Firekeepers Autumn Village Camp 2025

Coooeeee! Do you hear the village calling? 

Village camp is returning this autumn bringing together the human kin of all ages and stages. For five days we will be immersed in the beautiful bushlands of Wurundjeri county, Riddells Creek. Camping and sharing in nature-based skills, games, songs, stories, bushcrafts, nature walks and ways of connection that reweave the threads of belonging, to self, community, and the land.

11th-15th April, 2025

Rowallan Scout Camp, Riddells Creek VIC

Rediscover your inner wild. 

Come alive with a vibrant community of humans.

Immerse yourself in the wonder and wisdom of nature. 

Gather by the campfire and learn earth-based skills. 

Watch your kids thrive in the wild. 

And most importantly – help us rekindle the village fire!

With massive mycelial gratitude in our hearts for the special humans who’ve brought camp to life over the years, we’re dreaming into all the things we love about our village as we continue to weave these threads of connection and belonging. 

As always, this is a family friendly, drug and alcohol-free event, and everyone is welcome – from the freshest joeys to the wisest elders – diversity in the forest and the village is what we’re all about! 

Weaving our village ~ What to expect…

Village Camp is an opportunity to gather in community and sink our roots deep into nature connection and allow the earth to support all aspects of our collective lives. Let us welcome you to the village! 

You’ll arrive with your tent and camping gear to a warm bush welcome and settle into our beautiful surroundings as village life awakens around you. For five days we will explore the natural world around us, create fire without matches, share earth-based skills, play games, share stories around the campfire, laugh and sing, and take a much-needed breath of fresh air as we slow down back to Earth time.

Each morning, awaken to the gentle, melodic tunes of our morning singers (or earlier to the morning chorus of local birds!) After breakfast, you’ll gather with the whole village for a check-in and a couple of community games before the kids and teens go their separate ways for a morning of play and adventure.

Morning program: 

Kids venture into the wild to experience a free-flowing exploration of the surrounding bush with our experienced nature connection mentors. Together the mentors and kids immerse themselves in story and song, play games, follow their curiosity and creativity as they wander and explore, find animal tracks and practice wild skills and crafts. Over the days, they will open into a deep awareness of the wild world as they connect with plants, earth, animals and each other.

Adults will have the opportunity to create their own personal journey of adventure and discovery or to participate in the adults program. There’ll be plenty of time and space for sit spots and solo bush adventures, to share and practice earth-based skills and deepen their nature observation and ecological literacy. The archetypal ‘wild child’ will come alive through games, nature play and other spontaneous connective activities. 

Teens will be supported to participate in the adult program or be a mentor for the kids program, and engage in the village and with mentors to follow their own interests and curiosities and deepen their nature-based skills and explorations.

Little ones who are still ‘in the pouch’ will gather together with their parents and other villagers to play and have adventures a little closer to camp. There will be some mentors available to provide activities for the little ones and assist parents who would like to participate in the adult program.

Afternoon:

With our village reunited after adventurous mornings, the afternoons are free-flowing. Villagers play with new friends, practice new skills, share their talents or just chill out. Some might wish to head off for a wander or take some quiet time to rest and relax.

Some afternoons, you'll be rostered on for village service where, together with a small team, you'll spend a bit of time contributing in some way to the smooth running of our village - from serving dinner to tidying up camp, lighting the evening fire to washing the communal dinner pots. We'll sing, chat and work together to keep the village humming!

Evening:

As the sun sets, delicious smells waft from our fabulous cooks in the kitchen and with song, hungry villagers gather to share in wholesome home-cooked dinner around the fire. A storytelling space opens as the day’s tales of adventure and discovery and laughter bubble up to be shared. When the fire dies down and the stars come out tuckered-out little ones are sung off as they wander off to their tents. Some nights might lend themselves to after-dark bush adventures too, before sleeping close to the earth and waking to the morning chorus again.

Practicals

Tickets include a Welcome to Country from a respected Wurundjeri elder, youth nature connection mentoring and facilitation, adults program of earth based skills, morning and evening whole village circles, camping accommodation (with flushing toilets and hot showers!) and hot camp-cooked dinner each night with storytelling and song by the campfire. Want to know more about a typical day at village camp? 

Participants need to bring their own tent and camping gear (get in touch if you need some help here).

Morning program

• For adults: nature connection workshops, bush crafting and rewilding skills.
• For kids aged 4 and up to go out in small similar-aged groups with experienced nature connection mentors.

*All of our mentors have Working With Children Checks and we have qualified First Aiders.

The kids return to the responsibility of their parents and carers for lunch and an open spacious afternoon, with opportunities to contribute to the collective running of the village.

Dinner is served around 6 and an evening program follows.

All members are welcome to participate as much or as little in the activities as they need to feel at home in the village.

Food

Each villager or family will bring their own breakfast, lunch and snacks. Depending on fire restrictions, there may be some space for campfire cooking, but if you want cooked breakfasts or lunches it’s a good idea to bring your own camp cooking equipment.

Wholesome vegetarian dinners will be provided by Ricky Rickstar and shared around the campfire under the shelter of the Willum in the evenings. 

*We are able to cater for vegan, gluten free and dairy free dietary requirements if notified on booking. If this isn’t you, you will need to bring extra food to supplement.

Ticket pricing

As part of dreaming into what a sustainable community-led village camp looks like we have updated the ticketing model to be simpler and clearer.

All tickets for program participants (adults and children) are the same price, with a lower price for joeys (children who are too young to participate in the kids' program).

Prices for this camp are: 

Adult: $480

Child 4+: $480

Joey 3: $200

Joey 0-2: $50

All tickets - including volunteer tickets and joey tickets - include a contribution towards the Village Fund. The Village Fund celebrates the diversity of our community by acknowledging that not all of us have equally abundant access to funds. While some of us are able to support the village, others - including many of the essential volunteers and mentors who make camp possible - need the village's support to be able to gather with us and share their gifts. If this is you, and you need the support of the village, you can enter the code ‘fundme’ at checkout to have the Village Fund discount of $50 per ticket applied. For those finding themselves in a place of abundance, you can also make an additional contribution to the Village Fund at checkout 🌱

Volunteering and Support

Do you love stepping in to share your skills and lend a hand? Do you feel called to mentor our village youngsters in deepening their connection to the more-than-human-world? More than ever, we need your passion and presence to bring this camp back to life! 

If you are excited to jump aboard as a mentor or member of the village support crew, please fill out an expression of interest form.

I am interested in mentoring at a Firekeepers Village Camp. 

I am interested in being on the support crew at a Firekeepers Village Camp.  

We’re all so excited to be rekindling this fire with you, dear village!

In wild love and connection, 

The Village Camp Organising Team

For more details on how camp operates, prices, practicalities and the rekindled approach to a community-led camp, head to our website below.

https://www.firekeepers.com.au/