Get your tent pegs ready. Limmud is back — and this summer it’s going camping.
Since 2004, Limmud Fest has been the summer version of December’s Jewish learning extravaganza, Limmud Conference.
Six hundred people attended Fest last August in the Kent countryside. But where Fest had the option of staying indoors, Limmud in the Woods, to be held in Oxfordshire from 22 to 26 August, is all camping.
“You do have to be up for it,” laughs organiser Linda de Lange. “I’m 60 and I’ll be camping.”
The event will also be smaller, with only 200 to 250 people expected to create a more “intimate” event.
For the first time, everyone has to volunteer. “It’s a great opportunity to understand how it happens and a great way to make friends,” explained Ms de Lange.
The cost is much lower. “The two main costs are a site and the catering,” explained Trustee, Kevin Sefton. Because the catering will be done by volunteers, with campers bringing their own breakfast, and the whole event outside, tickets are 30% cheaper than those for last year’s Fest.
The smaller size means the schedule is more flexible. “We can have happenings,” said Ms de Lange, “there’s space for people to put things together on the spot.”