North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival

By Ann Trieger Kurland, Globe Correspondent,
Updated September 19, 2023, 12:30 p.m.

The annual North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival, with the tagline “It’s the festival thatstinks,” is taking place Sept. 30-Oct. 1. This year marks the 25th anniversary ofcelebrating the allium. Held at Forester’s Farm in Orange, about 70 miles from Boston,
there will be plenty of garlicky foods to consume — garlic cheeseburgers, garlic chickentikka masala, wood-fired pizza smothered in garlic, garlic chocolate chip cookies, garlicice cream. “It’s also a celebration of our agricultural and artistic community and localcreativity,” says co-founder Deb Habib. “And garlic is a fabulous crop to grow in theNortheast.” Habib’s husband, Ricky Baruc, a garlic farmer, and friend Jim Fountain, anartisan woodworker, first conjured up the idea of a festival as a way to promote the ruralregion’s natural beauty, its garlic crop, and artisan products they felt needed a wideraudience. The volunteer-led event has expanded from initially less than a dozenexhibitors and 1,000 visitors to over 100 vendors — artists, growers, communityorganizations, food — and 8,000 attendees. Wander the fields and participate in aworkshop about cultivating garlic or visit the chef demo tent; buy dozens of local farmproducts, like fruit shrubs from Bug Hill Farm in Ashfield and mittens and socks fromGrass Hill Alpacas in Haydenville. Get a shiatsu massage and attend a guided meditationsession, which you might need should you participate in the raw garlic-eating contest.There are plenty of activities for kids and stages where writers share their poetry, andlocal bands fill the air with jazz, indie rock, and classic country music. The two days willbe ripe for puns — like garlic makes you peel good or garlic makes everything butter. Inhonor of the 25th anniversary, tickets are reduced to $5.
60 Chestnut Hill Road, Orange.Information and schedule available at
garlicandarts.org
.

25^th Anniversary

North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival Sept 30 and Oct 1

Celebrate! Thrive! We’re 25!

Event Name: 25th Annual North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival

Event Date: Saturday and Sunday, Sept 30 and Oct 1, 10 AM to 5 PM both days. Shine or Rain

Location: Outdoor fields, Forster Farm, 60 Chestnut Hill Rd. Orange, MA. No pets allowed on site or in parking lots. On-site parking for accessibility and carpools of three or more. Others-nearby shuttle lot.

Travel, shuttle and parking info, schedules of entertainment, activities, and exhibitors: www.garlicandarts.org

Family Friendly Admission: Half price, 25^th anniversary special! $5 (Good for the weekend!) Kids 12 and under FREE. Card to Culture! EBT, WIC, ConnectorCare: FREE! Advance tickets for all strongly encouraged starting Sept 1^st at www.garlicandarts.org. Cash or card still welcome at the gate.

Come prepared: No ATM on site, bring a water bottle for free water, and a bag to carry great goods!

Get to Know the North Quabbin Region: A Journey

Social Media: Facebook: facebook.com/NorthQuabbinGarlicAndArtsFestival/ Instagram: nqgarlicandartsfestival Twitter #NQGarlicandArts Postcard image available for promotional use at garlicandarts.org. Enjoy 25 fun, behind the scene festival facts here!

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival celebrates year 25 on Sept 30/October 1 in Orange, MA. The family-friendly “festival that stinks” is renowned for exceptional art, local farm products, fabulous food, endless entertainment, and inspiration for a hopeful future. Held on a historic farm amid fall foliage, the event attracts and unites many thousands locally and from across New England.

