It was a mellow kind of day: sunlight and shadows, music and friends, art and wonder.
Held Saturday, the annual Harvest Festival on the ground of the Grand Traverse Commons drew an estimated 600-800 attendees for hours of low-key fun and frolic. Organized by Little Artshram and friends and hosted by the Minervini Group and the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, the multi-generational event was grounded in a tribute to the changing season.
"It's just the kind of thing we like,” said Kathy Johnston, while her son, Evan, 5, chose a pumpkin to decorate and her husband grabbed chairs. "We've just come out to see friends and hear music.”
The Harvest Festival also celebrated environmental responsibility, including a successful no trash commitment and solar power for musical equipment thanks to Northwestern Michigan College's Mobile Energy Demonstration Center. Lilia Morgan of Kingsley praised the Harvest Festival organizers' attention to even the smallest eco-friendly detail.
I like the idea they've kept everything as natural as possible, everything,” said Morgan, a vendor selling candles.
Proceeds from the Harvest Festival are earmarked for the Art-Farm and Community Garden Program, the Grand Traverse Commons Farmers Market and to help defray costs of the children and family portion during next month's Great Lakes Bioneers Conference.
Rolling Centuries Farm began the Harvest Festivals five years ago and was a sponsor of this year's event. Promoting the concept of a working farm and native orchard as a viable option for the property, Rolling Centuries Farm has hosted numerous events at the 54.7-acre property since 2002.
The Botanical Garden Society of Northwest Michigan and Little Artshram are also working up proposals for use of the land, which is administered by a joint Garfield Township-Traverse City recreational authority. A five-month visioning process that ended in May gathered input from the community as well.
Penny Krebiehl, artistic director of Little Artshram and ever the visionary, sees great potential for synergy as the authority moves toward a final plan for the property.
"It's our intention to stay open to the enfoldment of organizations that are going to be involved,” said Krebiehl, who for the third year ran Summer Art-Farm camps geared to children on the property. "With the city and the township overseeing that, all of us in a collective yet autonomous way, my vision is that we're all happily working together and understand each other's mission and know that we're all in it because we care about the earth and this land.”
The 2007 Harvest Festival switched this year from the Barns to a more central location where the weekly farm market is held. Nestled under towering trees, the festival featured vendors' tents plus a large one for an auction, an informal amphitheater for music, a sunny knoll nearby for dancing and tables set up for children's crafts. Paper mache puppets and animal sculptures, many spawned from past Earth Day parades, decorated the grounds.
A treasure hunt detailed on a lovingly-drawn map lured attendees to explore the grounds. While strolling among the dozen targets, they could check out everything from businesses based at the Commons and the big water tank to the community gardens and the Hippie tree.
"It was a stunning success,” said Krebiehl of the festival, rhapsodizing over the perfect equinoctial day: "The weather was really the force behind it all.”
Krebiehl and her team of organizers, working together since spring, had no say over the sunshine but they lined up 50 volunteers, a first-rate entertainment program and a slate of activities for all ages. Musicians Seth Bernard and Daisy Mae and Harriet and the Love Fossils were featured as well as dancers Mykl Werth and partners plus Helio showcasing the Brazilian form of Capoeira
"We're grateful to be a part of such a rich community when we come up here and visit,” said Bernard.