“We Will Be Here”: Proud Gypsy Traveller’s First Steps into Spoken Word and Craft at Wild Rumpus

This weekend, Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC will take its very first steps into the public arts space—bringing story, skill, and spirit to Wild Rumpus: Leaving No Trace at Homestead Park.
As a newly formed community-led organisation, we are proud to begin our journey with a series of spoken word performances and cultural craft sessions rooted in the lived experiences and heritage of Gypsy and Traveller communities.
We will gather under the birch trees, raising a traditional canvas bender tent in a shared space we call the Atchin Tan—not just a stopping place, but a sacred reminder that presence can be powerful, even when temporary.
Across the weekend, our team will offer immersive sessions combining poetry, storytelling, and hands-on craft. Audiences will hear original pieces like “We Build a Place”, “Kinship is a Craft”, and “We Were the Keepers”—poems that reclaim ecological wisdom, challenge historical erasure, and celebrate cultural resilience.
Alongside the spoken word, we will demonstrate traditional crafts: wooden peg carving, flower whittling and herbal storytelling. These aren’t just skills—they are survival stories, passed down through generations.
This will be more than just an event. For us, it will be a milestone.
We won’t just perform—we’ll make space. For connection, for memory, for truth. We’ll invite others into our world with care and creativity, showing that Gypsy and Traveller culture is not only still here—but thriving.
We may be new to the stage, but we are not new to storytelling. We bring with us centuries of lived wisdom, quiet resistance, and deep-rooted pride.
We won’t leave a trace on the land—but we will leave a mark on the heart.
Come find us at Wild Rumpus. Share a story. Carve a peg. Listen. Laugh. And witness the beginning of something we’ve carried a long time.
—Proud Gypsy Traveller CIC