Over 100 bountiful booths feature regional artists, farmers, community organizations, and healing arts; everyone can strengthen the economy by purchasing locally crafted and grown! Great music, entertainment, and spoken word emanate from three stages and the rolling fields. The line-up of performers is testimony to the culturally diverse and abundant talents of the region. Be it folk, funk or bomba we’ve got you covered–and dancing! At the Spoken Word stage nestled in the forest, enjoy over 35 poets, many featured in a special anniversary compilation. Travel the garlic globe in the chef demo tent, complete with complimentary recipes. Fill your belly with local to global, savory cuisine from local farms, restaurants and food trucks. Over fifty engaging workshops and demos, activities and performances are scheduled throughout the weekend. Garlic games abound on the main field, including the famous raw garlic-eating contest Your kids will love the free art-making tent! Orange is the New Green: trash free (only three bags for 8,000 people!) with everything else recycled or transformed into fertile compost to make gardens not garbage. Bring your own bottle for the free drinking water provided, or buy a souvenir refillable one along with an artist-designed festival tee shirt. The ‘Portal to the Future’ area hosts inspiring local living workshops all weekend, from pollinators to heat pumps and more! Electric Vehicles (EV) owners offer a glimpse of their cars, tractors, bikes and even a pontoon boat, scheduled throughout the weekend. Get excited, get ready: view and print your own festival schedules of performance, demos, and workshops!

Inflation Busting, Family Friendly Admission: Half-price, 25^th anniversary special! Only $5 (Good for the weekend!) Kids 12 and under FREE. Card to Culture! EBT, WIC, ConnectorCare: FREE! Advance tickets strongly encouraged and available starting Sept 1 at www.garlicandarts.org. Cash or card still welcome at the gate.

Parking is free but limited: on-site parking is for accessible tags and carpools of three or more; free nearby shuttle lot for all others. Biking encouraged!

No pets allowed (service dogs only).

Garlic lovers are hot, but no smoking on the festival site or shuttle bus lines. The festival is volunteer organized and run. Proceeds keep the event sustainable and affordable, and support the festival’s community grant program for local art, agriculture, health and energy projects. Over $60,000 has been contributed to local organizations as well as socially responsible loan funds.

According to the organizers, all friends and neighbors who volunteer with love to create the festival, “Twenty-five years ago we dreamed up an idea to celebrate the beauty and bounty of our region, so often-overlooked, and ignite the cultural and agricultural economy of the North Quabbin. Five co-founders each put 20 dollars on the table over a shared meal to initiate the first Garlic and Arts Festival, along with faith in the power of community and creativity, and a ‘let’s just do it’ attitude. More than ever, people of all walks of life need places to come together in celebration and gain inspiration for resilient lives and communities, and a saner world.” Enjoy 25 fun, behind the scene festival facts here!

Get the whole bulb at http://www.garlicandarts.org including the 2023 schedule of exhibitors, entertainment, volunteering opportunities, and workshops and activities for all ages. While in the North Quabbin, stop in at local businesses or enjoy ample hiking or paddling. Curious about the region? Enjoy this North Quabbin journey.

A volunteer committee of friends and neighbors, and Seeds of Solidarity Education Center, a non-profit organization, organize the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival. Supporters include the Forster/Stewart Family, over 100 exhibitors, and about 200 community volunteers the festival weekend!

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The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival turns 25 on September 30 and October 1.  The all-volunteer organizing committee, 100 exhibitors, and over 50 performers and presenters are excited to welcome you!  We thought we would offer 25 fun behind-the-scenes history and facts:

