Anastasia Morris, 34, from Llanymynech near Welshpool, has helped organise the UK's first weight loss festival, Barifest, after dropping from 32st to 14st 9lbs following gastric bypass surgery in August 2023. The event, held at Field Good Bar in Bath, attracted 75 slimmers at various stages of their weight loss journeys.
Morris founded the festival alongside Donna Musson, 43, and Pamela Phillips, 42, whom she met at a ball after each had undergone bariatric surgery. Together, the three women have lost a combined 36 stone. The festival was designed to provide a sense of community for those on weight loss journeys, whether through surgery, medication or dieting.
"Nobody was judging loose skin so no need to feel self-conscious," Morris said. "If you've always been skinny you don't think about things like whether the chairs and beds will fit you, or whether you can get in the toilet. But we truly understand what it's like and it was the best weekend making memories."
The festival included crafting, karaoke, exercise classes, live music, wellness workshops and "boozy bingo", with headline DJ Shortee Blitz, who has worked with Jay-Z and Mariah Carey. Plastic surgeons offered on-site consultations. Standard tickets cost £60 per day. Organisers ensured accessibility with smaller food portions, strengthened beds and chairs, and larger toilets.
Phillips, from Wolverhampton, who lost 9st 7lbs after gastric sleeve surgery in 2023, said: "It can be very lonely having weight loss surgery and then going back to reality with your normal friends, so Barifest was about bringing people together as a family and not feeling embarrassment or shame." Musson, who slimmed from 20st 7lbs to 11st 6lbs after surgery in 2021, added: "Even me, Pam and Anastasia are all at different stages... so everyone at any stage of their journey had a choice."
The trio have already received numerous queries about repeating the event and plan to make it annual, with the next Barifest scheduled for 2027.
