Harvest Moon Festival 2010!

Friday, September 17 – Sunday, September 19 2010

Get ready for a knee-slapping good time in the Heart of the Pembina Valley at the ninth perenial Harvest Moon Festival in Clearwater, Manitoba. This year’s festival will again feature the best in local musical talent, tasty local food, hands-on workshops and good times. Details on the line-up will be made available here as it all comes together.

Tickets will be available in late August in Winnipeg at Mondragon, Organic Planet, Eat it.ca, in Clearwater at Wallis Grocery and Clearwater Restaurant, and in Brandon at Two Farm Kids. We almost sold out last year so get your tickets early — only 1000 tickets are available!

Are you coming? RSVP on Facebook!

Ticket Prices

Adults
Weekend Pass $45
Friday only $20
Saturday only $30
Camping $5

Open Farm Day

On Sunday, the closing day of the festival, Manitoba farmers are opening their doors to the public in Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiative’s “Open Farm Day“. Inviting folks onto the farm is a familiar practice for many of the farmers involved in the Harvest Moon Society and, as such, festival goers will have an opportunity to visit a farm on the way home from the festival. Four farms in particular are being highlighted at the festival. Click here for a pdf copy of their family farm descriptions with directions to their farms.

Kid’s Fun

The Harvest Moon Festival is a family event and as such tries to provide entertainment for those of all ages. In previous years we’ve had Al Simmons, Kanicosa, as well as play for the kids. This year, check out the second stage to see local youth performances and partake in the a number of workshops and a youth fun area on Saturday afternoon.

Food

The food at the festival is local, yummy and a great price! More info to come on this year’s vendors.

The Fair Trade Fair

The Harvest Moon Festival is a celebration of vibrant rural communities, healthy food and environment, and equitable and just societies. These inextricably linked components of life are important whether you live in the city, country or in the global south. There is much work that needs to be done to create lasting change in these areas. The Fair Trade Fair is one way of opening a forum for the awareness of these issues at a local and global level and gives Mooners an opportunity to cooperate on initiatives and/or participate in local trade as well as fair trade.

The Fair Trade Fair is an annual component of the Harvest Moon Festival that:

• showcases and sells locally made crafts and foods,
• educates Harvest Mooners on the importance of global fair trade to the lives of people in developing countries,
• and promotes organic agriculture as an alternative choice for healthy communities and environment here in Manitoba

Past Participants in the FTF have included: CUSO, Ten Thousand Villages, MCIC, Heifer Int’l, Marquis Project, No Sweat Manitoba, Mondragon Bookstore as well as many local artisans and craftspeople.

About the Festival

The Harvest Moon Society and the community of Clearwater have hosted Manitoba’s perennial farm festival since 2002. The Harvest Moon Festival celebrates the harvest season and local food production, while providing an opportunity to link those from rural and urban communities. The festival offers music, a Fair Trade Fair, a guided nature walk, and a variety of educational workshops for all ages.

The Harvest Moon festival seeks to recognize that many of Canada’s farm communities are in crisis – the stewards of the land are leaving and a life once so rich is now full of despair. Low commodity prices, the BSE crisis, drought and flooding in Western Canada have meant that many farmers are leaving the land and pursuing other ventures. The Harvest Moon Festival and community of Clearwater are symbols of hope, counteracting the present trends in agriculture on the prairies.

The Harvest Moon festival is intended to increase awareness of agricultural issues such as, the role of farming in our lives, the importance of sustainable food production and the survival of rural communities. The festival aims to build relationships and create dialogue between urban and rural people and is completely organized and operated by a team of committed volunteers.

Surrounded by the beauty of the Pembina Valley the festival takes place each year in the fall, around the full moon. The festival runs from Friday night until noon on Sunday. It features both rural and urban acts from all over Manitoba and continues to grow each year. Food is a large part of the Harvest Moon Festival and as such the festival food committee tries to accommodate those all walks of life, whether vegan or vegetarian, with as much local/organic food as possible.

Getting to the Festival

The Harvest Moon Festival is located in Clearwater, MB (Google maps). Once you hit Clearwater you can’t miss the Harvest Moon festival, the entire town will be decked out for it!

Accomodations

Camping is optional and festival goers are encouraged to camp on the festival site. For those who prefer a little more quiet, camping can also be arranged on the school grounds across the street from the school.
We also recognize that camping is not for everyone, so we have included some information for hotels and bed and breakfasts in the area here.

Contact

Interested in playing at or sponsoring the Harvest Moon Festival? Or just have questions about the festival? Please contact us at the email address below and we will get back to you! info@harvestmoonsociety.org