1) The festival was started by five neighbors (artists and farmers) and twenty bucks each over a summer potluck dinner in 1998.
2) The first festival was held in 1999 on a back field in the woods at Seeds of Solidarity, two weeks after a hurricane.
3) Currently, there are over 30 people that make up the festival committee– all volunteer, all still friends after all these years, powered by love, magic, hard work, and dedication.
4) Festival year two and onward has been held at Dorothy Forster’s historic family dairy farm.  Dory’s father used to deliver fresh milk to the local schools.
5) Year one there were about 10 exhibitors and 600 attendees. Now there are over 100 artist, farmer, community organization and food vendors, and upwards of eight thousand attendees.
6) Our youngest exhibitors started when they were 9. Our eldest is now 96. All are still rockin’ it.
7) In 2004 organizers set up for and held the festival — then a one day event – during a hurricane.  The next day was beautiful. That’s when and why we moved to a two-day event in 2005.
8) Every exhibitor contributes to a set up or clean-up day, or makes a meal for one of these crews.  This unique model keeps exhibitor fees low, and builds community. Each year exhibitors collectively contribute about 400 hours to help create the festival village, along with countless hours contributed by the organizers. We start setting up a month in advance.
9) In addition to the committee (and exhibitors), over 150 people volunteer on the festival weekend. A bread oven on-site built by neighbor Doug Feeney is popular among volunteers,
who receive a special treat (for volunteers only) during their shift.
10) Some of the volunteers are community groups who do parking (under the guidance of steadfast, superhero parking captains) in exchange for a donation from the festival to their cause. We’ve had high school sports teams, motorcycle clubs, theater groups, a prison birth project, college service organizations and more over the years.
11) The festival produces only 2 large bags of trash each year for about 8,000 people.
12) Over 150 bags of compostable materials used by food vendors each year are transformed into fertile soil for local gardens at Clearview Compost in Orange. Over the festival years, this equates to about 200 yards of finished compost, or over 10 dump trucks full of nutrient rich compost for gardens, not garbage in landfills.
13) The first music stage was a hastily built platform of pallets. The second was haybales on a trailer. There are now three performance areas. Committee members have built all of the stages as well as the dining area tables, all of local or repurposed wood (the wood for the table legs
were donated by a local casket company). The largest and main music stage is built on a foundation of local black locust piers. (That was a project!)
14) There are over 50 performances and free workshops for attendees over the festival weekend.  Plus a free kids art making tent. And free drinking water for all.
15) The most garlic cloves ever eaten by a contestant in the raw garlic eating contest is 48. One of our top winners over the years was breastfeeding a child at the time of her garlic eating accomplishment. (A very healthy child!)
16) Over 25 years, millions of dollars in exhibitor sales have been made at the festival. These  directly support the livelihoods of local artists, farmers, and food producers, and boost the local  economy as it keeps circulating within our region.
17) Festival t-shirts are U.S. made and the annual design is done by area artists with the most frequent designer being local tattoo artist Mike Williams.
18) A garlic cookbook (and a yearly brochure) with recipes from our chef tent, and a book of collected writings featuring spoken word stage performers are among the publications.
19) Committed to conservation and renewable energy, a solar electric system helps to power the festival music stage. In our electric vehicle tent, experience electric cars, trucks, and bikes.
20) One year we did pee cycling with the Rich Earth Institute and collected hundreds of gallons that were then naturally sanitized and used to fertilize VT hayfields. We are hoping to get them back again (they’ve been busy and we don’t want you to hold it in).
21) All gate and exhibitor proceeds are used to cover public safety, infrastructure, promotion, and entertainment costs of the all-volunteer run festival (totaling about $45-50, 000 a year) as the festival is fully volunteer with no paid staff.
22) The festival participates in Card to Culture, and is free to families who receive EBT, WIC, or ConnectorCare health insurance, and free for kids. We halved the weekend general admission from $10 to $5 to celebrate our 25th year.
23) The festival operates as a non-profit under the fiscal umbrella of Seeds of Solidarity Education Center, part of whose mission is to create resilient lives and communities.
24) The festival has never had any corporate or business sponsors.
25) Over the years, the festival has donated more than $60,000 in mini-grants to local groups and organizations that promote food and farms, climate resilience, the arts, and health and wellness.  We’ve also made several no-interest loans to support cooperatively run businesses. We recently
donated $5,000 to support two regional farm relief efforts after 2023 flooding devastated crops and livelihoods.

Celebrate! Thrive!  North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival Turns 25!

