Farmer Fest
Farmer Fest
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ENTER CODE EARLYBIRD AT CHECKOUT FOR 15% OFF BEFORE AUGUST 21ST!
Kids 12 and under attend free / Teens attend 50% off / Family Prices available for parents + kiddos under 12
Tickets from $30 GA 1 day to $75-$125 Sliding Scale All Access 3 days + 2 nights 🎶 ⛺️ 🌲 🔥
BYO "swag" / apparel for live screen-printing with FARMER FEST 2026 logo & artwork!
🎉 Click HERE to see the 2026 line up of bands and performers! 🪕
ALL proceeds go to paying artists for their performances, farmers for local food, festival infrastructure and expenses, and supporting Downeast FAM to continue offering community events in Machias Area
Questions? Email downeastfam@gmail.com or call 207-271-2004
FARMER FEST is a family-friendly music festival in East Machias, Maine, featuring many of Downeast's favorite artists, bands and farms! The event is cultivating community, celebrating local food & music, and uplifting the farmers & makers who make it all possible.
Farmer Fest is held annually (last-weekend of August) at Swiftwater Farm on the East Machias River. Gratitude overflows for the hosts and landowners, Becky & Rich, who have graciously made their home available for this wonderful weekend of late-Summer abundance.
The event is brought to you by Downeast Farmers and Makers (FAM), a group of organizers passionate about live music and building culture Downeast -- such as reviving activities at the old Machias Valley Grange Hall. We are so excited to welcome you for this ~2nd Year~ of Farmer Fest, featuring tons of talented local musicians, artists, cooks, contra dance callers, poets, yogis, and more!
🥳 Visit the Farmer Fest website to learn more and see this year's line up -- and we hope to see you in August!!!
No one turned away for lack of funds.
The organizers wish to provide an inclusive and accessible event. If you require accommodation to fully participate, please let us know and we will do our best to make arrangements.
PLEASE READ:
1. We strongly encouraging CARPOOLING (to reduce emissions, yes!) and due to somewhat limited parking. (Swiftwater is just 1/4 mile from the Sunrise Trail, for the bikers among us!) 🚲
2. Campers must cook in designated cooking areas ONLY. We have wheelbarrows and carts on-site for you to transport gear - please expect to walk approx. 5 minutes from vehicle to camping location. ⛺️
3. Water fill-ups are available on site. Please BYO cup / mug 🥤
4. There are 2 FIRST AID Stations: at the Welcome Table and at the Bell Tent Relax Zone. Use caution if going barefoot, there can be roughage in the paths and meadows. ⛑
5. If you have any questions or concerns during the day, or need First Aid assistance, find someone in a FARMER FEST “CREW” t-shirt to help guide you in the right direction. 🔍
6. There are a few paths down to the river. Enjoy at your own risk. 💦
7. NO DOGS. Please leave your furry friends at home. 🐶
8. Growers: bring extra produce you wish to share to fill up a Give & Take Table. Crafts and whimsical offerings welcome, too! 🍅
9. Free morning yoga session included for campers, Saturday and Sunday AM! 🧘♀️
10. Food from local culinary vendors is NOT included in ticket price. We recommend bringing cash for your vendor purchases. Saturday Lunch -- Fresh Dug Potato Bar + Local Veggies, Cheeses & Meats -- is pay as you can and free for kids 💕
11. We are hosting the talented @korprit [Noah Beisel] for on-site LIVE SCREEN PRINTING! -- so, BYO swag to print (we'll have some nice thriftys), $10-20 suggested donation per article. 👕
12. Alcohol will NOT be served or provided at Farmer Fest. Guests 21+ can BYO and consume responsibly. 🙏
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Downeast Farmers and Makers (FAM) is a grassroots organization based in Machias, Maine. We provide upbeat community events highlighting live music, local food and connection to nature.
Our mission is to build well-being through wholesome gatherings. In 2025, Downeast FAM organized the first annual Farmer Fest music festival at Swiftwater Farm, to celebrate the hardworking farmers, artists and creative folks in our special Way Downeast Community. We believe in the future of this place rooted in a culture of kindness, belonging and positivity.
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A Note From Your Hosts, Rebecca Baxter & Rich Bard:
Welcome to Swiftwater Farm, our home since 2011. Long before we arrived, this land had its own story - a brief incarnation as a campground in the early 2000s, a dairy farm for much of the late 1900s and, before that, who knows how many seasons of hard work and harvest. Further back still, no doubt this place we call “ours” was important to countless generations of the Passamaquoddy.
Our family saw the promise of a homestead hidden in the forgotten meadows, river, and trees. Along with our two children, we moved into the old campground headquarters, slowly shaping it into our family home, and set about bringing life back to the land. Over the years we’ve raised Irish Dexter and Randall Lineback cows—whose grass-fed beef remains the best we’ve ever tasted (intensive rotational grazing!) - along with goats, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, and even a re-wilded pet rabbit who chose to make the barn her home, snuggling goats. We homeschooled our children here, grew vegetables in a greenhouse, and foraged what the land provided. We have been immensely happy….
Our own story is tied to the Machias Grange, too: back in 2008, our wedding reception was the first private event held there after its restoration by the Beehive Collective. It feels only fitting that we now open our farm for Farmer Fest, in support of the Old Grange that has meant so much to our community. Welcome!