Info
A DAY AT CAMP
01 WAKE UP
You wake up and check to see if any of your mates in your Youth Group’s tent village are awake yet… you go to your communal hang out space to find a group of them already buzzing for the day, having a yarn about all that happened yesterday. “Breakfast?” they ask. “100%!”
02 BREAKFAST
You head down the massive food tent - you, your mates, and like a couple hundred extra sleepy eyed youth. You line up for your favourite, weetbix, grab a hot choccy, and find a sunny spot to sit. Fuelled for the day, it’s time to get ready before the Morning Session.
03 MORNING SESSION
Your Youth Group crew heads over to the Main Pavillion and sit in your allocated section. Everyone’s repping their Youth Group crew with merch, flags, chanting… the auditorium fills up and we kick off with praise and worship. Then there’s fun interviews, games and challenges before the session’s speaker gets up to talk.
04 LUNCH & AFTERNOON BREAK
Morning session ends, and you head down to the food tent for lunch. It’s pie day - the best day. You check out the Camp programme to see what’s on this afternoon: sports comp, seminars, mud pit, talent quest, inflatables, workshops. You squeeze the afternoon for all it’s worth, and finish up with some village hangs checking out the EC merch and other stalls.
05 DINNER
Before you know it, dinner time is here! Time to head down to the food tent for nachos. Your youth group crew finds a spot to eat dinner together and catch up before the evening session.
06 EVENING SESSION
Again, epic message from tonight’s speakers, praise and worship was next level, and the heat of the tribal wars rivalry got turned up a few notches.
07 EVENING FREE TIME
There’s heaps of activities on the go tonight, but maybe before you head out of the session you need a little extra time with your leader to debrief. So you head to the quiet space with a few of your mates and your leaders to talk over what God was doing in your hearts in that session. With plenty of time before lights out, you see what’s on tonight: musical guests, soak worship set, talent quest, food trucks at the village.
08 LIGHTS OUT
After another day filled with memories to last a life-time, you’re ready to hit the hay. 12am it’s lights out and sweet dreams about another EC day coming your way…
HOW CAMP WORKS
You may be wondering, “5000 is a lot of teenagers…how do you manage to make sure they eat, drink, sleep, have fun, wear sunblock, and not get lost?
”We might not be able to guarantee that every young person wears sunblock, but we do make sure that every young person is a part of a community where they will be lead and looked after for the duration of camp.
Easter Camp is structured so that Youth Groups come to camp with an established team of familiar leaders to be responsible for the youth they bring to camp. Within a Youth Group team, they will have allocated responsibility of specific youth to each of their leaders. These leaders will hang out with the youth throughout the day, sit with them in sessions, eat meals with them, do activities together, and be the youth’s main point of contact for any pastoral, health and safety, or general needs.
Our Easter Camp grounds are set up like a mini city, where each youth group has their own ‘tent village’. A Youth Group crew will set up all of their tents for their youth and leaders in the same allocated area - many of them decorating their tent village with signs, lights, and a communal hang out space. These allocated tent villages mean that youth are staying with friends and leaders they are familiar with. Youth group pastors and leaders are responsible for making sure their youth are in morning and evening sessions, are eating meals, and are in their tent areas and going to sleep before lights out.
Each morning the youth group pastors and leaders are briefed by the Easter Camp team for the day ahead with key information and health and safety etc.
The Easter Camp team is made up of staff and volunteers who oversee areas such as: Health and Safety, Site Safety, Food, Programming, Worship, Production, Communications, Administration, Specific activities and areas of camp, etc. While all staff and volunteers uphold the Christian values and beliefs of camp, and are there to serve the youth who attend, they are not directly involved in caring for youth. This responsibility is held by the youth leaders and pastors they are familiar with. However, Easter Camp does have an experienced Pastoral Care team who is there to assist with any instances where a youth pastor or leader feels they need assistance in caring for a young person.
FAQS
When and where is camp?
Northern Easter Camp runs from 4pm Thursday 28th March 2024 to 2pm Monday 1st April 2024 - it is held at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Ohaupo Rd, Hamilton.
Can I leave camp?
Not really. All campers must stay on site at all times unless they have an approved Gate Pass allowing them to either arrive late or leave during camp. This pass must be approved before camp by your youth leader. You can request a Gate Pass here.
What should I bring?
