Returning or swapping tickets
Refunds are only available if an event is cancelled or postponed.
If for any reason you are unable to use your tickets, you have two options - transferring to an equivalent show in the same season, or swapping your tickets to someone else.
Please note that for either of these options you will need to contact us at least two weeks prior to your event date. The Nest Collective is a not-for-profit arts organisation with a small team. We are unable to accommodate late requests for ticket transfers.
Ticket transfer to alternative date:
Available up to two weeks prior to your original event date (4 weeks for group bookings of 10 or more). Tickets can be exchanged for an equivalent show in the same season (depending on availability).
Ticket swap to a new ticket holder:
If you’re unable to attend the event, you may transfer your tickets to a friend. In order to do this, you will need to contact us to provide details of the new ticket holder (name, email address and mobile number) at least 2 weeks before the event.
Refunds
Tickets will not be refunded unless a performance is cancelled, postponed or abandoned when less than half the performance has taken place.
Do you offer concessions tickets?
Yes, The Nest Collective is committed to offering 10% of tickets at all of our events at a discounted rate, for NUS/Unemployed/Low Income audiences. Discounts apply to adult tickets only, and are subject to availability. Discount rates are set according to ticket price for individual events, and range from 10% for our most affordable events, up to 50%.
Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to request a transfer.
For details about the venues we use, please see our Venue Accessibility page.
Do I need to prepare in any way in advance?
In our experience the night can be a late one so we recommend that you get a good night's sleep the night before. We have a suggested finish time but we can never guarantee we will end as expected, as the night can go in so many different ways. No two nights have ever been the same and we like to let the magic of what happens take its own course, rather than be bound by timetables.
Can I park my car?
All of our sites have parking in close proximity, although the distance between car park and site varies at each location.
How do I get home afterwards?
With the late finish it can prove tricky for those who have not come by car to get home again after these events. We have a private lift-sharing group on Facebook, details for this are sent to ticket holders when they purchase tickets.
Camping on-site is available at our Sussex location. You can find camping options in ticketing add-ons for each event.
How accessible are the events for those limited mobility?
All the events take place in natural, outdoor locations and involve some walking through uneven terrain at night, which may not be suitable for people with limited mobility or special access needs. Please do get in touch with us if you have accessibility requirements and we will do our best to advise and assist.
What if I am late?
This is not such a problem. Let us know as soon as you can, and we will hold some food back for you. Please try not to arrive too late, as every part of the evening is a part of the process of dropping into the state of calm, magic and wonder.
If you are late the most important thing is to not stress about it and arrive flustered – we will welcome you whenever you make it and do our best to fill you in on what has happened. It is the inevitability of life’s demands that we can't always be on time and also the Nightingales’ fault in choosing hard to find, remote locations!
What should I wear?
We will provide you with a suggested kit list when you purchase tickets, with the obvious need to stay warm, dry, and well shod (it can get muddy). Perhaps controversially, we also ask that you pay close attention to your clothes regarding the noise they make when you move. We practise lots of deep listening and immense stillness in the journey, and there is nothing that masks the sound of the far off landscape more than the swish of a crisp pair of trousers. Please think carefully about the stealth of your outfit and the nimbleness of your shoes.
We know from experience in the wild that the best all weather gear is actually tightly woven wool. Coats made from it are impervious to water, almost noiseless, and very warm. The grass will be dewy so waterproof footwear and thick socks are also a must. Wellies are good but make for clumsy walking. It can get very cold with lots of standing in the dark so if you want to bring a hot water bottle we can provide the hot water!
What happens if the nightingales don’t sing?
As naturally vocal as they are, the nightingales have not signed a contract with us. The birds were willing on most nights at our previous events, and we have carefully chosen sites that have well established nightingale populations. While we are not able to guarantee that the birds will sing, we have ensured that you will have a gifted artist present to entertain you, even if their feathered collaborator proves bashful.
What happens if it rains?
All the venues are outdoors with limited shelter. We will press ahead with the evening unless the weather is particularly inclement. In these cases we will contact you if we feel it is not possible to go ahead. Please remember to bring appropriate wet weather gear just in case, even if the outlook is ok. The birds will often sing despite bad weather so we do see this as an all weather experience.
What will we be eating and drinking?
Our campfire feasts will be cooked using the finest, often locally-sourced, ingredients; often flavoured with foodstuffs carefully foraged from the surrounding countryside, served in filling and warming portions. There will also be a selection of wine, beer, hot and cold soft drinks.
The menu is wholly vegetarian. Please let us know when you make your booking if you have any special dietary requirements (e.g. vegan option, allergies). With forewarning, we can cater for most diets!
Is this suitable for children and young adults?
That is very much up to you and your children. Under 18s need to be accompanied by an adult, and it is a late night journey so if they don’t mind staying up then they are very welcome.
