You're invited to our 4th Annual Midwestern Farm-ily Reunion!
DATE: September 19-21
New this year - a whole weekend extravaganza! Join us Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. Find more information in the FAQs section.
LOCATION: Hazzard Free Farm
5111 Ahrens Road, Pecatonica, IL 61063
THEME: Interconnectedness
“Our myths about individuation and linearity no longer hold all the trouble. And all the love. We need to stop sticking out our two hands like it proves everything comes in oppositional dualisms. How many hands does the tree have? The peony? The pileated woodpecker? How many hands is the mycelium using to crochet intimacy from plant to tree to plant through the soil?” The Flowering Wand, Sophie Strand
COMMUNITY GUIDELINES
If you haven't been to farm-ily before, welcome! We're excited that you found this event and look forward to building community with you. Please review our community guidelines prior to purchasing tickets. We want to ensure this event remains a safe and welcoming space for the BIPOC and queer farmer community.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Friday 9/19 between 4:00-6:00 Friday attendees arrive at Hazzard Free Farm and set up camp.
Friday evening we share a potluck meal and tell stories Moth Radio style. Bring your tales and your instruments for late night tunes.
Saturday from 10:00-3:00 we'll have brunch, body work, movement activities, and two workshops led by local farmers.
Saturday attendees arrive anytime before 3:00.
Saturday afternoon into the evening we'll have happy hour by Hearth Tender, drinks from local brewers and distillers, and a three-course meal cooked over live fire by Chef Yej Yoon.
Saturday night there will be a puppet show by Earthlore Farm and dance party by DJ Nick 2 Bomb!
On Sunday, we'll have Funks Grove pancake breakfast hosted by Owls Roost Farm, lounge, and pack up camp.
Come to be held in community by your fellow farmers, by the creek that flows through Hazzard Free Farm, by the willows that sway gently in the wind. Come to have your belly filled with the best ingredients Illinois has to offer. Come to celebrate the Equinox, dance, and share a story.
TICKETS
Tickets include two nights of camping, multiple meals including a multi-course dinner, dj set, rentals, workshops, worker stipends, and event space funds.
The carrying cost of the event is $100 per attendee. We know that not everyone can afford this cost, and that there are some people who can pay more. Tickets are offered at three levels:
$50
$100
$150
We never want cost to be a barrier to joining us. We are offering a limited number of free admission and travel stipends. Send us an email - northernillinoisyoungfarmers@gmail.com - if you need a free ticket. Travel stipends can be requested through the ticketing process.
COLLABORATORS
Together as a community - all of our time, energy, and talents - make Farm-ily what it is. We’re looking for artists, teachers, facilitators, and volunteers. Fill out the form below if you’d like to co-create Farm-ily with us:
Yej Yoon - Chef Extraordinaire
A statement about the dinner - Spitfire: food as community and connection to homeland in the face of Empire and assimilation
“With the Farm-ily meal, I hope to celebrate immigrant flavors and cuisines that over time have become staples in the States. The meal will have strong ties to my Korean heritage but I envision a menu that is border-less. I hope to honor the friends and strangers who shared with me their recipes and techniques as we cooked or dined together. Without fail, we would find similarities in the cuisines of each of our homelands despite the vast distances between them.
The welcome challenge that is sourcing totally from within Illinois while evoking flavors of my homeland in many aspects mirrors what migrants had to do when they were paving the way for those like me. Though I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that it is an immense privilege to be able to consider it a practice and not a means to survival.
A priority during Farm-ily will be to showcase the ingredients throughout the day and during dinner. Flora and fauna alike will be on display, hanging from the bars of a hoop house over open fire pits. To cook over an open fire like this, without abandon, is a dream. I feel the most connection to my craft, the earth, and to humankind when cooking with flames and nothing but found wood as fuel. The earth connects us as it provides the materials to alchemize and weave together not only meals but a means to true connection, and portals to jump back into beloved times with beloved ones. My goal is to always be a conduit for that, and is the best way I can imagine to honor the farmers that tended the land.”
CHema Skandal! - Flyer & T-shirt Designer
CHema Skandal! is a graphic artist who got his B.F.A. degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico where he was born.
An enthusiast of popular graphics and traditional printing techniques, his work reflects parallel universes. It is polysemic and is often inspired by popular culture, cartoons and music as well as social issues.
His work is 99% hand-made and reflects the hybridity he is surrounded by.
It has been featured in a wide range of mediums from zines (he has been involved in independent publications for around 2 decades), newspapers, magazines, gig posters and record covers to illustration catalogues and fine art exhibitions in galleries and museums all around the globe. He is a member of Instituto Gráfico de Chicago & founder of ZINEmercado.
He lives in Chicago and he completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago recently.
We do not have a final t-shirt design yet, but we promise it’s going to be good. You can checkout CHema’s style on his website if you’re curious. T-shirts are $20 and can be added on after you select your ticket. Shirts are available for pickup at the event.
If you can’t make the event, but want to support a space where farmers can celebrate, we can ship you a shirt! Follow the ticketing process and then email us your size and shipping address.
-
We’re excited to be offering a full two days that will really allow us to settle in with ourselves, the land, and each other. We know that schedules are busy. There are markets, and animal chores, and veggies to weed. But we want to propose a question - How are you going to ask for help so you can come to Farm-ily? We ground this event in farmer rest, care, and joy and want to provide that extra encouragement to take a weekend for yourself.
However, if you can only come for a portion of the weekend, you’re still welcome! Ticket pricing is not based on number of days attended. This gives you the flexibility to change your schedule based on whatever is best for you when the weekend arrives. We’ll send an email closer to the event to gauge numbers for Friday and Saturday nights so we can have the right amount of food and campsites.
-
At the core of this event we've always centered a priority to pay our farmers, chefs, artists, and hosts fairly, while striving to keep the event affordable. We offer tickets on a sliding scale basis. You'll see this year that the scale starts at $50 (instead of $20 as it has in the past). We made this change because of an overwhelming desire at last year's event to make Farm-ily two days. As this event has grown, the cost of putting it on has also grown.
As you consider what you'd like to pay, we encourage you to consider your own income, other personal supports (e.g., partners, family), debt, and any other factors that impact your financial access.Here's a graphic that can help guide you in choosing a rate that feels right for you. Any profit remaining after costs are covered will go towards future community-based NIYF events. (Sliding scale language adapted from Queer Farmer Network -check them out!)
$50 - sliding scale for attendees who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), low-income, student, are living with disability, or have been significantly financially impacted by the hellscape we live in
$100 - the estimated cost of attendance based on budget projections
$150 - attendees who can afford to pay this rate and support others in attending
-
Yes to kids! No if they're your furry pets! Free children’s tickets can be added after the main ticketing process.
-
The majority of this event will take place outdoors as long as the weather cooperates. Outdoor spaces will be unmasked, but masking is encouraged indoors for those that feel more comfortable and/or are immunocompromised. Some of the meals may take place inside the barn unmasked, but there will always be an option to eat outside. Please test before attending Farm-ily. If you are not feeling well or test positive, please stay home. Refunds can be provided. In taking these precautions of testing and masking, you're helping create an accessible space for members of your community.
-
Hazzard Free Farm is best accessible by car. There isn't a direct metro line from the city to Pecatonica. Additional information about carpooling will be sent to registrants. Travel stipends are available for BIPOC attendees.
The majority of the event will take place on grass. Campsites can be made available via car if required. There will be a wheelchair accessible porta-potty located outdoors.
We never want accessibility to be a barrier to joining us. Please send us an email - northernillinoisyoungfarmers@gmail.com - with any specific accessibility needs and we will do our best to accommodate them.
