When the idea for No Such Place came to mind, I remember being inspired by this quote:
‘You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.’ R. Buckminster Fuller.
After having been a part of the Bridge the Gap global community with Ssideline City Run Club for years, the existing reality for me at the time was that all running events were races, even though for many, running was not always about racing. In 2017 together with Sofie Mattsson, we combined our personal interests until the format for our new model was ready, the first No Such Place festival.
Year 1 was a very simple 2 days and 1 night in nature with a Leave No Tracks philosophy as we said No to Cars (The only way in, was to run or walk), No to Meat and No to Milk for the duration of the festival.
After receiving some nice publicity and gaining momentum via word of mouth we decided to push the concept further and do it all again. In Year 2 we said No to Cars, No to Meat, we switched from saying No to Milk to saying No to Dairy and we focussed on the importance of developing healthier habits; 1. Travel by Foot. 2. Relax. 3. Eat well. 4. Leave No Tracks. 5. Togetherness. We added an extra afternoon/evening of activities in Stockholm at Downtown Camper so people had opportunity to meet before heading in to the nature. Finally we worked together with Marathongruppen to make the route to the secret festival area an official half marathon distance.
Sustainability is not enough, one festival/retreat once each year is not enough, together we must continue towards living a carbon positive lifestyle everyday. Traveling by foot, relaxing, eating well, leaving no tracks and doing things together is just the beginning.
/Kristian Hell (Co-founder)
Thank yous: Sofie Mattsson (Co-founder), Elin Ahlström, Izabella Englund, Bella Granskog, Amanda Dahllöf, Miguel Carracedo, DJ Bruce Leenus, Adam Wolfe, DJ Krica, DJ Zabina, Pang Pang, Acidpolly, Farmer Johnny, Musse Mattsson, Lise-Lotte Mattsson, Josefine Mattsson, Caroline Mattsson, Bram Visser, Sandra Bergman, Rebecca Knutsson, Ted Andersson
Partners: Marathongruppen, Downtown Camper, Ssideline City Run Club
Sponsors: Naturkompaniet, Casall, Stora Coop, Nordic Kiwi Brewers, Eventopia
Here are some of our favourite images from the festival.
Photo credit: Izabella Englund For all photos click here!
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