I think that Lookfest 2019 was a great success. Over the whole weekend there was a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
It felt lovely to have such a fun and knowledgeable community of blind and VI people there. Everyone attending the festival was blind or VI or had a blind or VI child in their family. The staff, volunteers, masseurs, mobility instructors, musicians and even the comedian/compare were almost all Blind/VI.
Arrivals
As everybody arrived they found their glamping tents or pitched their own tent further down the field.
I loved my glamping tent. The first thing was that I noticed it had our name in braille and when I opened it up it was lovely and high. There was plenty of room for my buddy dog (Penny) Although I had to keep persuading her to stay on her own bed.
It was just the right temperature to snuggle down in at the end of the day.
Next, I went off to explore the site.
It was great fun saying hi to Daniel Kish and his team when I met them on my travels.The festival activities kicked off with a scavenger hunt with Look staff and volunteers stationed around the site. It was great fun and I just managed to finish it before the deadline. I also got to feel a tactile map of the site which helped me find my way around.
Following the scavenger hunt, there was a welcome speech from the director of Look (Charlotte).
After that everybody tucked in to delicious pizzas cooked then and there served from a snack van and after this there was a fancy dress disco where DJ Tom played some great tracks (I’m hoping he has “Shake your booty” next year).
The Site
The site had 40 glamping tents and behind them loads of space to put up your own tent. There were flushing toilets and hot showers and a dirt track running the full length of the site which people used to get to the marquee, the toilets, etc…
It was great that Daniel Kish and his team of Visioneers were at Lookfest this year inspiring people to be independent and have the option and skills to “Let go of their guides!”
Activities
There was plenty to keep you entertained at LOOKfest.
For us, some of the highlights were listening to Maleeka and Daniel’s really interesting and inspiring talks, having a really relaxing massage, having a go at blind cricket with nice people and performing and listening to other fantastic performances at the open mike.
Activities that other children really enjoyed that I didn’t manage to fit in were den building , decoration and musical instrument making, slip and slide and navigation workshops with Daniel.
I had a great time and I recommend that you consider attending Lookfest 2020 (if it happens, I really hope it does). I will definitely be volunteering to run a tech tent next year if anyone would be interested in doing that with me.
For more information about Lookfest visit lookfest.org
Visit Maleeka’s blog at meeksspeaks.com.
To learn more about Daniel Kish and his work visit visioneers.org
