Salt & Light Advance at Wildfires
After successful involvement together as S&L joining in with Wildfires since 2022, we are joining Wildfires again in 2026, to be inspired, to connect together and play our part with other UK churches in ‘contending for the next great awakening’.
Wildfires is working really well for S&L churches and people, to help us build identity and unity for what God is doing among us as a family of churches. We have our own ‘village’ (camping area and marquee, see images below) and run a light-touch programme of village events to complement the wider programme of inspiring worship and teaching, with provision for all ages.
Playing our part
We want to be contributors not just consumers. In 2024 we led the Site Team and had some people serving in other teams. In 2025 Advance people volunteered again in many ways: with children and youth, on tech, in stewarding and helping lead SEND provision!
In 2026, organisers are expecting up to 7,500 people, and will be looking for 700-800 volunteers. With Advance being around 8-10% of the total, we may be looking for 50-60 volunteers. Is God calling you to play a part?
Youth
In this season of ‘quiet revival’, lots of younger people are coming to faith, so, new for 2026, Widlfires have announced a ‘youth festival within a festival’ to enable churches to bring more young people, even if their parents/carers are not coming.
To be super-clear, for 2026, there are two options for youth:
attend with their own family, or another family ‘in loco parentis’, in the main camping areas (as we have done until now)
attend to camp in the youth-only camping area, with youth workers from their church
In both cases, youth will be all-together in the same venues for the youth programme.
Will there be an S&L Advance group in the youth-only camping area? The Advance youth team is working at pace, talking to our churches to determine how best to serve our own youth in 2026 - including whether or not to host a group camping within the youth area, thinking about what best serves our context as a multigenerational group of churches. We’ll say more as soon as possible.
In the meantime, if you want to book early to benefit from discounted adults tickets, organisers advise “buy tickets as usual, youth tickets are the same for those camping in the main camping areas and the youth festival areas, with camping included in the ticket for young people.”
Book now!
Bookings are already open! Tickets will be available at an earlybird rate until Saturday 23rd August 2025. Please note, the earlybird rate is not applicable to youth tickets.
Important: Please look out for the “Salt & Light” options when you book. If you book as a general camper and then move to our village on arrival, we don’t get allocated enough space to host you well! (If your specific church isn’t listed please type it under ‘Other’)
Important: When booking camping pitches, please ‘go large’! Many of our campers in 2024 and 2025 booked pitches that were too small for their actual tent.
FAQs
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Please email wildfires@advancechurches.uk and Rach Gallant will advise you, and can liaise with the Wildfires booking team if necessary.
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Yes! If you want to camp next to other friends on the Advance village, just email wildfires@advancechurches.uk and we will do our best, when arranging the pitches, to include your request alongside other constraints (e.g. requirement for accessibility or electrical hookup, some of which may mean they are camping in special areas, in which case it will not be possible to put you alongside them)
Can I camp with friends from non-Advance churches? Yes, they will need to book as part of the Advance group when they book.
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If you have specific needs for a member of your party, such as special needs that we should be aware of; you need an electrical hookup for medical devices; you need to be close to a path, or a toilet - please email wildfires@advancechurches.uk
For churches
Promotional packs for churhes can be found here: Wildfires 2025 promo materials (external link)