We arrive on the Friday the 15th of July, set up our tents and start building the camp. That is our main focus over the first day.

Between Saturday and Tuesday, we will continue building the camp, and prepare our inner prayers, practice drumming, singing and dancing.

The first dance begins at sunset on Tuesday evening. This is a community round – everyone is encouraged to participate. After this one dance, everyone gently goes to their dreams.

On Wednesday we begin at sunrise: We dance, drum, sing and meditate for 45 minutes of each hour, until sunset, with 15 minutes rest between rounds.

Thursday and Friday are another two full days of give-away from sunrise to sunset.

On Saturday, we begin at sunrise and the final dance ends at noon, followed by a feast in the evening.

The Ceremonial completion takes place on Sunday the 24th. Taking down the camp is a ceremony in itself called Leave No Trace, an old understanding of leaving a place more beautiful than when you arrived.
We can expect to be ready to leave the camp no earlier than 6 PM on Sunday afternoon.

All participants may dance as many rounds as they choose. Everyone is encouraged to dance, drum, sing and support the dancers with their prayers in the Dance Lodge or in some other way that sustains the community.

Taking part in The Sundance in this tradition of the Earth Wisdom Medicine is about offering Give-Aways in prayers for Life and for Peace, and this can happen in many ways.

During the Ceremony itself, we will send our prayers out to the Tree of Life through dancing, drumming, singing and meditating. This is the highlight, the main focus and intention of this powerful time together. Everything we do is at service to this time of prayer.

And this kind of prayers can only happen when we also prepare and care for our camp before arriving on the land, in the days running up to the actual Ceremony and at its completion. Some of us are already preparing their prayers, their physical condition as well as the gathering of various equipment, supplies and skills needed.

In the Ceremony, we invite you to take any of the following roles:

• Dancer – You may dance as many rounds as you choose. It is important to prepare yourself physically by stretching and strengthening yourself a few weeks in advance if you plan to dance many rounds a day. Each round is 45 minutes
• Drummer/Singer – The drumming and singing provide the energy to support the dancers – literally. Many are practising in teams. All who intend to sing and drum, please make sure you are available for practice. If you want to drum and haven’t drummed before it is important that you arrive no later than Saturday at noon in Trend forest. If possible it is recommended to take part in drum practice during the months preceding the Dance.
  For more information on this, you can contact StarWalker at b@raaberg.com.
• Supporter – Supporters sit in the Dance Lodge located in the wheel during the dance rounds. They are those who choose to support the dancers, either in between rounds of dancing or drumming themselves, or because this is how they can best offer their own gift, if, for instance, dancing/drumming presents a physical challenge. You may sit in support as often as you want. This is a time for quiet prayer and meditation, focusing your energy in support of the dancers and the collective prayer in the lodge.
• Building and caring for the camp – There are many other ways you can help before and/or during the Sundance, by ‘taking point’ (see ‘Organisational Flow’ under ‘Community and Camp Life’ for more information) for any particular area or being part of teams to care for a particular aspect of our time together, living as a tribe.

The name of this Ceremony “The Sundance” is based on the idea that the Dance to the Sun is created for the people and by the people.

This means that all of the Ceremony is planned, organised and run by the people – each person supporting and/or coming to this Sundance contributes to creating how it will unfold.

During the year
Throughout the year a cohort is planning and organizing the camp, the structure and equipment, the registration, the website, the food menu, looking at all aspects of the community life that will support the prayer. These efforts are held as part of the Give-Away to Life and to Mother Earth that the Sundance calls for. This is about creating the container for the prayer.

Alongside this, those drumming and singing will come together and start practicing, those intending to dance many rounds will build their physical strength, and we all begin to surface the prayer we want to hold and offer to Life.

During the Sundance
When we arrive, we begin with setting our tents, and focus on building our community spaces. Here again, the mind we are holding is that of the Give-Away.

When we arrive, we join a ‘clan’, a group of people who will care for particular aspects of the camp’s needs from the first to the last day. This also becomes a precious support to learn and have joyful exchanges with, as we deepen our inner prayers – especially for those ‘new’ to the Sundance.

With this structure to support us, throughout our days together, we will care for cooking, cleaning, dishwashing, the fire and the general beauty of the camp.

