Join us on Saturday, September 28, 2024 between 12pm and 8pm to celebrate an abundant and diverse harvest! We’ll have live music, dancing, and storytelling alongside opportunities to learn about different harvest traditions from Dejope (Madison) and around the world. Free and open to the public!
This year, our Harvest Festival will focus on making emotional connections to plants as part of the Garden’s annual theme, Enchanted Ground. There will be opportunities for creating with plants, a seed swap, and more hands-on activities.
The harvest festival’s song, dance, and food celebrates the ongoing Kitchen Garden project which has been highlighting the crops, cuisines, and cultures of our African American, Indigenous, and Latine partners. This year we’re also emphasizing the Mid-Autum Festival from East Asia.
The harvest festival also features student research that focuses on the importance of harvest festivals to communities across the globe.
New this year, we’re partnering with the Center for the Study for Upper Midwestern Cultures to include their Bowery Dance as part of the event, so be sure to bring your dancing shoes for an evening of fun!
Schedule of Events
Noon – Seed Swap Begins (contribute your own seeds at noon to have first pick!)
Noon to 4:00 pm – Drop-in hand processing flax for fiber demonstration with Leslie Schroeder of Wisconsin Linen Revival
Noon to 5:00 pm – Student fair with projects from UW-Madison students
12:30 pm – Seed Swap Opens to the Public (continues while supplies last)
1:00 pm – Wisconsin VIRA student dance group
1:10 pm – Madison Rueda student dance group
1:30 pm – UW School of Bhangra student dance group
2:00 pm – Limanya Drum and Dance Group
2:00 – 5:00 pm – Folk craft activities including quilting and Himmeli-making led by Mary Erickson
2:30 pm – Chinese Harvest Stories with Yizhou Mao
3:00 pm – Norden Haus students perform Scandinavian song and dance (in English Garden)
3:15 pm – Lion Dancers perform traditional Chinese dances
3:45 pm – Misty Cook Stockbridge Munsee herbalist and speaker
4:30 pm – Lillies of the Midwest Irish fiddle group
5:00 pm – Electric Eats food truck featuring recipes from the multicultural kitchen Garden
5:15 pm – Cumbia Cachaca Columbian musical group
5:15 pm – Introductory lessons for the Bowery Dance
6:00 pm – Beth Hoven Rotto and the Scandinavian-American Old-time Dance Music Ensemble lead the Bowery Dance
*Schedule subject to change*
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get there?
Allen Centennial Garden is located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison at 620 Babcock Drive. We highly recommend taking public transportation to visit us. Numerous bus routes regularly stop within a few block of the Garden. MetroTransit recommends you plan your route using Google Maps. On the weekend, there is also free parking on campus. Lots 34, 36, and 40 are all near the Garden. More information is available at the University Transportation Services Website here: https://transportation.wisc.edu/campus-maps/
What is a seed swap?
A seed swap is an opportunity to share and exchange seeds you’ve grown in your garden with friends and neighbors. We welcome you to bring seeds you’ve harvested from your garden to share at this year’s Harvest Festival Seed Swap and bring home seeds others have grown. Allen Centennial Garden and Seed Savers Exchange will be contributing seeds as well, so there will be seeds for interested folks to take home, even if you don’t have seeds of your own to share.
Plan to get to the Festival early for the best selection. Those who come at noon with seeds to contribute to the event will have first pick of available seeds when the swap goes live at 12:30pm.
Will food be available?
Once again, we are happy to partner with the Electric Eats Food Truck here at UW-Madison to offer recipes featuring vegetables grown in our Wyman Kitchen Garden. Taste flavors from Native American, Africandiasporic, and Hmong gardens. These meals will be available for purchase during the festival starting at TBD and while supplies last. Cash payment is preferred, but we will also be able to process credit card payments.
Babcock Dairy Store, located a few blocks away at 1605 Linden Dr., will also be open on Saturday, September 28 from 11am until 4pm. They offer coffee, sandwiches, ice cream, and more.
The Harvest Folk Festival is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Support also comes from Seed Savers Exchange and Driftless Seed Suply.
Additional event support comes from the following UW-Madison units:
- Anonymous Fund
- Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
- Center for Culture, History, and the Environment (Nelson Institute)
- Center for East Asian Studies
- Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program
- African Studies Program
Please reach out if you would like to learn more about sponsoring this event!