Next Weekend:
Oct 3rd / 4th 2026
Borrowdale Institute, Rosthwaite
with Dave Camlin & Roxane Smith
Previous Weekends
October 3rd / 4th 2026
A joyous non-residential weekend gathering of singers in the Borrowdale Valley, with Cumbrian singer-composer Dave Camlin and the fabulous Roxane Smith.
With the Borrowdale Institute in the heart of the valley for our base, we will have two days of singing together led by Dave and Roxane, including outdoor hiking and singing adventures on both days.
Our collective approach to singing is very inclusive, with a shared belief in singing as a birth-right, whatever your previous experience. The focus of the weekend will be about using our voices to HAVE FUN in nature!
We’ll teach most songs mainly by ear, so no need to be able to read music, although scores will be available for some things if you find them helpful.
We want everyone who shows up to feel part of a strong (albeit temporary) singing community, and to use the experience of singing together in nature as a resource to sustain and nurture us in the busy-ness of our everday lives.
The weekend is non-residential in the sense of sorting yourself out with somewhere to stay. Borrowdale has lots of lovely campsites, two youth hostels, plenty of BnBs and some majestic hotels - choose your own level of comfort! Hot drinks and snacks will be provided, but make your own arrangements for meals, or bring food to share with others, Jacob’s Join style.
How much hiking is involved?
We’re not planning any strenuous summit hikes, but the afternoon wild singing walks are likely to be between 3 and 6 miles with some ascents, so you need to be reasonably fit. We'll travel like a wolf pack, with our strongest walkers leading from the back, so no-one gets left behind!
We’re delighted to be joined by mountain leader / photographer Nick Landells and his team to look after us while out hiking, with trips planned to sing at some amazing spots in the Borrowdale valley, we’re not short of amazing places to visit!
Schedule
Saturday
09:30 registration
10:00 Welcome, warm-up, singing
13:00 singing walk from the centre, not too far
16:00 Finish
optional evening activities tbc
Sunday
09:30 warm-up, singing
11:00 singing walk from the centre, destination tbc
16:00 Finish
What to Bring?
your voice in whatever state you find it
sense of fun
waterproofs and suitable footwear (we won’t be going anywhere particularly high, but it can still get soggy in the valley…)
camping seat
water bottle
personal snacks
packed lunches or food to share
midge repellant
suntan lotion
Where to Stay?
The Borrowdale valley is full of lovely places to stay. Our favourite campsite is nearby Stonethwaite, which has re-opened this year! Booking is essential - it’s a great campsite, but very popular in summer. Other nearby campsites include Chapel House Farm (don’t tell them you’re part of a group or they may refuse your booking!), as well as hotels in Rosthwaite, Seatoller, and of course in Keswick, which is about 6 miles away.
Meet the Leaders
Roxane is the inspiring artistic director of 'Sing for Water' and “one of the most engaging and fun community singing leaders in the UK”! She has been running community choirs and a variety of singing groups since 1998 with a fundamental mission to make singing in harmony accessible and fun.
Roxane Smith
is an award-winning singer / composer / educator / researcher who leads community choirs in west Cumbria including Sing Owt! and Wild Chorus. He's a native west Cumbrian who leads lots of outdoor singing events and projects, and who loves introducing people to songs which celebrate our relationship with the natural world. He’s also one of the organisers of the Cumberlandia folk weekend.
Dave Camlin
Parking
Rosthwaite is a very small hamlet, and the Borrowdale valley itself is a popular tourist spot, so it can get busy. We have reserved parking outside the venue for a few cars for £6 a day - if there are spaces free here, please pay the £6 daily fee to one of our support team rather than to the institute. There is also a National Trust car park right next to the venue; if you are a NT member, bring your membership card for free parking!
If those car parks are full, it will mean finding somewhere back on the main road to park and walking back to the venue, but you can unload any bags if you need to do that. If you’re travelling from a camspite with other people also on the weekend, it would be great to car share if you can, to minmise pressure on the car parks. The earlier you get to the NT car park, the more likely there will be a space.
Keeping Everyone Safe
Please don’t attend if you have COVID or have untested symptoms which could be COVID. We’ll refund your ticket, but no-one will thank you for bringing the lurgy into our midst, so please stay away!
Please also keep any medical details that would be helpful in an emergency easily accessible. For example, if you have a folder for any song lyrics, put any medical information on a page of A4 at the front of the folder. If you have a smartphone, you can add medical information to your ‘lock screen’ - anything about yourself which you think might be important to know by people who give you emergency treatment:
On an iPhone use the ‘Health’ app to do this.
On an Android device, open Settings and select Safety and emergency. Select “Medical info” to add