50 years of Greenbelt: Christianity’s most controversial festival
By 
Derek Walker2023-07-25T10:36:00
As the unique Christian festival celebrates its 50th birthday, Derek Walker looks back at the event’s most memorable moments
Groundbreaking, controversial, distinctive, inclusive, faith-based, life-giving. These are just some of the phrases that have been used to describe Greenbelt.
Over the five decades since the festival began, it has carved out a unique slot in the Christian summer festival landscape, one that is alternately seen as a welcome refuge and inspiration for some, or an unsettingly provocation by others. But one thing that both fans and critics can agree on is that the event has evolved considerably, and is now barely recognisable from its humble beginnings.
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