HESFES 2015 at Pembrey Country Park

HESFES met at Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire in the summer of 2015. A European home-education calendar lists 25 July to 1 August. Two accounts written soon afterwards place the gathering on the Welsh coast, where families could walk from camp to the beach.

A first visit and a fifth visit

Laurence, writing in French for Partis pour, came after seeing a documentary that featured the festival. Her account describes meeting other families who had made the journey for the same reason and walking to the dunes. She remembered the practicalities of camping there, including the lack of electric connections where her family stayed.

For Yvonne Laborda’s family it was their fifth HESFES. Writing in Spanish, she described a camp for teenagers and a quieter space further away for families with very young children. Teenagers played instruments, adults knitted or joined discussions, and families could choose to cook together in the evening.

Why some listings give a different venue

An eFestivals preview published before the event gives the previous Suffolk venue, Stonham Barns. On 11 July, the archived festival website named Pembrey as the new venue and described a 30-acre camping field within walking distance of the beach. This agrees with the families who actually stayed there. Suffolk material belongs in the 2014 archive.

The following year’s planned HESFES was cancelled. Pembrey is the last gathering documented here. The events directory lists separate events for families looking for a gathering today.