At the end of the Ceremonial time, we will also take the camp down together, leaving no traces and only beauty behind us.

Points and clans
In this Earth Wisdom Medicine Way, we care for one another through a structure of ‘points’ and ‘clans’ or ‘societies’.

Points here is a concept of someone (in this case one with experience of what needs to be cared for) agreeing to take responsibility for accomplishing a task by getting a team (called ‘clan’ or ‘society’) together as needed in order to work on the activity. Alongside this comes also a heightened awareness and responsibility for the needs of the people. Together, we ensure this Ceremony comes into being, on behalf of the people.

Alongside this, some of us will also hold the point of our ‘clans’, which will care for our daily maintenance tasks in a mutually supportive way.

The nature of this Ceremony requires focus and dedication; it is also a celebration of life, and our young ones of all ages bring a beautiful gift of life to this Ceremony. They also need to be held in a good way.

Bringing children is a give away, as is dancing, preparing, cooking and cleaning. In the ‘tribal mind’ they are the children of the camp, and we are all their grandparents, their cousins, their uncles and aunts, holding and protecting their ground for growth.

At the same time we know that the parents will carry the prime responsibility for their own children. Before arriving to the camp, it is important that both parents and children are aware of the duration and the purpose of the ceremony itself. Children are not required to participate actively in supporting the dance, hence arrangements for their care and safety must be made in advance.

Practicalities in relation to the preparation time:
Two parents of a child/children count as one in relation to the practical preparations and are both placed in the same society/team. It is expected that one of the 2 parents is engaged in the tasks of the society, and that the other parent and the children can choose to participate, whenever possible, but this is not expected.

One parent alone with a child/children is placed in a society for the sake of the building of energy and feeling of connection, and this parent is not expected to be part of the practical tasks at all. Help offered when possible will be regarded as an extra gift.

To accomplish this high ceremony of Sundance, we will together make a structure in beauty and prayer.
The daily life will unfold in a structure where we take care of different necessary areas of life: Nurturing food, a clean kitchen, impeccable handling of waste, creating beauty around us and caring for and playing with the children.

The structure is divided into groups we call societies. Each society is both a task force and a mini tribe within the bigger tribe.
There will be a person who has the overall view in each society. This person we call a “point”. We welcome innovation, creativity, fun and joy – it is part of shining our light and living life with awareness.

When the structure is in place we can send our prayers in all the different ways.
No matter if you are dancing, singing, drumming, dish washing, cooking, cleaning toilets, or telling stories to children, you are a SUNDANCER. You dedicate to bring your energy forward and engage with life, wherever you are – being who YOU are!
Everything in the Sundance is part of the prayer and contributing to the collective.

When signing up for the Sundance you will be asked to choose your two preferred options.

Below is a short description of each society. More details at sign up.

Beauty Society

To ensure that camp and ceremonial space is clean, beautiful and welcoming for the people. Calling the people to awareness when spaces are in need for loving attention.

Thorough cleaning and beautifying the different areas of the camp. Take care of trash and recycle system and water the tree in the evening.

Breakfast Society

Nourish the people with delicious breakfast, setting the tone of the day.

For early birds. Prepare breakfast, coffee and tea, put away food after breakfast, wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

Lunch Society

Feeding the energy work through sustaining the bodies of the people.

Prepare lunch, put away food after lunch and clean the kitchen. Make afternoon tea and coffee. Empty and clean compost containers from the kitchen.
The food consists mainly of a variety of salads and breads. We are working with a food plan with suggestions for all meals.

Mid day dishing washing Society

Ensure a smooth flow and cleanliness of the dishwashing area during and after lunch preparation.

Wash the dishes being used in the lunch preparation and serving. Set up water for community dish wash.
Some work is needed while the lunch society is working and the biggest part of the dish washing happens after lunch. (Everybody does their own dish washing of personal plates and cutlery.)

Dinner Society

Prepare our completion of the day and invite the people to gather around the fire.

Prepare and serve dinner, put away food after dinner and clean the kitchen. Empty and clean compost containers from the kitchen.
The food consists of a different warm dishes and salads. We are working with a food plan with suggestions for all meals.

Evening dish washing Society

Ensure a smooth flow and cleanliness of the dishwashing area during and after dinner preparation, leaving beauty for the next day.

