HESFES 2007 on Mersea Island
A visitor’s memories of the Essex festival bring back a beach labyrinth, a tent full of circus equipment and the children’s evening cabaret.
On 29 June 2007, a family beginning home education travelled from Devon to the festival on Mersea Island. Andrew, later a local contact for Education Otherwise, wrote up the visit for its April 2011 newsletter. His account follows the children across the field and down to the shore.
Making a labyrinth on the beach
The festival’s clothing carried a labyrinth design. At Mersea, families could build it together using materials found by the sea. The activity needed a stretch of beach and people willing to work together. When a photograph or a sweatshirt shows that winding pattern, this recollection offers an explanation of its place in festival life.
The play tent and the stage
Andrew remembered dressing-up clothes, spinning plates and stilts in a central tent known as the peace tepee. Woodworking, archery and drama offered other ways into the programme. Teenagers had music in a marquee, and the children’s cabaret gave young performers an evening audience.
The newsletter piece was written four years after the visit. It records what stayed with one family, from the sound of a drum to the play equipment their children returned to. Its viewpoint sits alongside the broader festival history.
Sources and further reading
- Andrew, HESFES 2007, Mersea Island, in Education Otherwise, April 2011 (PDF) Checked 2026-11-08