HESFES – The Home
Educators’
Summer Festival

A week in the life of HESFES

What would you put on the programme if the people coming to a festival could help make it? At HESFES, a child might spend the morning making a mask, listen to someone playing drums in the afternoon and end up on stage at the children's cabaret. Adults brought questions about educating at home as well as instruments, tents and ideas to share.

The early publicity called it the Home Educators’ Seaside Festival. The organisers used both Seaside and Summer over the years. The name HESFES stayed with the gathering as families pitched their tents in different parts of Britain. Read what HESFES was or follow the festival timeline from the first Dorset camp in 1998 to the cancellation of the planned 2016 event.

Find the festival you remember

A venue, a workshop or the price of a family ticket can help put a year to a memory. Start with the 1999 Dorset advertisement, look up the 2011 gathering near Bury St Edmunds, or browse the festival records by year. The ticket archive explains what admission covered. Booking information is preserved here for historical reference.

Take a workshop idea home

A festival brought many families together, but making something together can start with two people at a kitchen table. Pick an activity from the workshop finder, make space for a second attempt in the weekly activity planner, or check what to take when you head outdoors with the camping checklist.

If you're looking for somewhere to meet today, use the UK events directory or find a home education group. Each current event has its own organiser, dates and booking arrangements.