thegarden

🚪 The Entry Experience

The first thing that guests partook in was when they arrived at the gate, from there, they would go through several ‘levels’ of the check-in process:

1. They would get interrogated by police on arrival (with good cops and bad cops) to set an initial mood of nervousness and anticipation.

2. They would then be sent to a quarantine station with plastic wrap everywhere and people in quarantine suits who would give them a rapid antigen test (along with all their tools used for social distancing such as a pool net, extendable arm for shaking hands, telescope for checking their tongue and more.

This was purely based on fun and a parody on what was before a very serious procedure and designed to entertain the guests while they waited for their test results.

3. They would then be sent to the ‘research institute’ (along the way encountering silent, masked creatures of the forest) to sign a waiver and get their wristbands while being thanked for participating in this experimental study (The theme of the event)

4. They are guided along the path by more silent creatures and have the opportunity to interact with other characters such as our office workers, or they can choose to head straight to the welcome snacks station where they can check in for their accommodation by our forest elves where they will be guided by the silent masked creatures.

This whole experience is designed to take the guest out of the default world and give the feeling of play and experimentation that is the theme of the event while introducing characters that will be roaming around the event and pulling people into private rooms for personal experiences throughout the week.

All guests were required to arrive on the same day within a given window which made this experience more logistically possible for everyone to experience.

🎤 The Opening Ceremony

After the first dinner, the lights went out, a procession of masked figures, led by their godly preacher beckoned all attendees to line up, take a lit candle and follow them into the darkness.

Everyone walked in silence, unknown to most, some attendees were being ‘stolen’ away by masked figures while the others led the way.

After having their candle taken from them, they found themselves in a clearing, with the sound of a flute playing on a high rock.

The preacher hastens for everyone to sit, as the holy scriptures were read.

Upon completion of the reading, the ‘offerings’ were brought out and so the ones that were ‘stolen’ made their appearance on stage, where they partook in the ceremonial ‘shedding of the skin’.

Attendees were invited to participate in this ceremony and tear at the ‘skin’ of the ‘offerings’. Once the deed had been done, the offerings dispersed into the crowd and the long journey back to the dining room, where the first activity for the event, was awaiting them…

This was meant as an initiation and first experience that everyone partook in together as a cohesive group, while still creating some choice moments for individuals to experience something unique and different.

🧀 Nacho Night

A rendition of an experience created by Duncan Horst

“Nacho Night is a Dionysian revel disguised as a goofy cult based around the consumption of chips and cheese. Most people won’t join a cult but they’ll join a joke cult - and their enthusiasm for it is real, because people love to do this kind of stuff! It’s in our blood. So enthusiastic participation in a joke cult based around feasting and feeling fully alive equals participation in a real cult with real effects.” - *Duncan Horst*

The Throne, The Nacho Trough, The Human Plate, The Ceremonial Head of Lettuce, The One Napkin, The Nachos, The Cheese, The Meat, The Wine, The Masks, The Cloaks, The Crowd, The Ceremony, The Gluttony, The Music, The Dance!

This is a taste of the glory of nacho night!

At the base of a long dining table served with Nachos and dips of multiple varieties by a team of masked cult members in green cloaks, stands the priest of the Mighty Gouda and Lord Cheeses.

After a week of getting to know each other, the attendees easily surrendered to their Dionysian ways and the largest, most energetic feasting celebration ensued. to bring the event to it’s climax.