Here's a few things for a start -> Your ticket with QR code, warm clothes, sports gear, old clothes, bedding, party props, toiletries, towel, bible, notebook, phone with Covid Tracer app installed, hand sanitiser, face mask and drink bottle to fill at water taps around site. Do you know what though? Your leader has a full and specific list for your group, so do ask them about it too.
Where do I sleep?
All campers sleep with the youth community they registered with. Each group is assigned a camping plot and organises their own sleeping arrangements from girls tents, guys tents, communal meeting tents and more. Chat to your youth leader for details about how their site works.
What do I do all day?
The Easter Camp programme is a wild ride that will change your life... but if you want the sensible answer, then a day generally includes a combo of structure and free-flow activities. There are morning and evening gatherings in the pavilion (bands, music, wide games involving 4000 people!) as well as sports, recreation, blow ups, workshops, dance parties and more. You will also hang out with your group a lot - so hope you like them ;)
What if I feel sick prior to camp?
If you are sick in any way, please do not come to camp. You are putting your whole group at risk, not to mention possibly spreading germs to the wider camp. If you are showing symptoms similar to Covid-19 in the week before camp, please get a negative Covid test result before attending.
fAqs
Who can attend camp?
Easter Camp is for high-school- aged campers (typically 13-18 year olds), youth leaders, workers and camp parents in the Auckland, Waikato, BOP, Northland and Upper North Island region. If you are not part of a local youth community, contact us and we will connect you with one. If you are not from the Upper North Island, check out Central Easter Camp and Southern Easter Camp.
Do we have to register with a group?
Yes - though we sell individual tickets, you must join a youth community as part of your registration. This is to ensure no young person does camp alone. We want all campers to be part of community and looked after by people who know and care for them.
What about food and special diets?
Breakfast, lunch and dinner is provided by the amazing EC kitchen team. There are also gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian options available. Please identify your dietary requirements on your registration form. You might also want to bring snacks or some cash for the stalls in the village.
What if we have financial difficulties?
We understand that a tickets for a 5-day camp can be out of reach for some families. Please have a chat to your youth leader to see if they have options available for subsidising your ticket costs.
How do I know what ticket to buy?
The majority of tickets are Camper tickets. However, if you are attending camp as a group leader or parent helper, you will buy a Leader ticket. If you are attending camp as a worker, you will buy a Worker ticket. Child tickets are for children of leaders or camp parents to attend camp. And if you have more than one child coming as a Camper, then you can buy Family tickets. For more info, see the ticketing page.
When do you send me my tickets?
Neither the order confirmation email (from your ticket purchase) and the registration approval email (from your youth leader) suffice as your ticket to camp. Tickets have QR codes on them and will be sent in bulk after each cutoff period. If you haven't received yours within 10 working days after the cut-off period, please email tickets@easter.camp
We have tickets but can no longer attend!
Easy - we will refund you the ticket amount less the pull-out fee. Just contact your youth leader in the first instance and they will take it from there.
WHAT ABOUT COVID & VACCINATION PASSPORTS?
We are continuously watching the landscape and procedures when it comes to Covid-19. Northern Easter Camp will be adhering to Government guidelines when it comes to hosting large gatherings, scanning, health, safety and the use of vaccination passports, as your child's safety is our number one priority.
How safe will my kid be?
We have a very high leader to young person ratio at camp, with about 600 leaders and parent helpers looking after their youth groups for the duration of camp. The very reason a camper must join a youth community is so that no child is left out, unknown or uncared for.
Easter Camp itself has a crew of 3-400 adults including a Medical team and a 24-hour Site Safe team that includes off-duty police officers. All leaders, workers and crew aged 18 or over are expected to be police-vetted as part of their appointment.
Gates are monitored and, in the interests of the safety of minors (who comprise the majority of camp), we do not allow visitors to freely come and go. Anyone needed to access the gates during camp need a special, pre-approved pass to do so.
We also have policies and procedures in place in case of any unexpected issues in relation to drugs, alcohol or behaviour.
To prevent and minimise injury, all setup, programming and activity-based tasks undergo Risk Management Assessments and are OSH compliant.
What am I committing to?
Buying a ticket for camp indicates that both the camper and/or parent/guardian accept the terms and conditions of our event and that the camper agrees to abide by our camp rules.
Who runs Easter Camp?
Easter Camp has been going for 100 years - it was originally birthed out of Baptist Youth Ministries, though the camp now includes youth from a diverse range of faith backgrounds and Christian denominations. Northern Easter Camp itself is a charitable entity that sits under the Baptist Union of NZ.