Mark your calendars for the 25^th Annual North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival, Sept 30/Oct 1, 2023. The “Festival that Stinks” is a fabulous family friendly destination held amidst the fall foliage on a historic farm in Orange, MA. Wander among 100 exhibitors with amazing art, farm-fresh products, healing arts, and community organizations. Three stages delight with music, performance, and spoken word. Travel the globe with glorious garlic cuisine and chef demos. Free kids’ art-making tent and garlic games for all ages. Orange is the new green at the festival, with local living workshops, EVs on display, and only 2 bags of trash for 8,000 people!. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Special: half-price general admission is only $5 for the weekend! Kids 12 and under free. Card to Culture: EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders free (save time, buy tickets online starting 9/1). Visit www.garlicandarts.org for the full array of vendors, performance and workshops, parking and shuttle info, and to sign up to volunteer at this non-profit, fully volunteer-run event. No pets, service animals only. Follow us on facebook: @North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival and Instagram @nqgarlicandartsfestival

North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival Returns Oct 1 and 2!

24 and Back for More!

Two Days of Peace, Love and Garlic

Event Name: 24th Annual North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival

Event Date: Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2. 10 AM to 5 PM both days. Shine or Rain

Location: Forster’s Farm, 60 Chestnut Hill Rd. Orange, MA. No pets allowed on site or in parking lots.

Travel and parking info, schedules of entertainment, activities, and exhibitors: www.garlicandarts.org

Social Media: Facebook: facebook.com/NorthQuabbinGarlicAndArtsFestival/ Instagram: nqgarlicandartsfestival Twitter #NQGarlicandArts

Colorful image: jpg postcard image available for promotional use at garlicandarts.org

Admission: $10 (Good for the weekend!) $5 seniors, students, EBT cardholders. Kids 12 and under free. New: advance sales at www.garlicandarts.org, or cash or card still welcome at the gate.

Come prepared: No ATM on site, bring a water bottle for free water, and a bag to carry great goods!

The 24^th Annual North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival in Orange MA returns October 1 and 2 for two days of peace, love, and garlic! The family friendly “festival that stinks” is renowned for exceptional art, local farm products, fabulous food, endless entertainment, and inspiration for a hopeful future. Held on a historic farm amid fall foliage, the event attracts and unites many thousands locally and across New England.

Great music, entertainment, and spoken word emanate from three stages and the rolling fields. The line-up of performers is testimony to the culturally diverse and abundant talents of the region. Over 80 bountiful booths feature regional artists, farmers, community organizations, and healing arts; everyone can strengthen the economy by purchasing locally crafted and grown! Travel the garlic globe in the chef demo tent, and fill your belly with farm fresh and savory cuisine in four food courts. Over fifty engaging workshops and demos, activities and performances are scheduled throughout the weekend. Garlic games abound on the main field, including the famous raw garlic-eating contest. Your kids will love the free art-making tent! Orange is the New Green: trash free (less than three bags for 8,000 people!) with everything else recycled or transformed into fertile compost to make gardens not garbage. Bring your own bottle for the free drinking water provided, or buy a souvenir refillable one along with an artist-designed festival tee shirt. The ‘Portal to the Future’ at the north end of the festival site is the place to visit for all things renewable energy, with inspiring local living workshops all weekend. New! Electric Vehicles (EV) from cars to tractors to bikes are scheduled through the weekend. Get excited, get ready: view and print your own festival programs of performance, demos, and workshops at garlicandarts.org!

Inflation Busting, Family friendly admission: $10 (Good for the weekend!) $5 for seniors, students, or EBT cardholders. Kids 12 and under free. NEW: save time, advance tickets available on-line at garlicandarts.org. Cards and cash still welcome at the gate.

Parking is free but limited so please carpool: on-site parking is for accessible tags and carpools of three or more; free nearby shuttle lot for all others. No pets allowed (service dogs only). Biking encouraged! Garlic lovers are hot, but no smoking on the festival site or shuttle bus lines. The festival is volunteer organized and run; proceeds keep the event sustainable and affordable, and support the festival’s community grant program for local art, agriculture, health and energy projects. Over $55,000 has been contributed to local organizations as well as socially responsible loan funds, and the festival donates hundreds of entry passes annually to organizations that serve low income local residents.

