Our annual celebration of all things Squash this year falls on Bealtaine Eve so that means seed planting and dancing…as well as eating, chatting and gathering around the fire to mark the start of summer!
Bealtaine is the next point of the 8-Fold year, sitting half-way between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, marking the beginning of summer! Free / by donation.
At lunchtime and in the evening, join in Maypole dancing in the garden and on the street! No experience necessary, just enthusiasm for this traditional fertility folk dance around the Squash mini-Maypole with live music from local band Kaloco (evening set).
12-2pm at the Grapes Community Garden
garden Maypole with Willy on the squeezebox
plant many varieties of squash seeds and seedlings
add to the communal altar
make a headdress
enjoy fresh-picked herb tea & spring foods
6-8pm at Squash
street Maypole with Kaloco band
gather around the Bealtaine fire
street drawing
delicious spring menu available in the cafe
IMBOLC
SATURDAY 1ST FEBRUARY
11AM-1PM AT SQUASH, 1PM WALK TO THE SPRING
DROP IN / FREE / BY DONATION*
Please note that this is a gentle drop-in with various shared community crafting activities as oppose to full workshops. Space is limited. Come and learn and share your knowledge!
Come by and help celebrate Imbolc, the Irish/Celtic/Gaelic marking of the coming of spring and the first festival of the 8-fold year of 2025. Traditional foods associated with Imbolc are dairy* inc. milk, butter & cheese and grains/bread and will feature at this year’s Imbolc celebration. Help make fresh butter and taste our Squash-made sourdough!
For our gentle annual celebration, we also invite you to join local gardeners, artists & cooks to;
reflect together around the fire about winter challenges and hope for the coming spring
help make Brigid crosses with locally grown reeds
plant up onions, garlic and broad beans; some of the earliest veg we can sow in the year
bless the gardens of the street and look ahead to the growing year
draw & write spring affirmations and share rituals at the altar
taste fire cider, made at the Winter Solstice
listen to early spring music
At 1pm we’ll walk together down to bless the spring in the cathedral/St.James gardens; which is known to some as ‘Bridey’s well’ after Imbolc goddess Brigid.
Imbolc, in the Celtic seasonal calendar marks the beginning of the lambing season and signals the start of spring and the stirrings of new life. It is time for us to let go of the past and look to the future, cleansing out the old, making both outer and inner space for new beginnings. It is a good time for wish-making or making a dedication.– The Goddess & The Green Man.
The wheel has turned once more, returning us to a time of hope and new beginnings. Be thankful for the ever-increasing warmth and light as we leave behind the cold, dark, stillness of winter. – Almanac, Anne Marie Lagram.
In between the middle of the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox lies the Celtic festival of Imbolc. Dating back to pre-Christian times, Imbolc celebrations revolved around the Goddess Brigid. Ancient Celtic mythology explains that she was born with a flame in her head and immediately drank the milk* of a mystical cow upon birth, which is where her common symbols of a flame and dairy originated from. She also represents fertility, and many women would travel to her sacred wells (the most popular one in Kildare, Ireland) to drink their water in hopes of conceiving shortly after. During Imbolc celebrations, those celebrating would light bonfires and make dairy-rich meals in honor of Brigid.
Now, Imbolc coincides with Saint Brigid’s feast day. Historians have shown that when Christianity was spreading throughout Ireland, the church was having a difficult time convincing pagans to let go of their gods and goddesses. Thus, Brigid was “reborn” into Saint Brigid, and her representations (i.e., fertility, the flame, and dairy farmers) were kept the same. – Marisa, Herbstalk
100 Year Street News is a collaborative publication to keep the fires of hope and possibility lit on Windsor Street. Within these pages, you will find artworks, poems and pieces of hope from our network of associate artists, cooks, gardeners and community members who came along to last year’s Autumn Equinox celebration in September. This paper exists to remind us where we’ve been, to build our shared narratives together, and to dream of what’s to come. Read it here!
The 100 Year Street began on Windsor Street in Liverpool L8 with the planting of apple trees in 2010 in our Community Food Garden.
These apple trees, like humans, if well cared for, can live for 100 years, and that is just what we at Squash want to see. We mark each calendar with 8-Fold Year celebrations rooted in Celtic and global traditions that connect us through land-based rituals and encourage neighbours and collaborators to stay grounded in the present while growing towards the future.
