Ceremony Ideas | Water is Life

Ideas and Assets to Create Your Ceremony

On this page you will find many ideas for your water ceremony. We have also created outreach materials for you to promote your ceremony. You can use the editable versions of the leaflets to add your text, QR codes and date/place of your ceremony and also use the printer-ready versions to send to a professional printer.

Download Stickers | posters | flyers

Some Inspiration & Ideas

Community

• Engage other river / water user groups to build a community of stewards.
• Lead walks, clear litter / blockages.
• Consider joining a water testing group.
• Offer Science Street Talk to other groups.
• Share research to strengthen knowledge and connection to the waterways.
• Post on social media, highlighting local pollution issues.
• Discuss the change you want to see to the waterbodies you care about.
• Read about other ceremonies.
  • Unity Sand Ceremony

Art & Creativity

• Create artwork
• Write or read poetry
• Make mandalas
• Chant / sing to rivers / make music (more on this below)
• Use Sound Bowls

Music & Storytelling

• Song of the Thames (YouTube 29min) by Sam Lee - singer and song collector.
• Traditional Native Storytelling - Salmon Boy (YouTube 12min) with Roger Fernandes.
• The Lost Words Blessing - (YouTube 4min) a song created from Robert Macfarlane's book The Lost Words.
• Collect stories.
• Running order [Dropbox 1 min] for the Ceremony for the River Wye.
  

Promote

• Share the ceremony with local authorities, politicians, other water users and engage schools & colleges.
• Incorporate Blue Plaques for Nature. This could include a QR code on the plaque which could point to the history of the waterbody.

Puppets/Masks/Costumes

• Make a ‘big splash’ in your local media with colourful puppets, masks and costumes.
• Welcoming the River Wye Ceremony [YouTube 5min] at Herefordshire Council featuring Wye River Goddess puppet.