Radical Bakers Summer Gathering 2025

Thursday 3rd July until Sunday 6th July 2025, at Crabapple Community near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, one of the UK’s oldest housing co-ops.

Summer Gathering is a weekend filled with focused activities, along with professional bands on the Green Dragon Solar Stage. The Baker’s Arms café bar offers a delicious fully catered option. We keep our gatherings small and friendly and sell no more than 110 adult tickets. Workshops are taught by experienced and knowledgeable people and all courses are included in the ticket price. Tickets are available only from the bottom of this page.

A detailed timetable is available before the event, with an updated version posted on the chalkboard outside the Café.

You can arrive from Thursday midday. The Gathering Introduction is Thursday at 8pm with live music, a bar and a relaxed atmosphere where you can meet people and unwind ready for the focused workshops. We really like people to come to this and stay for the weekend. The workshops begin on Friday 11am, with live music from 9pm. Saturday workshops start at 9am and run until 4pm. In the evening, test your animal knowledge with a Animal Quiz, followed by live music, a bar until midnight, and a communal fire with acoustic tunes until 1am. Sunday workshops start at 10am, finishing at 5pm. Wind down with pizza from 6-8pm and the RB Cabaret and Open-mic on Sunday evening. You’re welcome to stay until 2pm on Monday.

Our workshops cover a wide range of sustainable living topics, with an emphasis on practical skills. There are around 130 hours of workshops at Summer Gathering, all included in the ticket price. Some things fill up very quickly and only have limited spaces, our only advice is get here early! Streams include Green Technology, Textiles, Crafts and Nature, Self-Care and Community.

Sustainable Living Courses and Workshops in 2025

These are just the first few confirmed workshops for 2025, many more to be announced in the coming months.

You can download last year’s Timetable HERE, a full timetable will be available before July.

Green Technology

• Dave Hayhurst – Basic Auto Mechanics: Dave will be going over the very basics of how to maintain and fix your vehicle.
• Blake Sanders from Green Dragon – Blake will be offering a few courses throughout the weekend including Reclaiming Lithium Cells from disposable devices, Basic Low Voltage Battery Electrics and Safety (beginners) or Solar Power Specification and Installation (intermediate). See the full Green Dragon course list HERE.
• Andy Alder – DIY Hydroponics from Reclaimed Materials: Build your own hydroponic system using easily found, cheap and free items.
• Stu Watson – Gas Digesters: Stu will explain the practicalities of building and maintaining a gas digester, demonstrating a large one at Crabapple.
• Seggy Segeran – Small Scale Solar Power: A beginner-friendly session introducing the basics of solar power. Jane and Seggy will also be running the popular Rocket Stove Race!

Textiles

• Nic Miners – Knitting for beginners and intermediates.
• Sarah Bracken – Felting: Felt Necklaces and Felt Book Covers.
• Lisa Moomin – The Art of Crochet with guided instruction from the Moomin-Mama.
• Sophie DéPas – Needlepoint: Learn the basics of needlepoint and create your own intricate designs.
• Cat Anson – Darning: Fed up with holey socks and woolies? Come learn how to mend them with Darning. Cat will also be running a wood and bramble session to make a children’s toy (adults only).

Crafts and Nature

• Sara from SMPTree – Upcycling Paper: Weave waste paper into functional and striking containers.
• Joey from Merched Y Berllan – Orchard Management: This year, the focus will be on summer pruning techniques.
• Neil and Jayne from Forgeways – Join Forge Ways in making your very own hand brush using natural materials.
• Bob from Backpacking Light – Shelter Making and Tarp Pitching, Dehydrating Food for Walkers, Backpacking essentials.



Self-Care

• Ryan and Catherine from Knight-Fox Wild About Learning – Wild Plant Herbal First Aid and Tool Sharpening.
• Laura from Flowertwist – Laura will be running our morning Yoga sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
• Christine Conroy – How to Look After Your Back and Body.
• Jane Segeran – Haybox Cooking: Learn how to cook using an energy-efficient haybox.

