festivals

Out and About with Fermentation Fest

News flash!

Fermentation Fest event guides are hot off the press and heading out to exciting venues throughout Wisconsin. This 24-pg, can’t-miss guide is bubbling with interesting articles, art, class listings and city map—all the ingredients necessary for two weekends of culture convergence at Fermentation Fest. You don’t want to miss the Fest or the guide!

I’ve got to say helping promote Fermentation Fest is one of my favorite projects of the year. It’s a melding of interests, from food and art, to agriculture and travel. This means artists, chefs, poets, foodies, farmers, cheesemakers, brewers, musicians, performers, and so many more people all come together for an autumnal celebration of good life. I’m very proud to design for it, very honored to be part of it.

In the weeks ahead I’ll be delivering guides to various venues (I love promoting my clients!). Check back to this page often for an updated listing of where you can find them. And don’t forget my social media because I’m also big on featuring interesting venues.

Here’s where I’ve been so far. Yep, all the way to northern Wisconsin!

#GetYourFermFestGuide2019Here

Listed in order of cities are venues where you can find Fermentation Fest guides. If you’re not in these areas, check out the Fermentation Fest website or join the mailing list.

Deerfield Coffeehouse, Deerfield
Milwaukee Street Traders, Delafield
Fitchburg Public Library, Fitchburg
Sequoya Public Library, Madison
Willy Street Co-op East, Madison
Willy Street Co-op North, Madison
ZuZu Cafe & Market, Madison
Willy Street Co-op, Middleton
Good Harvest Market, Pewaukee
Roots Coffee Bar, Oconomowoc
Soleil Lune Yoga Center, Oconomowoc
Firefly Coffee House, Oregon
The Chocolate Caper, Oregon
Landmark Creamery, Paoli (Belleville)
Stevens Point Area Co-op, Stevens Point
Cafe Coco, Washburn
South Shore Brewery, Washburn
Tribeca GalleryCafe & Books, Watertown
Downtown Grocery, Wausau

See you at Fermentation Fest in October!

Lots of Summer Ramblings: Strawberry Moon to Strawberry Festivals

Several years ago the bulb in our yard light burned out. It was one of those dawn-to-dusk lights set high on a line pole and even though my husband’s job is to regularly climb such poles, he just never got around to climbing ours.

At first, I’d go out at night and it seemed unnervingly dark. We don’t have immediate neighbors so nothing but the celestial sky lit our yard. Oh, but let me tell you, there’s no going back. The event of that burned-out bulb has totally heightened my appreciation of the night sky and I’m now a moon-gazing habitué.

Given that, here’s to a happy Strawberry Moon (Tuesday night) and upcoming Summer Solstice (Friday night). I love them both. With the full days of summer ahead, it’s a wonderful time of festivity and adventure.

Speaking of Strawberries…

They’re finally here! We live on a windy hill and it seems my patch is always a bit behind. But they’re here now and as delicious as ever. Just look at how red and juicy they are, unlike those so-called “strawberries” you find in the grocery store.

Hey folks, shop your local farmers! Eat real food!

Strawberry Festivals and More

One of my tastiest childhood memories is of a strawberry festival we attended while camping in northern Michigan. If I recall, it was a community church serving shortcake piled mile-high with strawberries and cream. Oh, so good!

Quite often such festivals are benefits for a specific cause (like these upcoming festivals here and here). Joining the celebration not only creates fun memories but also supports grassroots working together at its finest.

Food festivals have become one of the fastest growing forms of tourism and there’s a good reason why. They offer a sensory overload of the landscape, ethnicities, history, and food cultures of their given community.

Food lovers love food festivals; ask me how I know!

Which Leads Me To…

When it comes to festivals, I’m proud to help promote two Wisconsin biggies: The Soil Sisters in August and Fermentation Fest in October. These are annual celebrations that each draw thousands of people and have great social and economic impacts on their rural communities. Needless to say, a lot of organizing and marketing goes into these events.

Do you know of a festival looking to grow in its success? I’d love to help. Let’s talk about what makes a good festival and how to get the word out to all those fun-loving, destination travelers!

It Takes Grandparents and a Full Flock

The Instagram rule of poultry is if you’re going to raise layers, you must produce a rainbow of egg colors. Given that—and because I have grandchildren who, in my mind, rate much higher than Instagram—I choose breeds specifically for their color of eggs. My chick order this spring consisted of Ameraucanas for their pastels, Marans for their chocolate (I usually forget and say chocolate covered instead of colored, haha, wouldn’t that be nice), and the gentle, very pretty Lavender Orpingtons for their brown.

