Information and Guidelines for Guests of Farmer Fest:
1. Please do your best to CARPOOL due to somewhat limited parking at the farm. Swiftwater is just 1/4 mile from the Sunrise Trail, for the bikers! 🚲
2. We have wheelbarrows and carts on-site for you to transport gear – please expect to walk approx. 5 minutes from vehicle to camping location. ⛺️ Campers must cook in designated cooking areas ONLY.
3. Water fill-ups are available on site. BYO cup / mug! 🥤
4. There are 2 FIRST AID Stations: at the Welcome Table and the Relax Zone. Use caution if going barefoot, there can be roughage in the paths and meadows. ⛑
5. If you have any questions or concerns during the day, or need First Aid assistance, find someone in a FARMER FEST “CREW” t-shirt to help guide you in the right direction. 🔍
6. There are a few paths down to the river. Enjoy at your own risk. 💦
7. NO DOGS. Please leave your furry friends behind. 🐶
8. Growers: bring extra produce you wish to share to fill up a Give & Take Table. Crafts and whimsical offerings welcome, too! 🍅
9. Free morning yoga session included for campers, Saturday and Sunday AM! 🧘♀️
10. Food from local culinary vendors is NOT included in ticket price. We recommend bringing cash for your vendor purchases. Saturday Lunch — Fresh Dug Potato Bar + Local Veggies, Cheeses & Meats — is pay as you can and free for kids 💕
11. We are hosting the talented @korprit [Noah Beisel] for on-site LIVE SCREEN PRINTING! — so, BYO swag to print (we’ll have some nice thrifys), $10-20 suggested donation per article. 👕
12. Alcohol will NOT be served or provided at Farmer Fest. Guests 21+ can BYO and consume responsibly. 🙏
Questions? Email downeastfam@gmail.com or call 207-271-2004
No one turned away for lack of funds. See Farmer Fest Crew at the festival’s Welcome Table to pay by donation.
The organizers wish to provide an inclusive and accessible event. If you require accommodation to fully participate, please let us know and we will do our best to make arrangements.
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A Note From Your Hosts, Rebecca Baxter & Rich Bard:
Welcome to Swiftwater Farm, our home since 2011. Long before we arrived, this land had its own story – a brief incarnation as a campground in the early 2000s, a dairy farm for much of the late 1900s and, before that, who knows how many seasons of hard work and harvest. Further back still, no doubt this place we call “ours” was important to countless generations of the Passamaquoddy.
Our family saw the promise of a homestead hidden in the forgotten meadows, river, and trees. Along with our two children, we moved into the old campground headquarters, slowly shaping it into our family home, and set about bringing life back to the land. Over the years we’ve raised Irish Dexter and Randall Lineback cows—whose grass-fed beef remains the best we’ve ever tasted (intensive rotational grazing!) – along with goats, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, and even a re-wilded pet rabbit who chose to make the barn her home, snuggling goats. We homeschooled our children here, grew vegetables in a greenhouse, and foraged what the land provided. We have been immensely happy….
Our own story is tied to the Machias Grange, too: back in 2008, our wedding reception was the first private event held there after its restoration by the Beehive Collective. It feels only fitting that we now open our farm for Farmer Fest, in support of the Old Grange that has meant so much to our community. Welcome!
FARMER FEST 