{"id":3844,"date":"2023-11-01T11:51:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T11:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goldenbricksevents.com\/main\/2023\/11\/01\/refuge-camp-fest-offers-outdoor-community-for-people-of-color\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T21:03:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T21:03:15","slug":"refuge-camp-fest-offers-outdoor-community-for-people-of-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goldenbricksevents.com\/main\/2023\/11\/01\/refuge-camp-fest-offers-outdoor-community-for-people-of-color\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Refuge’ Camp Fest Offers Outdoor Community for People of Color"},"content":{"rendered":"

(This article was reposted from WTA.org<\/a>)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the Refuge Outdoor Festival, an inaugural campout for inclusion, participants got into the nitty-gritty of hiking, camping, bird watching \u2014 and relating to one another. They came away a community eager for next year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Last month, the first-of-its-kind Refuge Outdoor Festival<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>took place at Tolt-MacDonald Park<\/a>\u00a0near Carnation, Wash. Located in Snoqualmie Valley, the lush open space at the confluence of the Snoqualmie and Tolt Rivers overlooks the Cascade foothills.<\/p>\n

The festival connected people of color (and their \u201callies,\u201d according to the website) with activities like hiking, yoga, and camping. But it was a community open to everyone \u2014 and outdoor enthusiasts of all \u201clevels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Refuge<\/a><\/p>\n

For three days, participants slept in tents, vans, and onsite yurts while community leaders from Climbers of Color<\/a>, GirlTrek<\/a>, Latino Outdoors<\/a>, Outdoor Asian<\/a>, and others\u00a0shared their messages.<\/p>\n

Themed activities like \u201cTransitioning From Day Hiker to Mountaineer\u201d and group topics like the \u201cUntold History of Communities of Color in the Outdoors\u201d also allowed festival-goers to pick and choose their experiences.<\/p>\n

\"Refuge<\/a><\/p>\n

Turning Talk Into Action<\/h2>\n

The inaugural campout for inclusion tackled tough topics in open conversations. For example, an interracial couple led\u00a0a discussion on race and privilege. The topic resulted in a packed house.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith events like this, we get excited, then it all starts to fade away,\u201d said organizer Chevon Powell. \u201cSo I challenged all the people who made it to \u2018closing circle\u2019 to do one action or have one conversation in the next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell tasked participants and sponsors with putting conversations into action after leaving Refuge.<\/p>\n

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