Picture this: it’s breakfast time on festival day at Centauri, but nothing much seems to be happening. There’s food, but no sign of a festival. Quietly, one by one, the counsellors sneak out and after ‘clear and wipe’ Julie takes the mic, appearing to be furious. “There’s supposed to be magic!” she shouts to the campers. “Tales of spices and warriors and wizards and fortune-tellers – this is the Silk Road Festival! But instead – nothing. Your counsellors must have forgotten. So instead, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time…”
As Julie begins a Chinese folk story, epic music begins. It swells to a crescendo, the doors burst open and a huge throng of magical characters charge into the dining hall – wizards, genies, merchants, mystical monks and exotic folks dressed in sequined robes. The campers gasp as the characters spread around the dining hall.
We have been transported through time and space to the ancient Silk Road.
So begins our quest to find a way back to camp. The ‘Silk Road’ festival has begun.
Today was pure magic, and it bonded our camp as nothing else could. Campers learned to be warriors, bards, fortune-tellers, silk merchants. They held a trial for the White Giant, and we used our performance skills – all 160 of us – to lure the trickster-genie back into his lamp. We also had oodles of free time, lounging in the quad, playing games, cementing camp friendships.
A highlight of the festival came when the White Giant was captured using colour – many packets of them, which campers threw at the characters and at each other until the air swirling pink and purple and yellow and all you could hear were shrieks of laughter. Then, to clean up, we turned on the hose and water games began. The fun went on and on and on.
Here’s the thing: this isn’t an easy time to be a teenager – or a kid, for that matter. Any parent or teacher (or camp director) will tell you that. Young people are more stressed than we’ve ever seen them. But that’s where camp comes in. Summer camp is a time to cut loose and be a kid again. To throw all those pressures out, and wallow in friendship, joy, laughter. To build communities where everyone feels safe and included. And today, all that happened, and more. So, so much laughter. Kids with their arms around one another, covered head to toe in coloured sand, drenched in water, smiling from ear to ear.
I love days like these. Creativity and carefree joy: that’s what camp’s all about.
Now, it’s quiet. Everyone’s in their pajamas, listening to stories, singing songs, writing journals, reading books. Tomorrow, we have a sleep-in, then programs resume and we all start prepping for the final presentations.