Wild Goose Festival

Trigger Warning: Wild Goose Staying in NC

on March 1, 2018

An annual progressive Christian gathering that fretted for years about remaining in North Carolina is staying put for now outside of Asheville.

Muddy camp sites, sporadic thunderstorms and sweltering heat haven’t dissuaded participants at the Wild Goose Festival since its 2011 debut, but the sight of a Confederate battle flag has been almost too much to bear.

Loosely modeled after the Greenbelt Festival in the United Kingdom, Wild Goose describes itself as centered upon “spirit, justice, music, art”. A mix of older liberal Mainline Protestants and younger disaffected post-Evangelicals flock to the annual festival of workshops, performances and lectures in Hot Springs, North Carolina.

In past years the festival has featured a drag gospel performance, “neo-pagan” cosmic mass, and a chili cornbread Eucharist, among other spiritual innovations. But organizers are concerned that the setting may be unwelcoming.

North Carolina liberal political activist and perennial Wild Goose speaker Pastor William Barber proposed a boycott of the state during the 2016 “bathroom bill” controversy. Wild Goose organizers say that they considered relocating or placing the festival on hiatus, but there was no suitable alternate location “without equal or greater problems of its own.”

“We face some real challenges in rural North Carolina,” Wild Goose board members wrote this week in a letter to festival participants addressing “safety concerns”. “The presence of Confederate flags is very disturbing for many of us, making us wonder if these flags are intended as a ‘not welcome’ sign.”

The letter also noted that “spotty cell coverage adds to a sense of vulnerability”.

Cue dueling banjos from the 1972 film “Deliverance”.

“These drawbacks cause us real concern because our starting point is that the Wild Goose is committed to safe, hospitable, and welcoming spaces for all people in all of our gatherings, including and especially at our Hot Springs Festival,” the board wrote.

Never mind that the likelihood of being victimized by either a property crime or violent crime in rural Madison County – where Hot Springs is located – is significantly lower than in most of North Carolina.

Last year there were 1.83 violent crimes per 1,000 residents in Madison County, far lower than the North Carolina median of 3.72 violent crimes, or the U.S. national median of four violent crimes per 1,000 people.

At no point does the board address any actual public safety concerns such as crimes committed, verbal threats, or inability to access emergency services. But the Wild Goose board is ready to boldly stand in the face of an occasional sighting of a flag draped from a fencepost or pickup truck.

“We don’t feel right about letting Confederate flag-wavers succeed in intimidating us,” the board declares. “We believe that people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, and the spiritually non-traditional have as much a right to be there as anyone else. So we’ve decided to stay in Hot Springs in 2018 and perhaps beyond as a voice and presence for change.”

While I haven’t had opportunity to personally survey the residents of Hot Springs or Madison County about their views concerning “the spiritually non-traditional,” nearby Asheville’s reputation as a progressive mecca makes it likely that residents here regularly encounter people with differing backgrounds and viewpoints.

With the Wild Goose Festival set to resume this coming July, it looks like the residents of Hot Springs will have plenty of opportunities to engage with the Religious Left.

  1. Comment by Nathan Brasfield on March 4, 2018 at 9:08 am

    Honestly, this is the sort of post that makes me think, “Get a life.” If this festival isn’t your cup of tea and its decision making doesn’t have anything to do with you, then maybe move on to address issues that actually stand a chance of being edifying to you and your readers instead of focusing on ones that simply offer you a chance to mock “progressives”?

  2. Comment by John Kenyon on March 7, 2018 at 11:01 am

    Love your tongue-in-cheek, Jeffrey Walton

  3. Comment by K. Kepler on June 20, 2019 at 1:37 pm

    Wondering if any part of the event is clothing optional.

  4. Comment by In God We Trust on July 12, 2019 at 9:43 am

    I love Hot Springs I live here it’s my home. This organization “Wild Goose” masked itself as a religious event of mixed belief coming together to support one main power. Now in 2019 they bring in Democratic nominees and are holding a protest Friday. They will never change my mind. I’m a gun holding God fearing female with the right to choose and I don’t choose this event or their beliefs. In God We Trust, we don’t need cellphones and these people’s signs telling us “if your white then your a racist”. I’m far from it and believe in the right to choose with freedom and liberty as well as our flag. I believe in the men and women who gave up those tomorrow so we can have today. This group of extremist‘s are not welcome in these here hills lol.

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