do you know them? We’re still thinking about these amazing young poets who walked in and out with their typewriters, writing up poetry to brighten up our festival-goers’ lives. They were on-the-ball every single moment of both days, and they were incredibly serious about writing their sweet poetry. We don’t know about you, but we’re treasuring their words of light and love and keeping them right where we’ll always see them.
7. The KIDS who changed the world
“Children are 25% of the world, and 100% of the future.” – Melati Wijsen. These inspiring young kiddos came, they saw, and they conquered. With their unique, fresh perspectives on our plastic problem and their passionate pleas and innovative solutions for us to help them pave the way for a brighter future, we couldn’t help but feel both proud and moved. Truly, these are the leaders of our future and we’re so glad they’re all spreading little green waves in the world at their tender ages, and so happy that #consciousliving really DOES start young.
6. Glitter, Glitter EVERYWHERE!
On weekends, we wear ECO-GLITTER. Our glam squad was out in full force over the weekend, adding a touch of sparkle to everybody’s lives! You would not believe how drop-dead-GORGEOUS the people who came down to The Conscious Festival 2018 looked. Men wore it, women loved it, and the kids went wild for it- the eco-glitter booth never saw a dull moment. Really, if you weren’t there, you were really missing out on the most insta-worthy post of the year.
5. The #RecyclemoreWasteless clawmachine (& Pledge Wall!) by DBS
Nobody likes a boring old fart- and here at The Conscious Festival, we’ve proved over and over that we’re truly kids at heart! DBS kindly brought down their super fun claw machine so that everybody who came down could win their very own reusable goodies. For every reusable water bottle won, you also got an awesome stainless steel spork; how cool is that? They definitely inspired us to #RecyclemoreWasteless, and gave us quite the incentive to either start or continue further along our personal journeys towards more sustainable lifestyles.
4. All the mouth-watering FREE SAMPLES from amazing companies
Look, you can argue all you want, but we all know the truth: The best food in life, is FREE FOOD. And what better food to get to try for free than Quorn’s meat-free chicken nuggets? Or JUST’s egg-less eggs? Or the samples of all of Beans to Bars’s drool-worthy chocolate bars? One bite is all it takes to change someone’s world, and have them fall down the rabbit-hole of sustainable eating. We’re not responsible for all the calories consumed at The Conscious Festival 2018…but we are willing to bet that it was well worth every single bite.
3. The Virtual Reality booths that educated everybody, young, old and in-between
Education, as beneficial and useful as it is, can sometimes be a little bit boring in terms of delivery. But our Virtual Reality booths were anything but! Meshminds and Conservation International brought their best tech to the festival, and helped teach everybody in the most fun possible ways about the big plastic pollution crisis affecting our oceans. We’ll always remember the things we learn if we have fun learning them- and here’s to hoping that this message will not only stick, but also spread. Talk about taking green education efforts to the next level!
2. The 70 INCREDIBLE vendors who helped teach us about more #sustainable solutions
The VIBES we felt at The Conscious Festival 2018 were UNREAL. There was no fear, no hate and no weird holier-than-thou elitism that turns people away; at our Mindful Marketplace, there was only peace, love, and friendship (and vegan gelato). We saw so much sharing about all the various #littlegreensteps we can take to save the planet, and so much caring about our impact on the future of the Earth. From bamboo toothbrushes to ethically made jewellery, we had everything you could ever need and more at our Mindful Marketplace. And we even had some of the makers behind the brands themselves there to tell you all about it. You’ll have to bury us with the compost ’cause we’re dead- we died with hearts filled with happiness from seeing all the #littlegreensteps being taken at the marketplace.
1. The TALKS powered by DBS that changed our lives and fed our souls
We laughed, we cried, and most importantly, we learned and we were inspired. It was proven to us over and over that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from- as long as you’ve got the right idea in your mind and enough passion in your heart, you’ll be able to make a difference in the world. It’s as simple as taking a #littlegreenstep, or making a pledge to yourself to #RecyclemoreWasteless. We know, just from the energy in the room, that we were sitting among the future changemakers and shakers of the sustainability world. And we can’t wait to see how much greener the world becomes as a result of everybody who has just had their “matrix moment”.
And those were just our TOP TEN moments from The Conscious Festival 2018. Feeling major FOMO? Well, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll be BACK in Hong Kong from the 12th – 15th of April! Details will be out soon, so stay tuned.