According to the organizers, all friends and neighbors who volunteer with love to create the festival, “The festival spirit remained strong and connected during the pandemic hiatus. We created a virtual festival and a marketplace for artists. We are thrilled to bring back the full, beloved event in 2022! Twenty four years ago we dreamed up an idea to celebrate the beauty and bounty of our region, so often-overlooked, and ignite the cultural and agricultural economy of the North Quabbin. Five co-founders each put 20 dollars on the table over a shared meal to initiate the first Garlic and Arts Festival, along with faith in the power of community and creativity, and a ‘let’s just do it’ attitude. More than ever, people of all walks of life need places to come together in celebration and gain inspiration for resilient lives and communities, and a saner world.”

Get the whole bulb at garlicandarts.org including the 2022 schedule of exhibitors, entertainment, and workshops and activities for all ages. Come find out why some say the festival is one of the 17^th most popular events in the universe! While in the North Quabbin, stop in at local businesses or enjoy ample hiking or paddling.

A volunteer committee of friends and neighbors, and Seeds of Solidarity Education Center, a non-profit organization, organize the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival. Supporters include the Forster/Stewart Family, over 100 exhibitors, and about 200 community volunteers the festival weekend!

Garlic and arts: Behind the scenes
MY TURN, Greenfield Recorder, May 16, 2022
By DEB HABIB

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival in Orange returns Oct
1 and 2 after a two-year pandemic hiatus. I could go on about the
amazing exhibitors and food, music and performance on three
stages, and that we only produce two bags of trash for 8,000
people. But this column is about how and why the festival started
and endures.

Garlic and Arts was birthed by five artists and farmers with love of
livelihood, but no venue to sell our wares in the North Quabbin. It
was 1998 and the ‘buy local’ craze was in its infancy. It had not
yet hit our towns and likely never would in the way the nearby 5-
college area would benefit from the buzz.  There was beauty and ample skill to be found in our region and it deserved celebrating. Five friends each tossed in 20 bucks to
print up postcards and just do it.

The week before the first festival, a hurricane came through.
Neighbors showed up with tractors and gravel to prepare for
whatever crowds might show up to a muddy field in the middle of
the woods. And they did, almost 1,000 strong. In 2000, we moved
the event from Seeds of Solidarity Farm down the road to more
spacious Forsters Farm which continues to welcome the lively
festival masses.

The committee has grown from 5 to 25 over the years, all creative
and outside-of-the-box thinkers. We are neighbors and friends
who meet year round over meals to plan, then raise the festival
village by hand.  It’s fully volunteer, people powered, not profit driven.
There is no president, paid staff, or corporate sponsorship.
Collaboration combined with a just do it attitude are core to the
event’s sustained success and the positive vibe that permeates.
Attendees feel good when they step onto the foliage ringed
festival fields, and usually better when they leave.

We’ve never done a business plan or feasibility study, which we
joke would have come out as … a joke. It would not likely have
projected that thousands of people would show up on an isolated
field in one of the lowest wealth communities in the state.
Ingenuity, muscle, and magical thinking have reigned.

One unique organizing element involves each of 100 exhibitors
participating in a festival set-up day or making a hearty meal for
these exhibitor/workers. We implemented this participation model
as a way to keep vendor fees modest while garnering much
needed help when the committee was facing burnout some years
back. Moving beyond “show up and sell” results in fruitful
connections among exhibitors and strengthens the festival as a
village, not solely an event. The weekend of, 150 more volunteers
park cars, welcome attendees, work recycle/compost stations, or
deliver treats from our wood fired oven to other volunteers.

