Due to COVID-19, Hoxeyville and the 20th annual Earthwork Harvest Gathering won’t take place. Harvest will instead move to “Zoom room” programs, videos and more. Details at Local Spins.
On Earthwork Farm: This year’s Harvest Gathering will be a virtual, online affair. (Photo/Local Spins)
NEWS UPDATE: Hoxeyville Music Festival announced on Thursday, June 25 the cancellation of this year’s event, citing Michigan’s ongoing battle with the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. The festival, one of the state’s longest-running music festivals, had been scheduled for Aug. 14-16 at the Manistee National Forest at Wellston. Organizers said they are planning to present the festival Aug. 13-15, 2021 at the same location with many of the same bands and vendors who had been planned for this year. Ticket holders have several options, including keeping tickets, donating them or help in selling tickets if you already know you can’t make next year’s date. More information is available at Hoxeyville’s Facebook page.
With continuing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Earthwork Harvest Gathering has canceled its September music festival on Bob Bernard’s Lake City farm, replacing the event with online performances, videos and programming.
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The Sept. 18-20 festival would have marked the 20th year for the traditional, season-ending celebration by Michigan musicians hosted by Seth Bernard, the Earthwork Music family and an army of volunteers.
“We’re putting safety first and planning for a unique, imaginative and unprecedented digital experience,” Seth Bernard told Local Spins.
A Weekend of Love: Seth Bernard officiating the Harvest Gathering wedding of Scott and Elle Pellegrom in 2019. (Photo/Anna Sink)
“It’s been emotional for us to let go of the idea of being together as a community on the farm, but we feel that what is best for our community is to not put folks at risk and use our tools of technology to support this year’s theme, ‘Tools for Community Resilience.’ I’ve gotten over the disappointment and am excited about it and enjoying getting creative with our team.”
Bernard stressed that organizers “knew this was a possibility” from the time they posted their first video launching ticket sales for Harvest Gathering in April, letting fans know at the time that they were planning an alternate, online, “Zoom room” event just in case.
“We just realized if one person gets sick, or if three people get sick, it’s just not worth it” to continue with an in-person festival on Earthwork Farm, Bernard said.
But he stressed that the “tech-savvy individuals” on the Harvest Gathering team have assembled robust online offerings, including some exclusive performances and content for those who’ve purchased tickets to the festival.
That “package of digital experiences and other goodies” will be shared with ticket buyers via email.
Many of the offerings will be free, including all kids’ programs.
Videos will include new performances being filmed by various artists on the Earthwork Farm – some of them representing “unique and intimate experiences” in special locations – as well as a “Throwback Thursday” featuring videos of classic performances spanning the history of Harvest Gathering. There are ongoing programs, too, including BeeTV sessions on beekeeping with Bob Bernard and Skill Swap sessions in partnership with Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology.
A Special Place: Harvest Gathering usually features hundreds of performances.
(Photo/Anna Sink)
More information will be available on the Earthwork Harvest Gathering Facebook page and on the festival website. Watch a video statement by Bernard below.
Bernard conceded “the farm itself has become a vehicle” for promoting the music, diversity, food, racial equality and family vibe of Harvest Gathering.
But he also stressed that technology offers unique opportunities to connect without a physical gathering, noting that organizers even plan to feature behind-the-scenes videos and cooking demonstrations featuring vendors and other participants.
“Some of this will take place the third weekend in September, which is the traditional timing of Harvest Gathering,” said Bernard, who has a new solo album and will be this week’s guest for Local Spins on WYCE (88.1 FM) at 11 a.m. Friday.
“Some of our more personal workshops, healing and wellness, and circles will take place over the course of a few months via zoom, this fall.”
Revisit Local Spins’ coverage of Harvest Gathering 2019.
VIDEO: Seth Bernard talking about Earthwork Harvest Gathering
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