Welcome to the Samhain Gathering 2025 booking form.

Please fill out this form to request a space at the gathering. We will let you know as soon as possible if you have a place or are on the waitlist.

Your information will be kept confidential and only accessible by faeries helping to plan the gathering.

Please email samhain@albionfaeries.org.uk if you have any questions.

Please make sure that you have read the Call for this gathering as it contains important information (https://bit.ly/Samhain2025) - you'll have to copy and paste the link as they don't seem to work in this form editor!

Who should we contact in an emergency?

You are welcome to arrive from 12 noon on Saturday 11 October, and the gathering ends at 12 noon on Monday 20 October.

We encourage faeries to register for the full 9 nights / 10 days to make this gathering a cohesive, close-knit community container and a journey we all take together.

Over recent years, the Albion Faeries have begun a radical journey from a primarily white, gay, male community, towards a community that is more inclusive of the diverse spectrum of ethnicity, gender and sexuality that makes up queerdom.

This is an ongoing evolution, and in order to ensure that gatherings offer sanctuary and belonging to those queer minorities most at risk of exclusion or harm, we continue the tradition of offering at least 25% of places to faeries who self-identify as diverse.

Examples could be that you're a faerie of colour / from the global majority, a faerie who is non-binary, a trans faerie, or a woman.

And lastly, if you would like to hold a minority-inspired ritual or event, we can support you in manifesting your ideas.

In the Albion Faeries we celebrate our diversity, and this includes neurodiversity. Many of us are on the autism spectrum, many of us have ADHD, and many of us live with a variety of mental health conditions. Faerie gatherings are co-created conscious communities: spaces where we can build and develop our communities. We're not clinical practitioners, and the nearest mental health crisis teams to Featherstone are in Carlisle and Newcastle which are both considerable distances away, so it's important that faeries coming to Featherstone are in a place where they're able to self-regulate, regardless of any condition they may have. Our welfare team and other participants can offer peer support, but we're not placed to deal with a mental health crisis.

All meals will be vegetarian or vegan, and we will try to cater for any other dietary needs. Please let us know below if you are vegan, gluten intolerant or have any other dietary requirements.

If you have any allergies, please let us know the severity. Whilst we cannot guarantee an entirely free-from environment, kitchen teams will try their best! If you are at risk from anaphylaxis due to allergy, please make sure that you bring any equipment that you may need, such as epipens etc.

The castle has various shared rooms and dormitories, with a few smaller rooms that can accommodate those with specific access needs. Otherwise, beds are claimed as you arrive, in a room that you choose.

You are also welcome to bring a camper van or tent (but please note that the castle charges the same rate per night whether you're in a live-in vehicle or in a dorm). This can be a good option for those needing greater personal space at the castle. Note: tents may be cold in October!

Beds are claimed as faeries arrive, and we usually designate a few rooms/dorms based on the needs of those attending the gathering. In the past we have had a quiet dorm, a trans-only room etc.

The Castle dates from the 12th century and this can make it challenging for people with mobility needs to navigate. You can read more about accessibility on our Notion homepage for the gathering (link in the email).

The castle has a variety of more accessible rooms (most are on the first floor close to a bathroom - with a bath but no shower - and on the same level as some of the main social areas). There is some ground floor accommodation but please note that access to the main social areas involves stairs.

We cannot guarantee accommodating everyones needs, and will prioritise access needs and anyone who states their request is non-negotiable for attendance.

In order to break even, the cost of this gathering will be £38 per faerie, per night.

£29.50 for castle rent, which we have managed to keep the same for this gathering and is still considered a discount rate by the owners (who charge £35 per night to other groups), plus £8.50 for food, firewood & other essential supplies. Given recent Faerie financial difficulties, we ask that everyone who can, should round it up to £40 (so £360 for 9 nights / 10 days) and pay as soon as possible after you've been confirmed. This will help us calculate our finances.

The castle team are also requiring us to have public liability insurance (for the first time) with cover up to £10 million. We have managed to find a provider of this, and the premium is £120. To split this evenly across an estimated 40 participants, this will be an additional cost of £3 per person, on top of the per-night fee. Please add this to your total. If we end up with more than 40 faeries, the extra will go towards NOTAFLOF.

GAYABAGS The Faerie finance initiatives are stunning examples of the care, generosity and compassion we show for each other in Faeriespace. Please feel called to treat them with the utmost respect and take a moment to pause and think about what you can genuinely afford. Give As You're Able, But Always Give Something!

NOTAFLOF No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds! A radical principle of the Faeries is that individual financial circumstances should not be a barrier to being part of the community. This means if you cannot afford to pay the recommended £38pn amount, we invite you to pay whatever percentage that you can.

+ Are you unable to comfortably meet all your basic needs?

+ Do you struggle to find stable employment due to discrimination?

+ Are you an unpaid community organiser?

Solidarity Contribution

+ Are you able to comfortable meet your basic needs?

+ Can you afford public transport?

+ Are you able to buy some new items?

+ Do you have a safe and stable place to live, such as a rented flat or house?

+ Do you receive a total income above the minimum living wage or work part-time by choice?

ADAFAE The ‘Additional Donations And Finance Accepted Enthusiastically’ policy goes hand-in-hand with NOTAFLOF, and your beautiful generosity enables all of our community to come together at gatherings. If you are able to contribute a little more than the recommended amount, please do!

+ Do you own your home or rent a higher-end property?

+ Do you have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money?

+ Can you comfortably go on holiday?

+ Do you have access to family money and resources in times of need?

>> Remember: NOTAFLOF only works if others are generous through ADAFAE

Due to the current financial situation of the Albion Faeries, and as discussed in recent moots we want to try to find ways both to raise money and to make sure this gathering is at least break-even. The following points were in the outcome notes from a recent Moot of the Albion Faeries where we discussed the financial situation that we’re currently in.

No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds means that we always ensure that people with severe issues around lack of adequate income/ benefits, asylum seekers, and other fae in unforeseen or longer term financial crisis will always be able to join gatherings. We aim to maintain this principle.

NOTAFLOF does not strictly apply to folk who actually do have funds but who may struggle to plan their finances or who may choose to spend their funds elsewhere. In these cases, we can offer those folk a savings plan or payment by instalments or suggest a reduction in payments, but not totally free places.

As a community, we ask each other for honesty and trust. We ask that this trust will not be abused. A key community value of our trust is to respect each other's decisions and choices, and not to shame or disrespect others for those choices. For instance, we will not pursue individual folk who do not follow up on their pledged payments for gatherings. We will, however, remind everyone to honour their pledges!

As part of our commitment to make this gathering break even, we will try to be totally transparent about the finances and after registration we will be sending an email with the amount of money pledged, and if necessary, ask people to contribute a bit more if they can so we can make this gathering break even. If possible we will ask people to contribute more to their pledge, or to contribute that money during the auction where we will all have a recommended amount per 100 IFMUs to make it break even (the principles of NOTAFLOF apply to the auction as well, of course).

Gatherings are co-created by everyone - there are no organisers or leaders at the castle.

We strive as a radical community to manifest our core principles of care for fellow Fae, alongside care for ourselves. Please take a moment to read the guidance on consent at faerie gatherings https://bit.ly/rad-fae-consent

You can also read about what to expect and self-care https://bit.ly/rad-fae-self-care