We believe firmly that this is an experience that should be accessible to all ages but we accept that many kids are not accustomed to the demands of patient listening and the experience can be demanding in its expectation of your commitment to the periods of quiet reflective listening. Each group depends on its members for that commitment to enter into a realm of guided silence and deep listening as any nature watcher would. If you feel your children may struggle with this it may be something discuss with them before booking.
I have nightingales in my garden; can you come and do this project at my home?
This is a growing project and we are looking to expand into other sites across the UK, especially the South West. If you know of somewhere that definitely has nightingales and could accommodate us in the future please get in touch. We would love to know more.
Is there a risk of disturbing the birds during their mating calls?
Nightingales are an increasingly rare bird in England with a declining population overall but a notable increase in Sussex, Kent and Essex their heartland. We are often asked about what the impact is of these events on the birds ability to mate and procreate and Sam and the Nest Collective have put a lot of work into researching the potential impact.
In doing this we have brought in our ornithologist and ‘environmental consultant’ Tom Stuart who has done regular work with us studying the impacts of both the digital and in field Singing With Nightingale events to assess the potential impact and whether our presence is in anyway having a negative impact. Likewise we have had several of the RSPB’s and BTO’s (British Trust for Ornithology) key staff team participate in our events. They have all given Singing With Nightingales their full blessing stating that it is in every way respectful of the birds and their behaviour with the likelihood of any such impact to be minor to the point of negligible.
We put in a great deal of effort to minimise our disturbance while the birds are singing and maximise the awareness for our audiences to their conservation needs both on the night and in general. Clearly, Singing With Nightingales wouldn’t work if the audience scared nightingales away when we approached. After six years, we can safely say that the majority of birds sing on irrespective of the audience’s presence and our music. The birds’ reactions to our audiences are generally no different from their reactions to passing bird-watchers, casual walkers, families, traffic and industry. The population on our Sussex site has quite clearly been increasing every year.
Nightingales sing for 6 weeks as part of a courtship display that is also incredibly social and interactive with other males, other natural sounds and also other anthropophonic sounds (human made noise). Nightingales are notorious for choosing habitat very close to human dwelling and have depended on humans to create habitat for thousands of years. Berlin city has almost half the number of birds in the entire UK. There they live, breed and thrive in close proximity to so much human made disturbance. The 45-60 minutes we spend in hushed silence near their sing spot on a few nights is a fraction of the time they spend singing and would not, we have been expertly informed, interfere in a female’s search for a male. This is a long drawn out process and is as much determined by the females daytime inspection of the males chosen territory. We use no lights so it remains utterly dark throughout our visit, the music is unamplified and the nightingale invariably sings louder and more emphatically when with us there. Anecdotal feedback from the experts who have visited the events is that one unleashed dog with their walker on the same site would pose so much more untold risk than our intimate group walking and stopping silently. It was supportively added that the power of these artistic interventions to inspire and forge a renewed sense of worth, respect and protection towards these birds and their environment is immeasurable in the benefits this awareness nurtures.
The threat to nightingales is not a violin or singers presence but by being forgotten and their habitat being destroyed, developed, over grazed by human negligence and financial interest. These are the more insipid threats that are currently compromising vital habitats in several sites across the UK and dozens of birds. The Nest Collective is working in collaboration with the RSPB and local groups to draw attention to a couple of these current situations which needs as many signatories and outspoken opponents of as possible. We also engage in annual conservation work to help maintain the nightingales habitat during the winter which all previous participants are welcome to join us for.
We take the welfare of the nightingales and the land they depend on immensely seriously. The project is at its heart a conservation exercise and operates as a contemporary means to create and invite renewed appreciation of an ecological niche under siege. Sam Lee and the Nest Collective believe firmly that we are part of nature and nature is part of us and the ‘leave it alone’ attitude so readily defaulted to is one of the single largest contributors to the ‘state of nature’ in the UK right now. As the most nature depleted nation in the EU it feels clear that this attitude has not worked and meant we have lost vital habitats through a generational legacy of separation, lack of engagement and missed celebration. Through experiences like Singing with Nightingales we can start once again to really bring nature back into our hearts and foster an ongoing inclusive, intergenerational opportunity for re-enchantment and nature loving.
Is there a dress code?
For our ceilidhs at Grand Junction, they have a strict no heels policy. Other than that, we have no specific dress code, come as fabulous as you like!
Is there an age limit?
Our evening ceilidhs are designed for adults, so we don't recommend bringing anyone under the age of 18. The minimum age we allow entry to is 14. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
For younger ceilidh dancers, we recommend coming to our Family Ceilidhs.
How many people attend a Campfire Club show?
