This summer marks a very special moment for all of us who have been involved in the crop circle phenomenon. It is the 25th anniversary of two remarkable crop circles: the Galaxy and the Face & the Message. Both events made headlines and captured the imagination of researchers, photographers, croppies, and curious visitors from around the world. For many, they remain among the most iconic and inspiring crop circles ever discovered.
To mark this occasion we organise The Circles Festival, a gathering of researchers, enthusiasts, friends, and newcomers who share a fascination with the phenomenon and the questions it raises.
There will be talks, films, a festival fair, workshops, tours, night watching under the stars, and time to meet both old friends and new ones. Most of all, it will be an opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary phenomenon that has brought so many of us together over the years.
More details about the programme and dates will follow. For now, please mark the occasion in your diary.
Monique Klinkenbergh
was instantly inspired when she saw a picture of a crop circle (2007). After studying the phenomenon for 2 years she sold her company (Collectors Group, publishers in Art) to dedicate herself fully to the subject. Her mission is to rehabilitate the distorted picture of crop circles. She is astounded by the misinformation, chaos and obstruction present in the field.
Initially Monique founded the Crop Circle Information and Research Centre in Naarden, The Netherlands with an aim to increase the public’s awareness and to act as a platform for scientists, researchers and interested amateurs to meet and share knowledge and expertise.
In 2013 she moved her Centre to Wiltshire (UK) the heartland of the phenomenon. Beside research projects she promotes new ways to reduce the friction between the farming community and those who like to research and visit formations, with an aim of finding a way of compensating farmers in return for them allowing access to their land.
In 2014 her Centre was hosted by the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes where she organized and curated a historical multi-media exhibition with researcher Andreas Müller. It was the first time that crop circles and the research behind was featured in a historic museum. The exhibition was later displayed e.g. in St. Peters Church in Marlborough and at The Barge Inn at Honeystreet.
A permanent home for the Centre & Exhibition was realized in 2019 at Honeystreet Village in Wiltshire, the historical heart of the modern crop circle phenomenon.The aim of the Exhibition is to inform people about the – often unknown – facts. And to emphasize that, alongside man-made circles, there is an authentic phenomenon at work.
The display was curated and compiled together with long-term crop circle researcher Andreas Müller and with contributions and support of many other national and international researchers.
Monique Klinkenbergh (born 1958) is the mother of four children. She was chief-editor of Tableau Fine Arts Magazine and creator and founder of The Collectors Agenda, which was known internationally amongst art collectors and dealers as the most beautiful and inspiring product of its time. It was to be found on the desks of the highest levels of society and a successful business product, attracting the attention of the Financial Times in the Netherlands.
The change in her career from entrepeneur to crop circle researcher was noted by the Dutch Financial Times and Television: Tros TV Show by Ivo Niehe. In 2019 she was featured in the Chinese documentary/reality show Adventures of Life, and in 2022 in Filemon and the complotten (Dutch National Television BNNVARA)