ABOUT SOLARFEST

Sixteen years ago, SolarFest started with an innovative and original idea: Hold a festival showcasing the power and possibilities of Solar Energy. Today, SolarFest, Inc. continues to produce the Northeast's premier renewable energy and arts festival—a three-day, family-friendly festival that combines world-class entertainment with not-to-be-missed workshops in renewable energy, sustainability and community engagement.

But SolarFest, Inc. is so much more than the festival. As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, our mission statement is quite simple, and yet so vital: SolarFest blends art, education, and outreach to inspire conservation, promote renewable energy, and support sustainable communities. Through our steadfast commitment to education, arts and community outreach, SolarFest, Inc. teaches and demonstrates the power and sensibilities of renewable energy and sustainable living at conferences, performances and venues throughout the year.

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As the Northeast's premier energy and music festival, SolarFest blends art, education, and community outreach to inspire the conservation of Earth's limited resources, to promote renewable energy, and to support the creation of sustainable communities.

Since its inception in 1995, SolarFest has built a strong foundation for promoting artistic excellence and community-building while providing both general and detailed information on a wide range of sustainable living topics. We raise more than a few eyebrows when we explain how our entire weekend festival, including the sound and lights on our main stage, runs on renewable energy, primarily solar with wind and biodiesel in the mix.

SolarFest's reputation as New England's most entertaining energy and music festival is growing just as it should: reasonably and sustainably. We combine superb family entertainment with presentations by some of the region's most knowledgeable Renewable Energy experts. We thicken the mix with how-to and hands-on workshops on green building, sustainable agriculture and thriving locally. We even offer a track of workshops designed especially for young people, entitled The Solar Generation. We offer a special children's activity area (Kids Korner), and a wide variety of food, craft, renewable energy and sustainable living vendors. Our featured performers represent a far-ranging spectrum of styles and traditions from around the world. We provide plenty of space throughout the weekend for serendipitous encounters, conversation, dancing, hiking, camping, relaxation, and an overall celebration of our planet's beauty.

A Short History of SolarFest

In 1995, a small group of friends and a large group of volunteers who shared passions for the performing arts and living more sustainably mounted a festival that ran entirely on renewable energy. The off-grid site was located in Middletown Springs, Vermont, and we are forever grateful to hosts Nance Dean and Ed Updike for giving SolarFest its start. The stage (built from recycled and donated materials) featured a wide variety of acts, most of them from Vermont. Rain was a prominent guest in 1995, but our spirits weren't dampened in the least. The next four years saw a steady growth in the artist roster, the sources of solar power, the quantity of workshops offered, volunteers, and audience.

SolarFest incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 1999. We are governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of representatives from a number of related areas. They and other key members of our Festival Committee are committed to the idea that educating people about the viability (and increasing necessity) of renewable energy combined with conservation can help ensure a greener and brighter future for our world. They also firmly believe that the arts play a vital role in inspiring and energizing all those who seek a more just and sustainable society.

For years, the Solar Roller and the Lightning Bug (custom trailers with solar arrays, batteries and inverters) brought power to other festivals throughout New England. In the past, we have helped to energize Pete Seeger's Clearwater Revival at Croton-on-Hudson, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in upstate New York, various Earth Day events throughout New England, two Dar Williams concerts, Burlington's Intervale Harvest Festival , and many other events.

SolarFest has always had a strong life force of its own. The festival owes hearty thanks to the generosity of our donors (many of them individuals who have contributed for over a decade), our sponsors, our vendors, and our audience, many of whom have stayed with SolarFest through rain, shine, and even a couple of location changes.

After nearly a decade at its initial site in Middletown Springs, SolarFest moved to Green Mountain College in nearby Poultney for two years. Then, in 2005, we found our new home at Forget-Me-Not Farm in Tinmouth, a mere rocky-road mile or two from the original site. With much more room for parking, camping, workshops, and vendors, plus a covered arena as a weather-guard, the farm exudes welcoming warmth. Hosts Marshall and Melody Squier are veteran SolarFesters themselves, having provided food and festival security from the beginning. Simply put, the farm just feels like home sweet home.

We invite you to join us at Forget-Me-Not Farm this coming summer. Come experience the energy of SolarFest first-hand as we celebrate the potential of our most valuable renewable resources, including each other!