True Nature Country Fair

True Nature Country Fair is in its third and biggest year. A kick-up-your heels, affordable celebration of life in connection with the earth, the Fair will be held September 26 and 27 at the Big Ivy Community Center in Barnardsville, NC. On hand will be farmers, homebuilders, craftspeople, restaurateurs, and lovers of the earth for a weekend of live music, trade demonstrations, organic and local food, sustainable products and a huge array of resources. Gates open at 10:00 AM and close at 6:00 PM both days, with daily admission $5 for adults and $3 for kids.
While kids enjoy earth, arts and crafts projects in the children’s tent – among them folk songs, cob building, nature walks and pottery – parents can choose from over sixty-seven learning tracks that turn True Nature Country Fair into a mini-university on sustainability for $5 a class. Sample subjects are biodynamic farming, tribal ceremony, biofuels, heirloom plants, perennial food plants, primitive fish hooks, organic farming, dowsing basics, the home cow, orcharding, spinning with a drop spindle, urban farming, shiitake and oyster harvesting and herbal first aid.
Forty vendors, including Greenlife, Appalachian Seeds Farm & Nursery and Blue Daisy Cafe and Bountiful Cities Project, will be on hand to feed and provide fair goers with tools and tips for the sustainable trade. Demonstrations include, but are not limited to, affordable greenhouse construction, spinning wool roving into yarn, and a hands-on dance party with earthen bench construction. A fiddle contest and contra dancing will be emceed by Joe Hallock and the Back Creek Boys’. Juan Holladay will also be on hand with solo guitar and tenor vocals, harmonizing with Wildflowers.
Topping off this year’s Fair will be a field-to-table dinner at 6:00 PM Saturday when Fair gates close, $30 for adults and $10 for children. Dinner reservations recommended. For dinner menu, reservations, more information about the Fair, or directions, visit the True Nature event page.