ABOUT
THANK YOU EVERYONE
who gave to our crowdfunder
We are now in the process of building some lovely new loos and working on the courtyard. See you all soon x
WHO AND WHAT WE ARE
Fire in the Mountain is a festival, a party, a camp, a group of friends and a shared dream.
Rooted on an ancient farm that nestles between the Cambrian mountains and beautiful Cardigan bay - every summer we throw a small and much-loved music festival while red kites soar in the skies above.
We explore new and old folk culture, we celebrate creativity of all kinds and we seek the friendly spirits of mischief and joy. This is a festival where the land holds the heart - and we, the people, craft a kaleidoscope of beautiful experiences around it.
Fire in the Mountain owes its birth and life to a wonderful, and dear departed friend: Marianne. Back in 2009, a ragtag group of friends who loved folk song and bluegrass/old time music started visiting Marianne at the farm, which had been her home for 25 years. When she retired, it had become a struggle to maintain the farm - and, keen to see the place back in good condition, the group of friends cooked up a plan (with Marianne’s blessing) to invite some volunteers to do some repairs and generally tidy up. The friends also invited bands to play, ordered several barrels of beer and someone had the idea to try for a licence. With a permit, a name was needed - and "Fire In The Mountain" was born, named after an old Appalachian fiddle tune, that pays tribute to the beautiful site.
In the years since 2009, the group of friends have waxed and waned - new ones joining, old ones melting away (but often returning to the dancefloor every summer, if not the meetings) - and yet still the spirit remains. As the years roll by, our commitment to bringing community together is reaffirmed every time the structures go up, the music starts flowing and the people arrive with their dancing shoes on.
Through what we do together, we aspire to many things: to invite participation from as diverse a community as we are able; to act sustainably across all aspects of the events; to create a safe and playful container for people to show up, with all of themselves; to be in a generative, nurturing relationship to all beings that reside in this place - giving what we can and leaving everyone and thing in a better state than when we collided.
Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail and flounder. We are learning all the time - and we welcome others on that journey, with the inevitability of challenges large and small spread amongst the sparkling highs of being together under the dark skies every summer.
VIDEOS MADE OVER THE YEARS…. ENJOY!
First Flyer and Flyer Today
CYMRAEG
PWY A BETH YDYM NI
Mae Tân yn y Mynydd yn ŵyl, parti, gwersyll, grŵp o ffrindiau a breuddwyd a rennir.
Wedi’i wreiddio ar fferm hynafol sy’n swatio rhwng mynyddoedd y Cambrian a bae hardd Aberteifi – bob haf rydyn ni’n cynnal gŵyl gerddorol fechan boblogaidd tra bod barcutiaid coch yn esgyn yn yr awyr uwchben.
Archwiliwn ddiwylliant gwerin hen a newydd, dathlwn greadigrwydd o bob math a cheisiwn ysbrydion cyfeillgar direidi a llawenydd. Dyma ŵyl lle mae’r wlad yn dal y galon – a ninnau, y bobl, yn crefftio caleidosgop o brofiadau hyfryd o’i chwmpas.
Mae tân yn y Mynydd yn ddyledus i ffrind hyfryd ac annwyl ymadawedig: Marianne. Yn ôl yn 2009, dechreuodd grŵp ragtag o ffrindiau a oedd yn hoff o ganu gwerin a cherddoriaeth bluegrass/hen amser ymweld â Marianne ar y fferm, a oedd wedi bod yn gartref iddi ers 25 mlynedd. Wedi iddi ymddeol, roedd hi wedi mynd yn frwydr i gynnal y fferm - ac, yn awyddus i weld y lle yn ôl mewn cyflwr da, fe wnaeth y criw o ffrindiau baratoi cynllun (gyda bendith Marianne) i wahodd rhai gwirfoddolwyr i wneud ychydig o waith atgyweirio a thacluso ar y cyfan. i fyny. Gwahoddodd y ffrindiau hefyd fandiau i chwarae, archebu sawl casgen o gwrw a chafodd rhywun y syniad i geisio am drwydded. Gyda thrwydded, roedd angen enw - a ganwyd "Fire In The Mountain", a enwyd ar ôl hen dôn ffidil Appalachian, sy'n talu teyrnged i'r safle hardd.
Yn y blynyddoedd ers 2009, mae'r criw o ffrindiau wedi cwyro a gwanhau - rhai newydd yn ymuno, hen rai yn toddi (ond yn aml yn dychwelyd i'r llawr dawnsio bob haf, os nad y cyfarfodydd) - ac eto mae'r ysbryd yn parhau. Wrth i'r blynyddoedd fynd heibio, mae ein hymrwymiad i ddod â'r gymuned at ei gilydd yn cael ei ailddatgan bob tro y bydd y strwythurau'n codi, y gerddoriaeth yn dechrau llifo a'r bobl yn cyrraedd gyda'u hesgidiau dawnsio ymlaen.
Trwy'r hyn a wnawn gyda'n gilydd, rydym yn anelu at lawer o bethau: gwahodd cyfranogiad gan gymuned mor amrywiol ag y gallwn; gweithredu'n gynaliadwy ar draws pob agwedd ar y digwyddiadau; i greu cynhwysydd diogel a chwareus i bobl ddangos i fyny, gyda phob un ohonynt eu hunain; bod mewn perthynas gynhyrchiol, feithringar i bob bod sy'n byw yn y lle hwn - gan roi'r hyn a allwn a gadael pawb a pheth mewn gwell cyflwr na phan wnaethon ni wrthdaro.