Community

• Andy Alder – Sustainable Businesses: Learn strategies for transitioning towards a more sustainable, lower-cost, and lower-impact lifestyle.
• Jinny Sanders – Bulk Bread Baking Sessions and the Radical Bake-Off!: Participate in group bread baking sessions and compete in the bake-off!

Alongside scheduled workshops, enjoy the Baking Area, Camp Market, Bands, a Quiz and tours of Crabapple. We also offer two daily sessions of organised children’s activities, a Kid’s Baking Session, and the Camp Games, including the Lemon Jousting Tournament. Don’t miss the popular Radical Bake-Off competition for the best sweet treats!

Our workshops involve practical skills and provide useful information to enhance your life and the lives of those around you. The Radical Bakers Workshops Archive offers a glimpse into past workshops with photos and links.

Music at Radical Bakers Summer Gathering 2025

On the Green Dragon Stage, we are delighted to host talented musicians and entertainers who bring their professional skills and passionate performances to our event. Our Thursday and Friday feature quality live music in the evenings and we would love it if you could make it to these chances to meet everyone. Saturday evening starts with the Birds and Beasts Animal Quiz from 4pm and then live music til 12pm. Watch this space for 2025!

Thursday
• 21:00 My Mate Dave are an acoustic female fronted four piece, combining upcycled folk, vaudeville, pop and close harmony. They play banjo, uke, fiddle and flute with four voices. Their music is mostly self-written and they draw influences from gypsy folk to 70’s glam rock and back again, with a nod to balladeers and minstrels of times past on the way. The result is an interesting mix of original music, with a few reworked familiar songs, some as acapella pieces with four part harmony.
• 22:00 TBA

Friday
• 21:00 Leo Brazil
• 22:00 Lunabarge – a double-stomping, energetic, uplifting, indie-folk duo. Armed with banjo, guitar, ukulele, 2 voices and 2 stomp boxes, they like to find the little things in life that make it worth living and encapsulate them in their catchy original songs.

Saturday
• 21:00 Muddy Summers and the DFWs. Doombox: youtube.com/watch?v=Uf1sYEqnvuk Get off my tits!: youtube.com/watch?v=X3UQNo0WrxM 2023 album on Bandcamp: muddysummers.bandcamp.com/album/seeing-seeds
• 22:00 TBA

Sunday
• 21:00 Radical Bakers Cabaret then Open Mic and Sing-along…

The Green Dragon Solar Stage uses top-quality modern PA equipment and is powered from the sun. The amplified music ends at midnight. Our Music Archive has links to lots of the past bands at RB.

With your ticket, you will have access to camping facilities in our beautiful meadow surrounded by trees. There is a designated quiet camping area for those who prefer a more peaceful environment, as well as a more accessible camping area. Clean, working composting toilets, and a shower, will be available on-site, but please do not expect Glamping, the field can be muddy and uneven.

Campervans are welcome, with no restrictions on vehicle or awning size. However, there are no hookups (go solar) and nowhere to empty chemical toilets.

Please consider your travel options and car-share if possible. You can find our lift-sharing facebook group HERE.

Buy tickets for Radical Bakers Summer Gathering 2025.

Radical Bakers Summer Gathering, 3-6th July 2025, Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Securely purchase your tickets using credit or debit cards via PayPal. Ticket prices cover booking fees, car parking, camping, and access to all workshops and entertainment. If you have any questions not addressed on our Info page, please feel free to email us at radicalbakersgathering@gmail.com. For details about our fully catered option, click Here. Prior to purchasing tickets, kindly review our Terms and Conditions & Safer Spaces policies to ensure you can adhere to them. We have decided to allow a limited number of dogs with a bond. Dog Ticket conditions here. Please note that we do not offer day tickets or tickets on the gate. If the ticket you seek is not listed below, it is either sold out or not yet available for sale.

There are only 110 adult places in 2025. Click ‘add to basket’ once for each ticket required and then click ‘view basket‘ to checkout.