beauty

Forget Portaloos – this festival has a Red Tent for menstruating women.

Head for the Red Tent! Image via iStock

Ever been at a festival, got  your period and wished there was a place just for women menstruating like you?

Now there is.

Seven Sisters Festival, a three-day New Age women-only event which takes place this month in Victoria, features a “Red Bleeding Tipi” for menstruating women. Festival Director Lauren Woodman describes the tent as a “natural addition” to the festival and a place designed to “encourage and educate women about honouring their bodies and natural rhythms”.

RELATED: We’ve just busted one of the biggest period myths of all-time. Period

Inside the tent, you’ll find everything you have ever screamed at your mum/sibling/significant other to bring you when you’ve got cramps.

We’re talking soft cushions, blankets, hot water bottles, chocolate, herbal teas, art materials, soothing music and even a special ‘Red Tent Priestess’ from the Shamanic School of Midwifery to attend to you. If only it was like that at home.

The tent is one of several in The Tepee Village, which also includes a Pink Tepee for all women, the Earth Tipi with counsellors available, and the Red Tepee Womb Art Exhibition.

Designed to be a “journey”, the festival describes itself as a place where “women can embrace whatever stage and age they are in”, and “collectively celebrate what it is to be a woman in all her shapes, colours and forms”.

However, if that means sinking a bottle of chardonnay to you, you may be disappointed. Alcohol (and men, obviously) are banned, while the use of mobile phones is strongly discouraged.

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And so it should be. Lauren decided to set up the festival in 2012 to encourage woman to devote more time to holistic health.

“I wanted to create a festival that would allow them to leave behind the demands of everyday life for a few days and experience a range of techniques including yoga, ayurvedic healing or massage,” she told the Mornington Peninsula Leader.

The program boasts eight different types of yoga. Eight! Image via iStock.
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Growing from 300 women in 2012 to over 1,800 (all by word-of-mouth!), activities during the festival include workshops and talks, art exhibitions, healing sessions, musical performances and market stalls.

This year, choices range from talks on everything from depression, eating disorders and hysterectomies, to a keynote speech on Understanding Orgasms, a "Why am I single?" workshop,  Holistic Afro-Brazilian dancing and a lesson on Lesbianism Throughout Time. Lisa Mitchell will also perform.

RELATED: What really happens to your body when you skip your period.

Festival goer Kimba Grace declared on the event's Facebook page that the previous year was "the BEST ever girls' weekend that I have ever had the privilege to be a part of.

"We, each individual woman and as a whole are the main focus for the entire weekend. It is invigorating, refreshing, exhilarating and inspiring to meet all of our own needs first. A true awakening of one's spirit, ignites fire in the belly, inspiration in the mind and dreams as big as anyone could ever desire!"

We hope this song makes an appearance (impromptu or otherwise).

Have you attended the Seven Sisters Festival or something similar? Did you love it or was it too alternative?

Unfortunately, most festivals don't have anything in the way of a red tent - so it's worth having these supplies in your bag:

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