For society
How a community hosts a Festival of Trust in its own place, with the backing of a funder.
Communities
Hosted by the community, backed by a funder
A community hosts a Festival of Trust with the backing of a funder — someone who believes trust is worth investing in, and wants to see it grow at ground level.
A Festival of Trust is a one-day (or multi-part) gathering that helps a community notice the trust it already holds and grow it. It is organised by the community itself, not delivered from outside: the same streets, the same faces, one day that belongs to them.
The concept
Start from the tension, then turn
We do not claim trust is fine. We hold both truths. Trust seems to be disappearing: rivalry at work, tension between neighbours, unsafe streets. But look closer, and trust still quietly holds: a promise kept between relatives, a neighbour who shows up unasked, a stranger who returns a wallet with the cash still inside.
Society cannot run without trust. Where it exists, it deserves celebration. Where it is missing, it must be built. Not from above — from where each of us stands. Pocket by pocket, connected, the world starts to look less trustless than the story suggests.
Trust grows by doing, not by saying so.
Pockets and the web
A single pocket is fragile. A web of pockets holds weight.
Trust already lives in small pockets: a friendship, a neighbour, a trusted teacher. The festival helps people notice those pockets and draw them closer, so scattered points connect into threads, and threads into a web.
Each festival adds pockets and threads; the festivals themselves connect into a wider web, community by community.
The stance
The festival walks alongside. It does not instruct.
The organiser is an accompanier, not an expert. Three commitments run through every festival:
- Notice before building.
- Invite, never instruct.
- Measure by what continues after people go home.
The method
Nine steps, three phases
The process moves in one direction: purpose, then relationships, then design, then action, then learning. The planner walks them with you.
Orientation
1 Listen
Discover the need.
2 Gather
Form the core group.
3 Align
Clarify purpose and vision.
Doing
4 Connect
Build partnerships.
5 Design
Shape the festival journey.
6 Invite
Bring the community together.
Culmination
7 Host
Facilitate meaningful encounters.
8 Harvest
Capture stories and learning.
9 Grow
Sustain the web of trust.
The start
It begins with someone deciding to host
Every festival is named for its place — Festival of Trust Cape Town, Festival of Trust Rotterdam Zuid. What starts as one pocket becomes part of something wider, community by community.