One of our favorite things about St Peter’s is the dormitories. All dorms are fully kitted out with private or semi-private rooms.

Female Dorms
All female dorms have private enclosed rooms complete with a single bed and desk.

Male Dorms
Most of the male dorms also have completely private rooms like the girls dorms, however there is one male dorm that has semi-private rooms with cubicle-style walls.

How are rooms allocated?
Upon registration teens are all divided into small groups. These small groups are sorted by parish/school/group, age, and male/female specific. Each small group is assigned a block of rooms in a dormitory and teens can pick their preference from that block.
We work closely with group leaders to ensure that students are put in a small group with at a buddy, however we are unable to accommodate specific requests or swaps.
Due to fire, safety, and safeguarding practices, students are not allowed to share single rooms under any circumstance.

Missionary Accommodation
In compliance with safeguard policies, multiple missionaries are assigned to each dorm. This includes leader(s) assigned to the small group(s) but may include missionaries from the wider team. Missionaries are assigned separate shower facilities for their use.

We do have limited sponsorships available and we would never want finances to stand in the way of a young person coming to Set Free.

Eligibility
While we welcome everyone, Set Free is a Hamilton Diocese Youth Festival and sponsorships are only considered for those within the Diocese. This area is larger than just Hamilton City and goes from Huntly, down to Gisborne, and over to Taupo. If you are from another Diocese, we encourage you to reach out to your own Diocese or Parish. We find they are usually more than happy to assist.

Process
If you are in the Hamilton Diocese please email Jil at jily@cdh.org.nz explaining your need for assistance and why you would like to attend Set Free.
To be able to help as many students as we can, sponsorships are given on a sliding scale and usually is around a 50% sponsorship.
Prior to applying we ask that students consider fundraising in their parish and community. More often than not, parishes are more than happy to financially contribute and/or support students.

Drop-off for Set Free is between 3:00 and 4:30pm on Tuesday 7th April. Pick-up is promptly at 1:00pm.

There is a lot of set-up and prep that goes right up until Registration Opens and for a quick turnover for our next festival as soon as we finish Thursday. During this time, missionaries and part of the team need to be able to move about freely without concern for teens and safeguarding compliance. We are unable to accommodate early and late arrivals and drop offs. Please do not put our team in a compromising position. If you are travelling in from out of ton and arrive early, there are plenty of cafe’s around the corner from St Peters to wait, you are also welcome to wait in the car with your teen until registration opens.

Our program is specifically curated to be experienced as a whole, and we will also not accommodate teens wishing to leave and come back to camp for any reasons.

An email with directions and details will go out the week before camp. This email includes the packing list. If however, you are concerned about what may be needed below you will find a packing list from 2025:

• Clothes 

  • Warm clothes, its camp and it can get chilly at night

  • Comfortable walking shoes (campus is quite large)

  • Comfortable, messy clothes for activity time

  • Tidy dress for Closing Mass

• Rain gear

• Toiletries and towel

• Bedding for a single bed/sleeping bag/pillow

• Pen/notebook/journal/Bible

• Bug Spray,

• Water bottle

• Sunscreen

• Lads, if you can bring a small bunch of fruit to add to our supply for morning/afternoon tea that would be great!

• Ladies, if you are able to bring some home baking or biscuits to be added to our morning/afternoon tea supply that would be great!  

Cancellations are fully refundable up until the 20 March. From the 21st of March forward all tickets are non-refundable and sales are final.

Yes! Set Free is open to everyone. We warmly welcome young people from all backgrounds and stages of faith. Your teen won’t feel like they miss out on anything—everything is explained and accessible, and questions are encouraged. It is important to note that while Communion and Reconciliation (confession) are reserved for Catholics only, young people from other backgrounds can come forward for blessings in the Communion line and can still speak privately with a Priest for counsel during confessions if they so choose.

Whether they’re curious, searching, or just coming along with friends, they’ll be met with genuine hospitality and an opportunity to encounter Jesus, the Living God.