The Belgian and Dutch caving organisations have the pleasure to invite you to the 11th EuroSpeleo Forum from 15 th to 17 th September 2017.
The EuroSpeleo Forum will be held during the so called Caving Days that are organised by the Belgian and Dutch cavers every two years. The EuroSpeleo Forum is supported by the European Speleological Federation FSE. The event will take place at the Collège SaintRoch (ASBL Bernardfagne) in Ferrières in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes.
Registration for the EuroSpeleo Forum is now open. The registration form in English can be found at:
https://www.speleovvs.be/vvsforms/index.php/speleodagen/registration/en-GB
All information on the EuroSpeleo Forum in English and French can be found in the first circular at:
http://www.eurospeleo.eu/images/stories/docs/eurospeleo-forum/Circular%2011th%20ESF%20EN-FR.pdf
Or at the website at: https://www.speleovvs.be/index.php/en/caving-days
Caving Days 2017 in Bernardfagne – Ferrières! – September 15-17
Registration opens on June 28 at 20:00 CET on the VVS website: www.speleovvs.be
This website will also host all the latest information on the event.
Additional information
For many years now, the Caving Days in Belgium are organized every two years. This year for the first time the event will be organised at a new location: the Bernardfagne domain, in the village of Ferrières. Bernardfagne originally was a Catholic boarding school. Nowadays, only a part of the complex is still in use for educational purposes and is hosting a college.
Bernardfagne is much more spacious than previous location, and much more facilities are to the disosal of the organisation which hopes this will make your visit even more worthwile than previous editions! However, rest assured many items on the programme will look familiar to the regular visitor!
This edition of the Caving Days will also host the European Forum of the FSE (European Speleological Federation), which means this year’s annual FSE meeting will take place during the Caving Days, which will make this event an excellent opportunity to broaden international contacts.
Prices will be:
Full weekend all-in: 50 €
Full weekend all-in for children from 5 to 13 years: 33 €
Full weekend all-in for children younger than 5 years: Free
Full weekend all-in including caving insurance for Belgium: 58 €
Programme
Friday:
Participants can check in from 18:00 CET onwards on Friday evening, September 15. After this participants are free to either claim a bed in one of the many bedrooms inside the school buildings, or setup their tent on one of the fields outside.
Saturday:
After a hearty breakfast, the subscriptions for the cave visits start at 8.00 (breakfast will remain available after this time!). The order of your registration AND the date of your payment determines the order in which people can choose the cave of their choice. Whoever registers first AND also pays in time has first choice and thus the biggest selection of beautiful caves to choose from. Departure to the caves will be 10:00 AM at the latest.
Cave offering:
As always, a wide selection of the finest caves Belgium has to offer are opened to the cavers attending the Caving Days. A big thank you goes out to the guides of the various UBS, VVS and Speleo Nederland clubs for making this all possible! The following is an indicative list of caves for which a guided tour will be offered:
Grotte de la Fosse aux Ours (integraal) – Grotte de Hotton – Trou des crevés
Souffleur de Beauregard – Grande Faille du Fonds des Cris
Bois de Waerimont – Chawresse Réso B – Chawresse-Veronika, Traversée
Trou du Souci – Trou du Parrain
Grotte Lorette – Maye Crevée – Trou des Manants
And, off course after the special edition of our Spelerpess: Chantoir des Fagnoules.
For people not wanting to go caving, there will also be an organised nature walk with a guide who will be able to tell everything about the beauties and splendour of above-ground Belgium!
Welcoming
After the cave visits there will be a welcoming on the large courtyard at the begining of the evening, which will also be used to honour two fellow cavers with the “Golden Spelerpes” award. Of course, appetizers will be served also!
Dinner
After the welcoming people will enjoy a festive and delicious cheese dish with many special artisan cheeses from the region, complemented with a nice glass of wine or our own cave beer!
Like in previous editions, diner will be followed by the tombola again offering some great prizes! Afterwards there will be a party and people can dance on the music of Morphine Murphy and our DJ ‘Gino’. Let’s party !!!! Of course it is also possible for people to find a quiet place for a cozy chat with caving friends.
Sunday:
On Sunday there will be a wide range of workshops, movies and presentations and showcases to attend. Six parallel sessions will be available, so there is sure to be something for everyboy! Also, the general meeting of the FSE will be held in one of the premises on Sunday morning.
In the afternoon the reunion of retired cavers starts and a nice barbecue with ham on the bone will be served as lunch. Finally we will close the 2017 Speleological Days with a surprise offered by ‘Friends of the VVS’.
In short: Save the date in your calendar! We sure hope to see you then!
Please join us on the 2017 Caving Days in Ferrières, Belgium!
Cancellations
You can cancel your participation in the Speleological Days by sending an email to .
In case of cancellation, the following refunds are applied:
Up to 1 month before commencement (15/08/2017): 100% refunded.
Up to 2 weeks before commencement (01/09/2017): 50% refunded.
After that: 0% refunded.