This varies depending on the venue, but our Campfire Club shows are all small, intimate gatherings. You can generally expect between 80 and 150 attendees.
Can I park my car?
This depends on the venue. We recommend checking where the venue is and looking online to see if there is street parking or any nearby car parks.Can I bring my bike inside?
Depending on the venue you may be able to bring it inside, but we recommend you plan to lock it up outside.How accessible are the events for those with limited mobility?
This also depends on the venue - please see our Venue Accessibility page.What if I am late?
Once the doors have been shut then one of our staff will be checking for latecomers every 15 minutes.What happens if it rains?
We’ll have some wet-weather cover, but we recommend you bring waterproofs / umbrellas if it looks like rain. These are all-weather events and will go ahead unless the forecast is severe.
Will there be food?
This depends on the venue - ticket holders will be advised by email one week prior to the event. Most of our Campfire Club events are not catered, so it's likely you'll be allowed to bring your own food. We do, however, run our own bar, so we ask that you don't bring any alcohol with you.
Do you take cash and credit/debit cards?
We are strictly cashless, you will only be able to pay with credit/debit cards.Is this suitable for children and young adults?
These events are open to all ages, but we don’t recommend bringing young children or babies as the performances are intimate and quiet. Please see our Family events which are much more suited for children.
Is it all outdoors?
Yes.Can I take photos?
You may take photos at your discretion, but please be respectful of the artists and other audience members so as not to distract or disturb the performances. Please do not use any flash photography.
Is there a cloakroom?
There won’t be a cloakroom available, you must keep your belongings with you.Will there be toilets available?
Yes there will be a toilet on site at all our venues.
Can I bring my own food and drink?
We don’t allow any external drinks to be brought to these events. With food, it depends on whether we are catering on that particular night - ticket holders will be given specific information around what to expect with food.
I can’t make it anymore, can I give someone else my ticket?
Yes. In order to do this you'll need to contact us at least two weeks prior to the event with the details for whom you'd like to transfer the ticket/s to (name, email address, mobile number). You can contact us at info@thenestcollective.co.uk
How do I get there?
For the Master Shipwright's Palace, the nearest stations are Deptford (rail) or Deptford Bridge (DLR). The best bus routes are 188, 47 and 99.
For Grand Junction, the nearest stations are Royal Oak and Paddington.
Can I park my car?
There is some limited on-street parking nearby at weekends, marked by bays or single yellow lines.
Can I bring my bike inside?
At the Master Shipwright's Palace there is some limited space to lock your bike up inside the gate, though any bikes are left at the owner’s risk.
At Grand Junction there are bike racks nearby to the venue that you can use.
How accessible are the events for those with limited mobility?
At the Master Shipwright's Palace the event is outdoors and all on one level, however there is a range of terrain including gravel and grass.
At Grand Junction there is a lift to provide access to each floor.
What happens if it rains?
We’ll get a bit wet! Bring waterproofs or umbrellas to our outdoor events if it looks like bad weather. We’ll have some wet weather cover, but as this is an all-weather event so we’ll have to roll with it if a bit of rain comes.
Will there be food?
Yes there will be a catered food offering you can purchase on site.
Do you take cash and credit/debit cards?
We don’t take cash on site so please only bring credit/debit cards.
Is this suitable for children and young adults?
Yes, all ages are welcome!
Is it all outdoors?
At the Master Shipwright's Palace, yes. However, if by the summer restrictions around Covid-19 change, we may be able to release more tickets and also have an indoor stage.
At Grand Junction, the event is indoors.
Can I take photos?
You are welcome to take photos but please be respectful of the artists and other audience members so as not to distract or disturb the performances.
Is there a cloakroom?
There won’t be a cloakroom available so you’ll have to keep your belongings with you.
Will there be toilets available?
Yes there are toilets on site.
Can I bring my own food and drink?
No. We will have catering and a bar available on site.
I can’t make it anymore, can I give someone else my ticket?
Yes. If you contact us by email info@thenestcollective.co.uk we can transfer your ticket to someone else for you. If you would like to do this you will need to contact us at least two weeks prior to the event.
What should I bring?
For our outdoor events make sure you’ve got enough layers / warm clothes in case it turns chilly, and any wet weather gear if it looks like rain. Otherwise, just bring yourself!
Can I turn up at any time?
Yes there is no strict start time, though we recommend coming as early as you can to catch all the performers!
Can I leave the festival site and come back in?
No, once you’re in you must stay inside until you decide to go home.
What Covid-19 measures do you have in place now?
In line with government guidelines for 'living with Covid' we are no longer instructing mask wearing and social distancing at our events. However, we ask all our audience to be respectful of our artists, crew and fellow audience members - respect people's personal boundaries, and if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or feel unwell please do not attend. Thank you.