Weithiau rydyn ni'n llwyddo, weithiau rydyn ni'n methu ac yn cwympo. Rydyn ni’n dysgu drwy’r amser – ac rydyn ni’n croesawu eraill ar y daith honno, gyda heriau anochel mawr a bach wedi’u lledaenu ymhlith yr uchafbwyntiau pefriog o fod gyda’n gilydd o dan yr awyr dywyll bob haf.
EIN GOBEITHIAU AR GYFER Y DYFODOL
Gyda mwy na degawd o brofiad bellach, mae’r sefydliad sy’n eistedd wrth galon Tân yn y Mynydd wedi bod trwy lawer! Ar ôl blynyddoedd unig y pandemig, roedd cynnal gŵyl arall yn 2022 - ein degfed parti pen-blwydd - yn foment hardd, anhrefnus, hynod bwysig a heriol i bawb. Gan adeiladu ar y gwersi a ddysgwyd o'r blynyddoedd diwethaf ac yng ngoleuni'r newidiadau sy'n digwydd o'n cwmpas yn ein byd cyflym o argyfwng hinsawdd, newid diwylliannol a chynnwrf gwleidyddol - rydym yn y broses o ailgynllunio sut rydym yn gwneud pethau.
Gobeithiwn y bydd y sesiwn gloywi hon yn ein helpu i ddechrau ymateb i rai o’r heriau mawr sy’n ein hwynebu: sut i amrywio’r tîm a’r arlwy creadigol drwy ailfeddwl pwy sy’n dod a phwy sy’n teimlo croeso; sut i ofalu am ein gilydd mewn ffordd faterol go iawn, heb y cyllidebau mawr a ddaw yn sgil buddsoddiad a nawdd; sut i fodoli heb rai pobl allweddol sydd wedi gwneud llawer o waith codi trwm o'r dechrau; sut i osod ein hunain yn y byd gydag uniondeb a hiwmor da?
Yn anad dim, ac fel cymaint yn y diwydiant digwyddiadau, rydyn ni am barhau i allu gwneud yr hyn rydyn ni'n ei garu heb losgi ein hunain i grimp - a gwneud yn siŵr bod cymaint o bobl eraill â phosib yn dod draw am y reid. Hir oes Tân yn y Mynydd!
Fire in the Mountain Festival LTD - Facts and Figures
Fire in the Mountain Festival LTD is a NOT-FOR-PROFIT company limited by guarantee. This means there are no shares or shareholders, and thus, any “profit”, over and above reasonable wages, can only be re-invested to pursue the aims and objectives of the company as enshrined in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. These are as follows (as per 2012 when the company was formed)
(i) To organise cultural events and festivals.
(ii) To promote local, national and international music and culture, and provide platforms for collaborations, development and greater cultural understanding and exchange.
(iii) To promote greater understanding of environmental responsibility and sustainable living through education and practice.
(iv) Further our objectives through collaborations with carefully selected partner organisations, festivals and promoters.
As we are a cultural event, we are not liable for VAT on ticket income, and are thus not VAT registered.
GOVERNANCE
For many years FITM has worked towards operating as a non-heirachical Organisation with a flat management structure, as a form of cooperative influenced by the work of Frederic Laloux in his book “Reinventing Organisations”. This form of working together is perhaps best suited to those who work together on a very regular basis, and not so suited to a disparate group of wonderful individuals who come together to focus on one event per year. Although embodying a lot of the principles espoused in his treatise, we now operate with a consensual governance framework consisting of a Steering Committee (responsible for year round management, and open to all ops team member to join), and an Operations Team, responsible for running their specific area at the festival, with principles of Self Management and Autonomy. The principle of TRANSPARENCY is still at the very core of the organisation, with all information, budgets, decisions, available to all crew to input on - in the form of a shared online folder. For many years The Festival operated as a completely Volunteer Run organisation, where people mostly worked for expenses, with all surplus being reinvested to renovate and help maintain the farm on which the festival is held. Over the years the facilities have improved and many infrastructure investments have been made, and there is not much more we can do.
UNIVERSAL BASIC WAGE
This year we introduced a Universal Basic Wage across everyone who works at the festival. As the event has become more and more established and popular, the amount of work required to deliver a safe and legally compliant event has increased. In addition, it has become much harder for the majority of our crew to dedicate the amount of volunteer time needed to run the event. To solve these issues, and to achieve transparency and parity, we’ve introduced a Universal Basic Wage across the entire organisation; (1) To honour the Not For Profit element of the event, EVERYONE volunteers 2 Days, or 16 Hours of their time, to the festival for free. If you volunteer for us, this is what you will do. (2) If completing your role requires more time, we pay Area Managers £100 per day for pre-event planning and “paperwork/spreadsheets”. (3) Once on site and at the event, all our crew are paid £80pd please 3 meals a day. It is true some people now get paid more, but that’s just because they have spent more time to complete their role.
THE TIME IT TAKES TO RUN A FESTIVAL
Total Days Needed: 1395
Total Free Days Given: 320
Event Days: 702
Planning Days Needed: 373
Crew Travel: £7520
Planning Wages: £37300
Event Wages: 56200
Total Wages: £80,000
Quite a lot of work goes in it! It takes a year to organise a weekend!
IMPROVING THE FACILITIES OF THE FESTIVAL
With significantly increased wages across all our crew (sustainability means sustaining your crew), it’s become harder to generate surplus revenue to re-invest in improving some facilities that benefit the festival. Later this summer we will be launching a Crowdfunder to help us improve a couple of areas of the festival: to resurface the court yard to make for a better dance floor, and to remodel and improve our compost loos in a new location. We are launching a crowdfunder for this as it falls outside our remit to “improve the farm”, as arguably these things really only improve the experience at the festival, and aren’t strictly necessary for the farm itself (the horses don’t dance!).
After talking boring stuff, here is a photo of a massive chicken to remind us why we do it all….
