All in the Mind Festival
Discover an annual festival that uses creativity to explore mental well-being, and that’s finding ways to use performance to make happier brains.
“We use theatre to create happy brains.’”
After a couple of years that have seen our individual and collective mental health impacted and that has also forced us physically apart, the All in the Mind Festival comes at a crucial moment. Gathering people together to experience creative projects that explore our mental wellbeing, All in the Mind offers the conversations and connections we so badly need right now.
But though timely, it’s now into its 7th year. Founded in 2016 by the Fluid Motion Theatre Company, this festival has become an annual one-day event, bringing together actors, musicians, poets, comedians, and artists, for performances, workshops and interactive activities that harness the power of the arts toward better mental health for everyone. We found out more about the vision behind it and what makes it different.
What is it? All in the Mind is the leading outdoor mental health arts festival in the UK, held in Glebe Gardens in Basingstoke’s town centre.
What do you offer? A day jam-packed with family-friendly shows and activities – from inspirational and quirky performances, to fun and interactive workshops, nature trails, a solar-powered carousel, delicious local food and drink and a community parade – there is something for everyone!
Tell us a little about your story: Our vision is to use the arts as a tool for helping open up the conversation around mental health, challenge the stigma and improve wellbeing
This year the festival will take place on Saturday 10 September 2022, is themed around nature, with tickets on sale here.
Rawberry
A plant-based juice bar and cafe helping you feel good.
What is it: A vegetarian juice bar and café just off Winchester High Street
Why you’ll love it: Massive pink letters on the window announce its ‘Feel Good’ factor and once you step inside the bright café space (if allowed at the time of visiting) you’ll instantly get how different this place is.
What you need to know: What you eat affects how you feel – that’s the idea behind a menu of juices with names like ‘Belly Buddy’ and ‘Super Skin’ and Smoothies that include ‘Green is the New Black’. Caffeinated options go the Beetroot and Turmeric Latte route and there’s even a Superfood Hot Chocolate.
While there: Check out The Study Hub downstairs, 6 tables reserved for serious work, and getting out of the house when that option is available to us again.
What they offer beyond the cafe: Weekly juice deliveries – bringing bottled sunshine to you over grey days – and for those times when all the supermarket delivery slots are booked, opt for one of the essentials provisions and raw boxes. Also, see retail treats – like Soakin’s line of bath salts for when this world of ours is getting too much.
Why we think it matters: If you are of the post milk generation, believe that independents are crucial to healthy communities – this is a family run business - and sustainable sourcing goes hand in hand with your daily coffee – they serve River Coffee Roasters which makes sure the people who produce the beans benefit too – then places like Rawberry have a role on our High Streets. Our everyday choices like where we pick up our daily cup have impacts beyond just making us feel good (or awake), helping our communities, food producers, and even the animals taken out of the food system.
In their own words: ‘At Rawberry, we know it can be difficult to find alternatives on Winchester’s High Street; Whether it's vegetarian, vegan, gluten or dairy-free. Options are sparse. This is why for the last three years, from our beginnings as a humble market stall, we have been working on the alternative.’
To find out more: Website / Instagram / Twitter