In the early days, we had to call repeatedly to convince the then
editor of the Valley Advocate to list the festival in their calendar
section. They proclaimed that “no one wanted to go to Orange.”
We countered that he was wrong and red-lining our community.
And he was, in fact, wrong.

Fast forward to a winter afternoon, January 2022.  The committee is gathered around a fire pit, tea mugs in mitten clad hands, happy to not be zooming as we affirm the live return of the 24th annual North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival.

During the pandemic hiatus, the committee kept up the festival spirit and
our connection. We held a virtual festival, offered a free
marketplace for artists struggling for sales, and dug into reserves
to make small grants as we’d done each year, giving $10,000 to a
dozen local causes even without any festival income.

Tradition is to start each monthly meeting or pre-festival workday meal with a
gently revealing question that builds appreciation of each other.
Values have always been at the heart of Garlic and Arts, so
sharing some in the cold fresh air provided a ceremonial restart
moment. Connection, healing from isolation, relearning, staying
joyful, support for artist/farmer livelihoods were voiced among
many reasons to bring the festival back.  After a few more winter meetings around a fire, on an April Sunday we gathered at the festival site to clear two years of fallen
branches, and sweep the dust and debris from the stage we’d
built together of local lumber.

We are excited to bring back this
celebration, one long infused with cooperation, self-determination,
and a belief that together we can and must
envision and shape the communities in which we want to live.

Deb Habib lives in Orange. The festival committee members are
among her favorite people ever. To sign up to volunteer at the
festival and learn more, visit w w w.g a r l i c a n d a r t s .o r g.

Small gatherings and events are rising once again to celebrate culture and community, safely and outdoors. With this theme, a pop-up marketplace featuring local artists is being planned for Saturday September 18^th from 12-5 at 60 Chestnut Hill Road, Orange.

The Pop up Marketplace is hosted at Forsters Farm, site of the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival which is on hiatus for 2021. The festival is a fully volunteer effort that requires many months of advance preparations and planning. With safety and collective well being paramount, organizers made the decision that the time was not yet right for the usual huge gathering. But local artists need support (and brighten our lives) more than ever!

The pop-up marketplace on September 18^th will feature about twenty local artists familiar to festival goers. Admission and parking are free. There will be a food vendor with light lunch fare, Nalini’s Kitchen from Quabbin Harvest, and Maple Mama will sell their refreshing drinks. Attendees are also welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy the beauty of the rolling farm, and should bring their own chair and water. An open mic on the family stage will add casual song and story to the lovely setting. The event will also feature fairy houses to enjoy as you take a stroll, made by children at local libraries during Garlic and Arts sponsored summer workshops with artist Nina Wellen.

Just down the road on this same day, Seeds of Solidarity Farm will hold its second of five consecutive Garlic Saturdays where folks can purchase planting and culinary garlic and enjoy some growing tips and a farm tour. A map of other local attractions will be available at the Pop-up Marketplace, Seeds of Solidarity, and on-line, enticing residents and visitors to enjoy some snacks from a nearby farmstand or country market; take a family hike; or relax with a glass of sweet or hard cider and the stunning view at New Salem Orchards.

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival organizers note: “We remain committed to uniting community, promoting skills for resilience, and providing grants to local organizations as this time period is especially important to uphold the values and actions that keep our region strong.” Links to informative and inspiring videos from the 2020 virtual festival and a list of festival grants made to local organizations in 20/21 can be found at http://www.garlicandarts.org. Stay tuned to garlicandarts.org and www.facebook.com/NorthQuabbinGarlicAndArtsFestival for updates about the pop-up marketplace, and to get a list and map of other stops to round out a great day on Sept 18^th, or any day in the North Quabbin! Visit seedsofsolidarity.org for info about Garlic Saturdays held Sept 11 to Oct 9^th and other programs to grow food and community. Both events are rain or shine.

Garlic and Arts Festival Supports Community Differently This Year with New, Virtual Offerings for the Whole Family!