Wash the dishes being used in the dinner preparation and serving. Set up water for community dish wash and assist with trash removal.
Most of the dishes needs to be washed before dinner is served, and the rest will be washed after dinner. (Everybody does their own dish washing of personal plates and cutlery.)

Coming together as a tribe has many aspects. We come together to share our gifts in this life and some of these gifts manifest as physical “Medicine* items” or objects of beauty.

Past years we have had a Medicine Fair, thus many beautiful Medicine items were brought forward and enjoyed great popularity: Sage, sweetgrass, abalone shells, dream catchers, tobacco boxes, feathers, crystals, jewellery, medicine bags and pouches, CDs, postcards and books are some of these Medicine* items. The selection is dependent on the people of the tribe, so who knows; maybe this year we might see flutes, drums, headbands, talking sticks, altar cloths…

We call to all you creative people out there, to bring your craft and beauty to this year’s Fair at the People’s Dance to the Sun.

FireWeaver is our Point for this area, so please contact her at herself@annevisby.dk

* ‘Medicine’ in this way and tradition originates from the Ojibwe word “Medowin”, which means wholeness and balance.

Photos
The People’s Dance to the Sun is a peak Ceremony of the year, and it is also a time in which we, as a tribe, weave ourselves together. We meet new and old family members and taking photos of our time together enables us to share some of these memories with others (see links in ‘Community and Camp life’). During our preparation time and after the completion of the dance, you are welcome to use your camera respectfully around the camp, and we ask for this to happen in respect of the deep Ceremony that is unfolding there as well.
During the Dance, we ask for everybody to leave their cameras in the tents and make their memories with their hearts instead.

Mobile phones
Mobile phones enable us to stay in touch with our loved ones and care for aspects of our lives that hold importance and urgency for us. They also can also engage our minds and focus in external concerns, which can interfere with the depth of our prayer.

We therefore invite you to use your mobile phone with mindfulness and in respect, in particular during the Ceremony itself: Should you need to connect with a person outside the camp then please ensure this happens away from the Community/Ceremonial spaces, in respect of the prayers and meditation held there.

Internet Access
Is only occasionally and with luck possible via smart phones.

During the Ceremony itself we use special medicine clothing and accessories, to support our intention and prayers.

Dancing skirts
Traditionally both men and women wear ceremonial skirts. These are typically wrap-around skirts, which are mid-calf length and can be decorated and embellished with your personal medicine, provided they are practical for the constant movement of the dancing. Simple clothing enhances focus on the prayer. Wearing jewellery, which flops about or is otherwise unsecured, will distract. It is also good to be prepared for rain, as we will continue rain or shine. Some skirts will be provided if needed.

Footwear
Sturdy, well broken in cross training or running shoes are suggested. Other footwear is at your option. You may choose to dance barefoot or in moccasins.

Feathers
In this tradition, dancers hold two sturdy feathers, 6 inches or longer, throughout the dance. The meaning of this will be explained during dance preparation and practice time. Bring feathers that are meaningful to you if you have them. Additional feathers will be available if needed.

Brightening Objects
During the dance we have an outdoor Altar. We invite you to place something which is special to you to add some of yourself to the collective energy. This will also gather energy during the Ceremony time and can journey back home with you. This could be a special stone, feather, jewellery…

Practicalities around camping
Make sure you bring all you need for outdoor life, camping in an open grass field, in all the weather conditions of the Danish Summer (see What to bring and Good to know about Denmark for more information).

Camping
The forest of Trend is a very beautiful and peaceful place. We need to build everything from scratch, so you will experience a basic way of living close to the spirits of nature.

Laundry
The venue has no special facilities for laundry, we therefore encourage you to bring enough clothes for you to wear without needing to do any extra laundry.

Food
Our main focus of being together is sending our prayers to Life, thus we will have simple nourishing meals prepared with love by our own hands in the outdoor kitchen tent. We recommend that you keep that awareness in mind in the weeks before coming, and simplify your diet a little if needed, especially concerning intake of caffeine and sugar.

If you have any special dietary needs, make sure to make this known when you register, so that our kitchen team can include this in the designing of the menu.

