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Songs 4 Nature: Fall 2024 Adult Camp
Calling all adult songwriters! Our popular Songs for Nature program is happening again, this time in beautiful Prince Albert National Park! As with past camps, this multi-day retreat will give you a chance to spend time in nature and learn about songwriting as you create and share original, nature-inspired songs. You will also be contributing to valuable research about creativity and nature connection.
Space is limited to 20 spots, including 2 spots reserved for Indigenous artists thanks to funding from SaskMusic.
Our Facilitators
Songs 4 Nature is coordinated by RSM Curator of Human Ecology, Glenn Sutter, a folk-rock singer-songwriter known for his songs about nature, love, and the human condition.
The other songwriting mentors are:
"Megan Nash is writing some of the most beautiful songs in this country right now" - Tom Power on CBC's Q. Nash has been nominated for four Western Canadian Music Awards, has taken home two Saskatchewan Music Awards, and is a one-time JUNO-losing proud dog mother to her geriatric pup Shiloh.
Forrest Eaglespeaker, best known for his great songwriting and storytelling alongside his wife Nevada Eaglespeaker in the award-winning Alt-Country duo The North Sound.
Kara Golemba, an award-winning songwriter with a voice that can be “sweet and charming or powerfully raised to rattle the teacups.”
What's Included?
The camp will be happening in the oTENTik area of Beaver Glen Campground, just east of Waskesiu. The oTENTik area (Loop R on the map) is close to washrooms with hot showers and flush toilets, with easy access to forested hiking trails and Waskesiu Lake.
oTENTiks are a cross between a tent and a cabin, with a raised floor and 3 queen or double mattresses on plywood frames. Guests are not allowed to eat, store food, or smoke in them, and they have no plumbing, lighting or electricity, but each unit includes a table with seating for 6 people and a propane heater. Each site also has a food storage locker, an electrical outlet, Adirondack chairs, and a screened tent.
We will be booking 3 people into each oTENTik, so if you know another participant you could share with, please identify them when you register. We encourage you to stay in an oTENTik, to help you connect with the group and get the full benefits of a creative retreat. All you need to bring is a warm sleeping bag, a pillow, and an extra blanket, in case the nights are cool.
If you have your own tent or trailer, another option is to stay in one of the nearby camp sites, which are also provided for free. If you’d rather stay in Waskesiu, you will be charged the same registration fee, which goes towards the mentors and other program costs, and you will need to arrange and pay for your own accommodation.
When you register, please use the comment box at the end of the registration form to indicate whether you’d like to stay in an oTENTik, in a campsite, or in Waskesiu.
We will be making use of a shared kitchen shelter and providing all meals, so please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions! We would ask you to bring a large jug for your drinking water, a cooler to help us keep cold things cold, as well as your own dishes and eating utensils.
The camp itself will include self-guided exercises, facilitated writing sessions and visual art stations, one-on-one time with mentors, a guided hike, and a public concert, as per the schedule below. We will also write a group song that may wind up in an RSM exhibit called Home: Life in the Anthropocene.
Schedule
Our days will start with yoga, and there will be plenty of time to reflect and create. The perfect way to get your juices flowing!
Thursday, September 12
6:30 PM – Arrive at Beaver Glen Campground – check-in at oTENTiks
7:00 PM – Supper and pre-camp surveys
8:00 PM – Opening, including welcome from Indigenous Elder
8:40 PM – Ice-breaker, weekend goals, and context
9:30 PM – Campfire
11:00 PM – ZZZzzzzzzz
Friday, September 13
7:30 AM – Yoga
8:30 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – Nature immersion and art stations
10:30 AM – True Nature Writing (TNW) session
Noon – Lunch
1:15 PM – Guided hike
2:15 PM – Arrive back at camp
3:00 PM – Songwriting tips and tricks
4:00 PM – Reflection/writing time
6:00 PM – Supper
7:00 PM – Start group song
9:00 PM – Campfire
11:00 PM – ZZZzzzzzzz
Saturday, September 14
7:30 AM – Yoga
8:30 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – Art stations, TNW session
Noon – Lunch
1:00 PM – Reflection/writing time
5:00 PM – Supper
6:00 PM – Finish group song
8:00 PM – Public concert at Terrace Gardens in Waskesiu
9:00 PM – Campfire
11:00 PM – ZZZzzzzzzz
Sunday, September 15
7:30 AM – Yoga
8:00 AM – Breakfast
8:30 AM – Reflection/writing time, optional TNW session
11:15 AM – Group check-in
Noon – Lunch
1:00 PM – Post-camp surveys
2:00 PM – Pack up and depart
Travel and Lodging
- Your park entry fee will be covered, so be sure to keep your receipt!
- You are responsible for your own travel arrangements.
- An oTENTik bed or campsite will be provided at no cost, on a first come-first served basis. If you decide to stay elsewhere, you will need to arrange and pay for this separately. See above for details about the oTENTiks.
Things to Bring
- Your own tent, unless you stay in an oTENTik
- Sleeping bag, extra blanket, sleeping pad (if tenting), and pillow
- Your instrument of choice (an electric keyboard will be provided)
- Warm layers, hat, clothes and shoes or boots for light hiking
- Flashlight (there is no lighting in the oTENTiks)
- Dishes, eating utensils, and a cooler with frozen cold packs
- We'll be enjoying nature rain or shine; rain pants, rubber boots, sunscreen
- Insect repellant, water bottle, binoculars
Note: We are committed to making this camp a creative and comfortable experience for everyone. To that end, all Parks regulations need to be followed and we request that you limit your use of alcohol and recreational drugs during the camp.
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