Greeenbelt Festival returns this weekend for its 42nd consecutive year, in the stunning grounds of Boughton House. Greenbelt hosts four days of music, literature, ideas and performance with The Unthanks, The Polyphonic Spree, Duke Special, Ciaran Lavery, Kiran Ahluwalia, Thea Hopkins, Harry Baker, A.L.Kennedy, Simon Mayo, Joanna Jepson, Ruth Hunt and more. 

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The festival curates a rich programme of conversation and debate with over 200 thinkers, writers, activists and theologians. In over 500 hours of programming for over 7500 visitors Greenbelt explores: 

FAITH. Greenbelt welcomes Bishop Pushpa Lalitha, the first woman to be ordained bishop in South East Asia, Paula Gooder talks about seeing God in the everyday, Paul Vallely discusses the Pope, Kate Bottley explores faith and media, and Julie Siddiqi talks putting faith into action. Dave Andrews talks about The Jihad of Jesus, Abdul Rehman Malik explores Sufi spirituality, Anjum Anwar on interfaith, and Mona Siddiqui talks about her life as a Muslim woman and theologian. 

WELLBEING. Author of Reasons To Stay Alive, Matt Haig, and Katharine Welby-Roberts discuss mental health and depression. The power of vulnerability is explored by Giles Fraser, talking about helplessness, and John Bell on the effect of pain. Greenbelt welcomes Marina Cantacuzino, founder of The Forgiveness Project, psychotherapist Peter Johnson on churches as communities of enhanced personal wellbeing, and Madeleine Bunting and Tim Stead explore mindfulness. 

THE PLANET. Greenbelt explores how humanity interacts with and impacts its environment, with speakers including Marika Rose on cyborgs, Tom McLeish on the relationship between science and religion, and Michael Northcott on reversing the disconnect between people and the land. This year’s main communion service is inspired by the Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si’. On a local level, guerilla gardener Richard Reynolds talks about transforming neglected public land, and writer Tobias Jones, co-founder of Windsor Hill Wood, talks about the challenges and healing effects of communal living. 

SOCIETY. Poverty, tax justice, payday loans, prisons and the future of politics are constantly in the news, with global issues on our doorstep. Greenbelt explores all of these with experts in the field, as well as ISIS and the Middle East, writer Bidisha on exile and refugees, Jeff Halper on Israel-Palestine, and Dave Smith on asylum. Greenbelt invites festivalgoers to explore, and leave wanting to live more imaginatively, creatively, and generously. 

All events take place at Boughton Hall, Northamptonshire, 28th-31st August 2015.