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The SACRED SWAP SANCTUARY
A COLLECTIVE RESOURCE SHARING EXPERIENCE
For many years now, I have been involved in the sustainable fashion community.
Originally putting on clothing swaps for Fashion Revolution YEG (once called CHANGE OF CLOTHES) in its first 3 or 4 years of its existence, and now breathing life into a regular swap pop-up organization.
I have adored, cherished, and truly relished in the amazing energetic exchange of a good clothing swap.
First off, there is something so beautiful about breathing life into fashion by passing it on, rather than discarding it or letting it just build up in our closets.
However, what came about due to the swap events and the second-hand-loving culture I got to immerse myself in was this beautiful and very sacred energetic exchange, and a community that valued the ability to share resources.
Watching one “woman’s trash” turn into treasure became one of my favourite energetic exchanges ever. And truly, the delight in the new owner — especially at the price point of simply exchanging some of their unwanted or no longer needed wares — was obviously a high point.
But I think the most impactful and pinnacle energetic for me was that of the person getting to let go.
The person getting to shed the item and watch it come to life in someone new’s arms.
Seeing it be valued, LOVED, and even being the most perfect thing they ever could have “found” made the treasure of someone else so beautiful in the releaser’s heart and mind.
I have witnessed it myself directly so many times.
And so, with this in mind, and all the beautiful releases, as well as the beautiful and sacred energetic rebirths at such a gorgeously transformative festival as WILD ROSES FESTIVAL — I just thought maybe this offering could be of value.
I gave the expression a short and very primitive test run last year at the 2025 festival (my second year at the festival and the first year I was so lucky to volunteer), and although I was still growing in my own healing in life, it was such a fun and wonderful first test run.
My set-up was simply a winter salt chest piled with clothes, a few baskets, a full-length mirror, and a sign written on cardboard saying: THE TICKLE TRUNK — please help yourself and please add to these items if you feel called.
This was set up in the regular camping area and along the main path.
It got so many comments, and ladies walking up so excited to dive in, and MORE THAN ANYTHING, so inspired to bring stuff to add next year.
And so I thought… maybe Wild Roses Festival would be willing to incorporate this concept as part of the festival, with a larger tent where women could come and wander through, drop off preloved goods that were divine but were time to find a new home, and then also maybe find some fun and new items to take home for themselves.
Something that could embody the activation of letting go, healing, or even transformative rebirth, that comes about within the festival.
Something that didn’t cost anything, especially if financial times were tight or tough, and more than anything something that came from another goddess, witch woman, or matriarch priestess allowing herself the self-love of attending the festival.
There are so many beautiful souls that walk amongst those grounds during the festival at this time, and what a beautiful way to allow release of some of the things we love, or beautiful things that no longer serve us, and for them to find amazing new souls to give them new life, as well as share gratitude for them.
And so I wanted to share the proposal of this collective energy exchange. I have done these kinds of events for years, and so I am happy to supply mountains of clothing and resources to make this possible as a free and open-to-everyone offering.
This could be an offering by the festival itself and a growing dynamic that we can allow to foster even greater collective cultivation through the years. Invitations before the festival to welcome attendees to look through their closets for 5 to 10 items they want to pass forward would also be part of the initiative.
I could set up further back from the marketplace — not to take away, but in fact to empower women to shop and enjoy the fanciful delights of the vendors and food options, but also to swing by and maybe find or even give something on the way back to the camping area.
I feel it is a great way to empower all financial states of being, and also to make the whole generous nature of the festival even more felt. When everyone has the ability to give and then also receive so openly, it really opens hearts and gives so much empowerment to everyone.
I would supply wonderful mirrors, baskets overflowing with scarves, purses and maybe even some second hand jewlery items that empower all sizes, mountains of second hand clothing on racks and obviously, a beautiful tent to showcase it all, as well as assistants or volunteers to help curate the environment.
We can take part in listening to the gorgeous music coming from the marketplace stage, or we can even have a little acoustic corner for anyone to play for us, as well as I can make sure to have some gentle speakers to play delightful beats for people to shop and swap to at any point in the day.
I was also thinking of broadening the swap sanctuary’s wares from being just clothes to also including much-loved spiritual books, or there could even be a swap-your-guidance-card section.
Either way, I would absolutely love the chance to bring this to life in partnership with the festival and again, I can supply all everything needed plus raise any funds required to make it all possible.
I am so grateful for Wild Roses Festival and all the gifts of healing and positive change it has given me.
Thank you so much for allowing me to share this idea and sending you all so much gratitude for all you have curated for so many of us through this festival.
Our intention isn’t to take away from purchasing brilliant and beautiful fashion from local and international vendors — especially intentional designers and those who support sustainable fashion.
Our intention is to keep more money in your pocket for the odds and ends, so you can truly invest in those epic, curated, and well-searched pieces. Our intention is to support fashion artists and to be able to pay higher price points for their wares — and hopefully encourage even more sustainable fashion practices along the way.
We want to empower the amazing hand-crafter, the diligent second-hand style curator, and the bold, beautiful, and visionary sustainable fashion entrepreneur.
We want fashion curators and workers to be paid a healthy wage. We want fashion designers to be supported — not have their designs stolen and mass-produced by large corporations cutting corners. We want to actively support sustainable fashion creation initiatives and in particular those initiatives that help save our earth and treat it with more gratitude.
And we want to do this all by being a community that shares resources more intrinsically.
So we can pay top dollar for those epic fashion pieces that truly deserve it. So we can hoard less and circulate more — without endless trends ending up in the garbage or forgotten.
We want to empower everything that flows from the beautiful expression fashion gives us, and all the many facets through which we get to express ourselves.