 We cannot be together this weekend but we remain committed to supporting our exhibitors, promoting skills for resilience, and uniting community in a variety of ways as this is an especially important year to uphold the values and actions that keep our communities strong.
On Saturday at 9:00 am, we’ll announce the release of our all new YouTube channel and expanded website featuring over 120 videos- original and from the event archives- that will inspire our festival community. In addition, please link up and share along with the 6,000 followers of the festival facebook page where we will release select curated links every 15 minutes to as many of the exhibitors, performers, and presenters who make the festival such a scent-sational and beloved event that we could squeeze in. Our virtual team has scoured the internet for videos of you. Some were taken from other YouTube channels or other sites and have been added to our channel. If you did not respond to our spring and summer requests for online content (videos, virtual tours, presentations), feel free to do so before Friday but we cannot guarantee that we can individually promote it on social media in this 11th hour, although we will add it to our channel when we can for it to be viewed well into the future. We plan to grow the channel for years to come. 

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival extends deep appreciation to the many thousands that have attended over the years, plus hundreds of volunteers and exhibitors who have been with us so long. Resilience, cooperation, and forward thinking have kept the festival strong for over twenty years, and it remains so, as a source of inspiration that extends well beyond the wonderful scent of garlic. We proceed into a new and different foreseeable future, one in which all will benefit as we work towards the greater good with creativity and clear vision that includes good food, beautiful art, clean energy, and health and wellness for all.  

See you online when we launch on Saturday!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkYQm-KC1j2hpZfSItEgS2w/playlists (after channel gains followers we will have a festival specific URL)

www.garlicandarts.org

facebook.com/NorthQuabbinGarlicAndArtsFestival

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival cannot hold its popular event this year given COVID-19 guidelines, but the organizers remain committed to supporting their exhibitors, promoting skills for resilience, and uniting community in a variety of ways. The festival is orchestrated by an all-volunteer committee of friends and neighbors, artists and farmers. “We’ve always said that the spirit of the festival extends beyond a weekend” say organizers, “and this is an especially important year to uphold the values and actions that keep our communities strong.” In keeping with the festival’s original mission to celebrate the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the North Quabbin region and support those whose livelihoods are connected to the land and arts, organizers are pleased to announce several ways that the festival is celebrating community- differently this year!

Everyone can still support their favorite festival exhibitors.  The committee grieves the loss of many valuable annual community gatherings, including the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival, and understands the economic impact the loss of events has on local and regional small business owners. An enhanced list of Garlic and Arts farmers, artists, food vendors, healing arts practitioners, and community organizations is available at www.garlicandarts.org. Festival lovers are encouraged to reach out to the wonderful vendors for purchases, services, and gifts. Seeds of Solidarity Farm, one of the festival founders, will sell their popular eating and seed garlic at their self-serve farmstand, as well as Garlic Saturdays from 12-5 PM, Sept 12-Oct 10 at their farm, where there will planting demos and a pop-up artist each week.

Enjoy a variety of virtual presentations for the whole family.  A playlist of engaging educational videos, performances and other resources will inspire skills for local living, family art projects, and more. These virtual resources will be available on the festival website starting late September. Garlic and Arts lovers far and wide will be able to enjoy favorite presenters and performers, and gain inspiration and new ideas at their leisure.

Take a Day Trip! Enjoy exploring the North Quabbin. The festival has put together a list of some nearby, favorite farmstands and markets to gather items for a picnic, and special spots and activities to relax in the natural beauty of the region. Find these suggestions at garlicandarts.org.

Community building and generosity have remained core values of the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival since inception in 1999. This spirit has enabled the festival to make contributions each year- now totaling over $45,000-to a wide range of groups and organizations that propagate agriculture and the arts, wellness and renewable energy, and economic and racial justice. For 2020, the festival provided a loan to the Cooperative Fund of New England’s COVID-19 emergency fund, and made grants to The North Quabbin Foodathon; Great Falls Books Behind Bars; The Nolumbeka Project; Pioneer Valley Workers Center cooperative farm; People’s Medicine Project; the Shea Theater; and a pottery kiln and supplies for The Launchspace maker-space in Orange.

