New age travellers
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
New age travellers are a peculiarly British social phenomenon consisting of a group of people who espouse New age and Neopagan beliefs and who travel between music festivals and fairs in order to live in a community with others who hold similar beliefs. Their transport and homes consist of vans, lorries, buses and caravans often painted in bright colours with slogans and often driven in convoys. They also make use of improvised tents, tipis and yurts. The movement originated in the free festivals of the 1970s such as The Windsor Park Free Festival, the early Glastonbury festivals , and the Stonehenge festivals.
The movement has suffered persecution by the British government since the mid eighties, beginning with the authorities attempts to prevent camps at Stonehenge at midsummer and the Battle of the Bean Field in 1986 which was the largest mass civil arrest in English history. The persecution culminated in the Criminal Justice Act of 1994 which made trespass a criminal act and which was largely aimed at this group, (and also traditional traveller groups like the Roma people). Members still congregate but are forced to keep a low profile.
External link
- New Age Travellers: Recovery of Authentic Reality (http://www.eng.umu.se/realities/jim/Travellers.htm)