These are items we recommend you bring along:

Camping:

• Tent
• Extra tarp or ground sheet and string
• Pad/airbed
• Sleeping Bag
• Pillow
• Torch/headlamp and batteries

Utensils:

• Small bag to keep your cutlery together in the allocated storing area
• Plate
• Bowl
• Cup
• Knife/fork/spoon
• Small water bottle
• One or two tea-towels
  … all with your name on if you can
• Pen/sheath knife

Personal items:

• Clothes for cold, hot and wet weather
• Towels and face cloth
• Wet wipes
• Toiletries, including soap, shampoo etc.(natural ingredients recommended)
• Sun glasses
• Hat
• Bathing suit (for purification lodge)
• Sturdy shoes and/or rubber boots
• Sun screen
• Mosquito repellent (natural ingredients recommended)
• Insect bite salve or lotion
• Tweezers for tics
• Throat lozenges to keep your voice strong and clear
• Vitamin drink mix to help your body replenish itself
• Blister treatment and bandages for minor bumps and scrapes
• If you are thinking of bringing some homeopathic or oils or some other holistic helpers, please do so.

Ceremonial Items:

• Dance skirt and feathers – if you have them, some supplies will be available
• Special blanket for sitting or for over your shoulders – this can also double as an extra layer at night in your tent
• Notebook/Journal
• Coloured Pens
• Brightening object (something special to you that will gather energy during the ceremony time eg. special stone, feather, jewellery etc (you will take this home again with you) it can be placed on the altar – so not too big)
• Personal medicine items

Cash of Danish Kroner for:

• Shopping at the Medicine Fair
• Extra things which may come up

Mother Earth likes her children to be aware of the garbage we produce. It is good to grow this awareness, so let us help each other – and keep it simple 🙂

We have a sorting in the kitchen area of:

• Cardboard: Cardboard, corrugated cardboard and egg cartons. Cardboard boxes must be folded flat.
• Paper: Newspapers, magazines, advertisements, window envelopes and directories.
• Plastic containers: Emptied and cleaned plastic drums from example. juice and detergents and plastic bottles.
• Plastic film: Plastic from coverage, packaging, plastic bags and plastic bags. Must be relatively clean.
• Bottles and glass: Empty and rinsed bottles and canning / packing glass, dressing, alcohol and wine bottles – also chipping.
• Cans: Cans of beer, soft drinks and preserves. Rinse before delivery.
• Tealight holders: Residues of stearin are ok.

Same in Danish:

• Pap: Papkasser, bølgepap, karton og æggebakker. Papkasser skal være sammenfoldede.
• Papir: Aviser, ugeblade, reklamer, rudekuverter og telefonbøger.
• Plastdunke: Tømte og rengjorte plastdunke fra fx. saft og rengøringsmidler samt plastflasker.
• Plastfolie: Plast fra afdækning, emballering, plastsække og plastposer. Rene så de ikke samler lugt.
• Flasker og glas: Tomme og skyllede flasker og konserves/emballageglas, dressing, alkohol og vinflasker – også skår.
• Dåser: Dåser fra øl, sodavand og konserves. Skylles før aflevering.
• Holdere fra fyrfadslys: Stearinrester er ok.

THE ADDRESS IS:  Gunderupvej 149-151, 9640 Farsø.

You can find the address here:

https://goo.gl/maps/mGD18

By Air
Listed in order of distance from airport to camp

• Aalborg
• Billund
• Tirstrup/Aarhus
• Esbjerg
• Odense
• Copenhagen

If you fly into Copenhagen, then book a train ticket from the airport. An ‘Orange’ ticket is the cheapest option.

Over Land
No regular busses go all the way to camp; the closest stop is Farsø Busterminal. To plan your journey use https://www.rejseplanen.dk. You can change the language to German or English at the top of the website’s window.  In the ”From” field choose from the list of places below. In the ”To” field write: Farsø Busterminal.

To get from there to camp, use a taxi (phone numbers below), or use the service called “Flextur” by the local bus company (Nordjyllands Trafikselskab; number below). Here you can book in advance the last bit of your journey by bus. It works only inside the company’s own area, it is cheaper than taxi and cheaper the more people that travel together. Book as early as 2 weeks, no later than 2 hours before.
NB: payment only possible in cash, Danish currency!

As an alternative, we will setup out own ‘pick up’ service from the bus stop for those with children or heavy luggage.