The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival extends deep appreciation to the many thousands that have attended over the years, plus hundreds of volunteers and exhibitors. Resilience, cooperation, and forward thinking have kept the festival strong for over twenty years, and it remains so, as a source of inspiration that extends well beyond the wonderful scent of garlic. We proceed into a new and different foreseeable future, one in which all will benefit as we work towards the greater good with creativity and clear vision that includes good food, beautiful art, clean energy, and health and wellness for all.  

Stay connected:

www.garlicandarts.org

facebook.com/NorthQuabbinGarlicAndArtsFestival

Garlic and Arts is a Green Deal

September 28-29 festival includes speakers on eco-living, climate challenge

As the world’s ‘green lung’ in the Amazon basin burns, and glaciers and polar ice sheets melt at record levels, ever more people grasp the threat to our future well-being. But when we learn about the sharp decline in biodiversity, meaning that whole species of insects, animals and plants are disappearing… well it can be too much, or at least too much to think about. So what to do?

The challenge of thinking, learning – and acting – has always been part of the annual North Quabbin Garlic & Arts festival. This year, Saturday, September 28^th and Sunday the 29^th, will see the 21^st gathering of this unique, all-volunteer event that brings thousands of visitors and families to a former hillside farm in Orange.

Along with delicious foods and farm produce, creative presents and information booths, those who venture past the large (solar powered) stage will enter a section called “The Portal to the Future.”

Each year portal organizers choose a theme. “This year,” says coordinator and Warwick Energy Committee member Janice Kurkoski, “we present this question:  What’s the Deal with the New Green? …or what can YOU do to ensure a livable Earth for present and future generations?”

Youth organizers from the Sunrise Movement and and Extinction Rebellion (XR) will join members from North Quabbin Energy to talk about how to Go Greener.  “Following a series of stations on the path from the Kids Activity Tent to the Portal, you can come up with your own Go Greener Goals and post them on a giant globe for others to see.”

Once in the Portal, with its exhibits and information, a popular goal is the speaker’s tent, site of eight 45 minute sessions with local experts on key topics, four each day from noon through 4 pm.

Saturday’s themes start at noon with a talk on protecting bees and other pollinators from harmful chemicals, and at 1pm, on using the Common Good payment card for community power. At 2 pm the focus is directly on climate politics, with speakers from the youth-led Sunrise Movement and activist Extinction Rebellion on the Green New Deal. The final presentation, starting at 3 pm, is on “Community Makerspace” a non-profit, member-based community workshop.

From Sunday noon, presentations continue with speakers on: community seed libraries; cooking healthy mushrooms; and the development of sustainable building products. The final session, starting at 3pm, is on greening the electrical grid, with speakers from the Center for Ecological Technology.

For detailed information on all talks and speakers see:
http://northquabbinenergy.org/?page_id=2921

SATURDAY, Sept. 28

12:00

Give Bees a Chance: What Everyone Needs to Know about Neonicotinoids – Tom Sullivan, Western MA Pollinators Network

 1:00

Common Good: a Payment Card for Community Power – Christine Lindstrom

 2:00

Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion and the Green New Deal

 3:00

Meet Your Community Makerspace – Brianna Drohen

SUNDAY, Sept. 29

12:00

Starting a Community Seed Library – Tony Reiber, Greenfield Community College

1:00

Mushrooms for Dinner: with a side order to heal your body and mind – Paul Lagreze, New England Wild Edibles

2:00

Moving Towards Sustainable Building Products: from where we are to where we need to be – Andy Cole, Andy Cole Builders

3:00

Greening the Grid – Molly Craft and Ed Rutledge, Center for Ecological Technology

(Anna Gyorgy is a member of the Wendell Energy Committee and North Quabbin Energy)

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