With the release of a public statement on their Facebook page, the Tea Hive Collective have announced that 2019 will be the first year in a decade that they will not be setting up at Evolve. Since 2009, the Tea Hive Collective have operated with a focus on harm reduction at music festivals throughout Atlantic Canada by providing a safe place and plenty of tea.
The Tea Hive Collective have been very active over the last ten years, attending as many as eight festivals of varying sizes each year, including both the Spring and Fall versions of Kollektiv, Future Forest, Evolve, Folly Fest, Rock the Dock and Backwoods Beats; they traveled as far as Great North in Maine one year, while also providing support for smaller individual events. The service they provide has become a staple in the east coast music scene, and news of their decision not to attend Evolve has many fans reaching out with messages of support and plenty of questions.
In their statement, the collective outline their reasons in their decision not to return this year but also highlight the necessity of harm reduction. After naming a few specific reasons behind their leaving, including broken promises and the 2017 water safety issue, the group stated, “[. . .] As a collective we have been questioned, disrespected, mistrusted, and unsupported by security staff, medical personnel, and event organizers continuously.”
“Honestly, it was after Evolve released their dates that we started looking at our capacity, as Future Forest is the following weekend, and is always that weekend, whereas Evolve is generally two weeks before,” explains Coco Harris, who joined the collective in 2013.
“This was just the final straw for us, after several years of not being supported. It would take a lot more than just changing the dates,” says Harris. “We would need other forms of support, which include things like harm reduction training for medical and security personnel and guaranteed tested, safe water with easy access at the Hive. This has been a huge issue in the past, with water not being close enough to fill our tea urns.”
“We serve hundreds of cups of tea per night and are open 24 hours during the whole festival. It’s amazing how grounding it can be to be handed a cup of tea by a calm, sober human who actually sees you.”
Harris says that the decision to withdraw the Tea Hive Collective from the festival will have an impact on the group, who originally formed at Evolve.
“The love we have received from Evolve attendees has been immense, and today’s statement has already received a huge response, of both support and disappointment,” says Harris.
With several members having come and gone from the collective, Harris seems confident there will still be plenty of past members attending Evolve who can fill the role in a less official capacity.
“We are all caretakers. I’m so worried that something will happen without us there, but I have to trust that another harm reduction crew will come forward or that folks will educate themselves and take care of each other. I’m sure a few of our Bees from past years will attend without the Hive, and will become unofficial roaming sitters.”
Festival attendees will be relieved to know that Evolve’s organizers have made it clear that they plan to implement their own harm reduction team this summer.
Evolve’s festival organizer, Jonas Colter, declined to comment, though has said he will be making a statement on the Tea Hive Collective’s parting with the festival later.
The Tea Hive Collective are currently planning to hold an open harm reduction course to educated people on how to provide care at festivals but have yet to release any details. The collective have confirmed they will be attending Future Forest this summer, as well as several more festivals in the area.
The Tea Hive Collective: FACEBOOK