Add these to my white-egger Leghorns from last year and you get a full spectrum in every dozen. All for the grandchildren.

flock of chickensRecently my husband was perusing the Abendroth catalog and noticed Lavender Orpingtons were $9.95 each. Oops, I guess I never checked prices. And…Lavender Orpingtons only come as a straight run, meaning they could be male or female. Oops, I didn’t check that either. They’re for the grandchildren, after all.

Isn’t it funny what we do as grandparents?

Fermentation Fest event guide 2018

Last week I wrapped up work on the Fermentation Fest event guide and sent the final draft to press (put the paper to bed, to be jargonly correct). Because this year’s guide is to be a reversible (half of it printed upside down), I went to the print agency to verify it was laid out correctly. Look at this, not only was I provided with individual proof pages and a full size mockup, I also got a cute, mini mockup. I feel like a beloved grandchild.

I’m thinking my favorite businesses are like grandparents; they give more than their all without a second thought. And just as it takes a full flock to produce that colorful dozen of eggs, so it takes a multitude of grandparently businesses to produce a successful event guide. Donna Neuwirth, founder of Fermentation Fest, is a brilliant visionary. Cricket Design Works illustrated the gorgeous front covers—both of them! Badger Group is the dedicated agency doing our professional printing. I can’t put into words how honored I am to work with each of them.

2018 Fermentation Fest event guide

Lastly, Fermentation Fest is made possible by a long list (can we say full flock?) of sponsors, funders and partners. Be sure to check them out in this year’s event guide, which will soon be out in various locations. Watch for it!

Lavender Orpington rooster

And now…drumroll…here’s a Lavender Orpington update. One, and only one, is a rooster. He’s developing his comb, learning to crow and is violaceously beautiful (men have all the luck). If he’s gentle enough, maybe we’ll keep him and hold back a few eggs for hatching.

You know, for the grandchildren.

 

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Fermentation Fest: A Live Culture Convergence

Nameplate for Fermentation Fest

Turn on the T.V. or page through any number of magazines and you’ll find that Wisconsin is cultivating a prestigious culinary scene. From James Beard award winners to specialty food entrepreneurs, our beloved Badger State is taking on an epicurean eminence that goes far beyond beer, cheese, sausage and fish fries.

Knowing this, you can rightly assume Wisconsin’s putting on some sumptuous food festivals. Among them, Fermentation Fest is literally bubbling its way to the top.

Definition of culture shed, by Jay Salinas, Wormfarm InstituteNow in its fourth year, Fermentation Fest is a 10-day celebration of the arts, farming and fermented food. There are how-to classes for the ancient art of fermentation. There are tasting events that expand one’s senses beyond the homogeneity of today’s grocery stores. There are musicians, poets and storytellers. And, if that’s not enough, there is art—how does a 50-mile self-guided Farm/Art D’Tour through the breathtaking farmlands of
Sauk County grab you? Think meandering country roads…rolling unglaciated hills…October, in all its autumn glory. As organizers define it, Fermentation Fest is a celebration of the “cultureshed” of Wisconsin’s Driftless area.

Fermentation Fest is the brainchild of Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas, and their Wormfarm Institute, a non-profit organization fostering arts and agriculture. Supported in part through the National Endowment for the Arts and ArtPlace America, Sauk County is the only rural county to receive art funding, says Donna. The fest is also hosted by the Sauk County UW Extension and the Reedsburg Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored by a multitude of businesses and organizations. Yes, Fermentation Fest is truly a convergence of culture.

So this year I’m super excited to be part of Fermentation Fest. My dear friend, Ann Foley, who designs for The Creative Company and Madison’s Brat Fest—another great food event—recommended me for doing the Fermentation Fest newsletter. Thank you, Ann!

And thank you, Donna! I’m honored to be working on this project and loving the time I get to spend in beautiful Sauk County!

Hey, make sure you sign up to get the latest on Fermentation Fest’s schedule and registration!

Wednesday Webs: It’s Fermentation Fest!

Farmed Frame, David Wells, 2011 Farm/Art DTour

Farmed Frame, artist David Wells, photo used with permission of Fermentation Fest media

Creative cultures are converging over in Reedsburg, Wis., this weekend. Converging, as in food, art and music! It’s Fermentation Fest!

I’m excited to check it out. Here are some things I’ll be seeing:

  • Fermentation Fest: Classes, Farm/Art DTour, music and lots of good food and drink. Sounds like a bubbling blast!
  • Author Sandor Katz will present his best-selling book “The Art of Fermentation,” and discuss folklore’s long-held assent that fermented foods cultivate better health.
  • The Wormfarm Institute describes itself as an evolving laboratory of arts and ecology. It’s a non-profit organization working to “build a sustainable future for agriculture and the arts by fostering vital links between people and the land.”
  • I’m really keen on the art. The Woolen Mill Gallery is on my must-see list.

Are you going to Fermentation Fest? See you there!