While political leaders turn over election cycles and the seasons change on annual rotation, our lives unfold with a flurry of activity, often taking us out of the present to what fire needs to be put out first. It is often the urgency of our daily lives and the times we are living in that prevent us from long-term thinking and building the world we want to live in. We all must be called to the greatest crises of our time; the deep inequality of our species and the collapse of our shared home, planet Earth.
Climate change is here, but how we adapt to it, how we build a more just world with our neighbours and how we create the relationships we can rely on, no matter the storms that come, requires tender collaboration and care. By tending to our street, our gardens and our communities throughout the year, we set into motion the network of care that can hold us. The Earth transforms in the seasons. How can we begin to transform our neighbourhoods as well?
Our 100 year street vision is a framework and an invitation to
connect joined up action
explore future thinking
create space for possibility
to affirm long-term commitment
imagine beyond our lifetimes
Over the last decade or so, Squash has created a space where belonging sits at the center of our work. From artist workshops to free soup, from plant knowledge to solidarity fundraisers, we are attempting to build the kind of relationships that people & places need most. How would our neighbourhoods, cities and countries transform if we began to put long-term thinking at the heart of how we come together, what we decide and what we make happen?
100 Year Street News Project By Designer Corbin LaMont & Social Artist & Squash Co-DirectorClare Owens
Come and find some light on this shortest day / longest night. You’re so welcome to nestle in around the fire and the front room for gentle chats, rituals, reflections and tastes. All welcome.
On this years Winter Solstice (& Christmas Day) we stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Yemen. Any funds raised on the day will be shared between Medical Aid for Palestinians, our beloved partner Habibti Liverpool – the amazing local women who raise awareness and resources for Al Sabeen Children’s Hospital in Sanaa, Yemen and Squash’s own ‘Soup-it-Forward’ initiative. If you can’t make it along on the day, but would like to donate, please give direct through the links above or via Squash and we will share.
EMBROIDERY ARTWORK BY TABITHA MOSES
Images from Samhain Gathering 1st November. Photo credit Jude McGloughlin
SAMHAIN
FRIDAY 1ST NOVEMBER 2-4PM
As we enter into the darkest weeks of the year, we invite you to gather in together around the fire to celebrate Samhain; the end and beginning of the Celtic New Year.
Add the names of lost loved ones to the altar, be they ancestors, family members, friends or those we’ve never met. Taste warming mulled apple & fire cider made at the Equinox. Have a chat through your hopes, worries, griefs & joys.
Bring something to burn.
“Samhain is upon us, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time of cold and darkness when the veil between the living and the spirit world is believed to be at its thinnest. The word “Samhain” is derived from old Irish and means “summer’s end.” It is a time to bid farewell to the warmth and light of summer and prepare for the introspective and cold months ahead.” from Landworkers Alliance
Photos from Autumn Alchemy / Samhain 2023 by Lucy Hunter and Erik OT
Over the Autumn Equinox weekend 21/22 September 2024 (the eve of the Labour Party conference & the first national march for Palestine in Liverpool), we welcomed our community to build more hope by sharing the harvest and playing out on Windsor Street. Activities included pavement drawing, D-Jing & dancing, seed-saving, making immune-boosting tonics, street sofa & fireside chats, ‘Digesting Politics’, mindful crafting, ‘Trustfrastructure’, a ritual journey walk, eating soup & cake, and our annual Harvest Auction! Check out 100 Year Street News; a collaborative publication focused around the Equinox Weekender to keep the fires of hope and possibility lit on Windsor Street.
The Equinox Weekender was part of ‘Seeds of Hope’: a series of hopeful happenings all across the UK in autumn 2024, with community growing and nature connection at their heart. With support from Joseph Rowntree Foundation events took place from Inverness to Hastings via Liverpool, Powys, Bristol and beyond – reflecting the hope and solidarity we know exists in communities everywhere, and inviting all of us to get behind it. Amid concern about the rise of far-right populism and widespread feelings of fatalism, these celebrations of amazing people and communities growing hope and building belief in better futures are exactly what we need right now. Read the ‘Seeds of Hope’ zine here!
THE EQUINOX WEEKENDER PROGRAMME…
SATURDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER 10AM-4PM & 6-9PM
GROUNDING CEREMONY 10-11am
Let’s tune into the Equinox with meditation, movement & altar making.
A magical evening of food and comedy raising funds for Habibti Liverpool & Squash’s own ‘Soup it Forward’, co-hosted by our patron Andi Oliver! More info here.
SUNDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER 10-4PM
THE ART OF SEED SAVING10AM – 12 NOON
Help to sort, clean & pack seeds collected from our gardens to replenish the Toxteth Seed Library. More info here.
MINDFUL CRAFTING 10AM – 12 NOON
Enjoy gentle crafting with natural & recycled materials.
COMMUNITY DJ-ING12-3PM
Bring your own vinyl and help make a chilled equinox afternoon
HEALING GARDEN1-4pm
Come and relax in the garden with fire, meditation, crafting & music.
A balancing walk together along the 100-Year Street from spring to oak. More info here.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER GERTHARDT, CLARE OWENS & MINA BIHI
LUGHNASADH FIRE CELEBRATION
FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST 12 NOON – 2PM
GRAPES COMMUNITY FOOD GARDEN
Come celebrate Lughnasadh / Lammas; the Gaelic fire festival marking the first grain harvest. We’ll be firing up the earth oven and breaking bread together in the Grapes Community Food Garden.Join us for music, chats round the fire and delicious tastes from the garden. Bring your own harvest offerings for the Lughnasadh altar and your own rituals of the season to share.
FREE/BY DONATION
SUMMER SOLSTICE SUNRISE SOLIDARITY GATHERING FOR YEMEN & GAZA
THURSDAY 20TH JUNE 2024
4AM – 12 NOON
Princes Park, L8
From dawn on the day of most light hours in the year, come for a community solidarity gathering honouring Gaza & Yemen. Let’s welcome in the dawn & longest day together, supporting each other. Please bring something to add to the communal altar.
Come by for: COMMUNITY SOLIDARITY RITUAL FIRE FOOD REST SONG LISTENING WALKS ART STRETCHING CONTEMPLATION
Everyone is welcome.
Meet under the big oak tree near Woodhenge, Devonshire Rd/ Belvedere gate.
We’ll be raising funds for Habibti Liverpool & Medical Aid for Palestinians
Schedule:
4am | Community Set-up, come help us set up this special space for gathering
4:40am | Gong at Sunrise and Solidarity Circle of Peace
5am Onwards | Breakfast
5.30 am Onwards |Solstice Altar making with Clare
6am Onwards | Solidarity paper chain making
6:30am | Solidarity Circle of Peace
7am | Elderflower tea walk with Jackie
8:30-9am | Movement with Maxine
9:30am | Qi Gong with Liz
10:30am | Tree Walk with Dave
11am | Solidarity Circle of Peace
11am – 12 Noon | Making with Nature with Angelica
11:30am | Circle Stretch with Anita
12 Noon | Solidarity Circle of Peace and Closing Gong
SPRING EQUINOX
WEDNESDAY 20TH MARCH 12 NOON – 2PM
GRAPES COMMUNITY FOOD GARDEN
ON THIS DAY OF ALMOST EQUAL DAY AND NIGHT, JOIN US TO FIND YOUR SPRING BALANCE.
At the garden; meet gardeners, cooks & artists, sow seeds, have a gentle stretch, help build a moveable altar, set spring intentions and enjoy wild garlic & nettle soup around the fire.
The spring equinox is also known as Ostara, from the Anglo-Saxon Ostara/Eostre, the goddess of spring. She is the divine maiden that brings forth the first light of springtime after the winter. Come and listen to stories of Ostara & spring folklore, and bring yours to share.
Poster by Corbin LaMont / Alternative Infrastructure. Photos by Jude MacLochlainn & Jon Barraclough
WINTER SOLSTICE
Friday 22nd December
Join us on Windsor Street on the shortest day for calm, fire and community.
SOLSTICE ALTAR 8am-4pm FRONT ROOM
Gather around the Solstice Altar to reflect on the year with rituals, readings, drawing, conversations, and rest. With L8 pop-up apothecary. And maybe an early fire on the street, you never know…
SOLSTICE WINTER GARDEN 12-2pmGARDEN
Celebrate the garden in winter and welcome in the longer days with music & food around the Solstice fire!
SOLSTICE WINTER WARMER 5-8pm SQUASH
Come along for this cosy evening of seasonal cheer, festive songs from Hope Street Harmonies choir, mulled apple punch round the fire and a chance to do a bit of ethical, tasty Christmas shopping!
The cafe will be open 8am-8pm (except 4-5pm) for delicious solstice breakfast, soup & supper.