From Billund Airport
Bus from airport.
Changes: 3-4.
Duration: app. 4:40 – 6:00.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: Billund Lufthavn (bus).

From Esbjerg Airport
Bus from airport.
Changes: 1-5.
Duration: app 4:30 – 6:45.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: Esbjerg Lufthavn (bus)

From Esbjerg Harbour 
3 min. walk to busstop at Fanø Ferry. 
Bus takes you to station.
Changes: 3-5.
Duration app. 4:30 – 6.00.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: Esbjerg Havn (færge) Dokvej 1T, 6700 Esbjerg, Esbjerg

From Tirstrup Airport (Aarhus) 
Bus from airport.
Change: 3-5.
Duration: app. 3:00-4:30.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk 
from: Aarhus Lufthavn (rutebil)

From Aalborg Airport 
Bus from airport.
Changes: 1-3.
Duration: app. 1:30-2:00.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: Aalborg Lufthavn (Lufthavnsvej / Nørresundby)

From Odense Airport  (From Italy, Crete and Bulgaria).
Get a taxi from airport to Odense train station.
Changes: 2-4.
From the train station the duration is 4:00 – 5:00

From Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup) 
Train from airport.
Changes: 2-4.
Duration: app 6:00 – 7:00.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: Copenhagen Airport

From Copenhagen Central Station
Changes: 2-3.
Duration: app 5:30 – 6:30.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: København H

From South by train
Change in Middelfart.
Changes: 2-4.
Duration: app 3:40 – 5:00.
How to plan: rejseplanen.dk
from: Middelfart st

Appr. distances from stations to camp:
Hobro station: 45 km
Arden station 48 km
Støvring station: 50 km
Skørping station: 52 km
Aalborg station 65 km

To get all the way to camp, go by bus to Farsø Busterminal (see above paragraph).

Taxi phone numbers
NB: Danish phone numbers do not get a (0) in front of it when in Denmark!

Terndrup Taxa: +45 9833 5800 or +45 4096 5800 (mobile)
Kaj’s Taxi (Hobro): +45 9852 5354
Farsø Taxi: +45 9863 1182
Flextur (Nordjyllands Trafikselskab): +45 9934 1134

By Water
Harwich-Esbjerg
Ferry: https://www.dfdsseaways.dk
Further journey read above.
From Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany, Finland etc.
https://www.directferries.dk/
https://www.scandlines.dk
https://www.directferries.co.uk/routes.htm
https://www.aferry.dk
For further public journey visit https://www.rejseplanen.dk

Got your own wheels going to Sundance?
Many sites offer map search. Here are a couple to start with:
https://maps.google.com
https://www.krak.dk/

https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/
https://www.de.map24.com/

Geography, flora and fauna
Denmark is a lowland and has a coastal climate. This means that summers don’t get hot; it can often mix with sun and rain. In the past the weather has ranged from very hot sunshine to thunder and strong rain. So be prepared… The nights of July will usually hover around 10-15 C degrees.

Regarding wild life Denmark is also mild and gentle. It is good to be aware that some ticks might be around, due to the forested area and mosquitoes due to the near-by lake. Repellent can prevent some of the bites and tea tree oil ease what cannot be prevented. We will have kits on site to help with removing any possible ticks coming to visit us.

Currency and credit cards
Danish Kroner is the only currency in Denmark, however credit cards are very widely accepted; Mastercard and Visa are common. You will find ATM (cash machines) in many towns and railway stations.

Shopping
As the site for the People’s Dance to the Sun is rural, there are no shops near to the camp. We advice you to plan for your needs prior to the Ceremony (opening hours in Denmark are usually s between 9:00 and 17:30; banks from 10:00 to 16:00 Monday-Friday), to avoid leaving the camp during our time together. Some people have volunteered to shop for food and other items for the camp that might be needed; in cases of emergency, they can bring back necessities.

Phones
In Denmark there is no in-country prefix to the phone numbers or area codes. All numbers have eight digits in them. The country code for Denmark is +45.

Health insurance
Denmark is part of EU and if you live in EU your normal health insurance will be covered. If you live in a non-EU country, we advice you to check whether you are covered.

• 3 or more paying children in a family: 20% discount on the total children fee
• 2 paying children in a family: 10% discount on the total children fee
• 1 paying child in a family: no discount