Forest Festival
August 2-4, 2024
Join us for a Forest Festival to celebrate the beauty and diversity of our remarkable New England woodlands as well as their spiritual, material and ecological values. Whether you can attend for all three days or just come for a few events, we'd love to have you with us!
Three days of events highlight our local food systems, material flows and ecosystem health within the context of valuing our forested landscape:
1. Forest Feast
2. Forests as Ecological Lifelines
3. Forests as Models for an Abundant Circular Economy
Registration is by free/ "Pay What You Can." Please note that each day of the festival has a separate link, and requires a separate registration, to help us keep track of who is coming when.
Festival Schedule
Day 1: Forest Kitchen and Feast
Friday, August 2nd at 8 Bolton Hill Road, Cornwall, CT
A cooking workshop showcasing nourishing food from our bioregion and the forest, facilitated by Kyra Kristof, culminating in a shared feast. Kyra’s beautiful work is about food systems transformations and the development of a bioregional forest cuisine and forest pantry for the Northeast.
Please note the feast will be vegetarian, gluten free, dairy optional, and contain a multitude of tree nuts. If you have a significant nut allergy, please note that we cannot guarantee there won't be cross-contamination.
Day 2: Forests as Ecological Lifelines
Saturday, August 3rd at the Sugar House, Flanders Nature Center, Woodbury, CT
Immerse in a morning of guided experiences, including an overview of our temperate hardwood forests, a native plant identification walk, Qigong in the forest, and forest bathing. Join the Q&A after a panel discussion on the vital role of ecological lifelines and how we can build a bioregional food and resource system while prioritizing protecting ecosystem health and biodiversity.
Day 3: Forests as Models for an Abundant Circular Economy
Sunday, August 4th at the Sugar House, Flanders Nature Center, Woodbury, CT
Nothing is wasted as energy cycles through the forest. In contrast, our current linear economy ("take-make-waste") is designed to turn finite resources into trash—often after only a single use—ending up in toxic landfills or incinerators. How can we do things differently? Come and find out! Try out some hands-on projects to explore the soil-to product-to soil concept. A panel of speakers will discuss efforts to build local and regional systems and infrastructure for materials processing and a circular resource economy in CT. Bring your questions!