Some come for a week. Others months.
The village forms quickly.
Children join clubs and projects.
Days move between forest, river, workshops and shared meals.
Evenings bring music, fires and long conversations.
The village changes with each one
It might be a show, an exhibition, or a village market built by children.
The story is immersive for all, with a musical thread we compose and ends in our village celebration.
The river runs fast with mountain snowmelt. Children begin to settle into the place. They learn the paths between the forest and the courtyard.
They find their favourite rocks by the river. And slowly the village begins to make things.
Over several weeks children create the stalls, objects and food that will eventually fill the courtyard. A group might work with wood in the workshop. Another might experiment with natural dyes or simple printing.
Someone starts collecting herbs from the hills above the valley. None of it is rushed. Ideas take shape slowly. By the final week, the village begins to look like a small market town preparing for a festival.
Children climb, build shelters, follow tracks and explore the valley. They return hungry. After lunch the making begins. Some children head to the workshop. Others help prepare food or experiment with simple crafts that might appear in the market.
Older children often begin organizing the stalls themselves. Where things will go. How they want the market to feel. The adults guide quietly, but the direction usually comes from the children.
Nature Club exploration in the forest and along the river.
Workshops and projects building towards the Makers’ Market.
Shared meals, long conversations and sometimes music in the Orangery.
The courtyard fills with stalls built by the children. Objects appear that did not exist a few weeks earlier. Simple food is cooked and shared.
Music begins somewhere. Parents wander between the stalls while children explain what they have made. For a moment the village feels like its own small world.
