THE SOIL AND THE SEED PROJECT’s

SOIL+SEED FESTIVAL

OCTOBER 25-27, 2024

The Soil and The Seed Project’s SOIL+SEED FESTIVAL is a weekend-long, intergenerational retreat and gathering for families and everyone to rest, worship, sing, play, connect, and be together.

All are welcome!

Hosted by The Soil and The Seed Project at Highland Retreat in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the SOIL+SEED FESTIVAL features concerts, times of worship, sing-alongs, hiking, campfires, and opportunities to connect with others around nature, music, and faith in Jesus Christ.

The SOIL+SEED FESTIVAL pays careful attention and devotes significant resources to being kid/family-friendly, as well as to supporting church leaders and parents/caregivers as they cultivate Christian faith. All are welcome!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • All attendees will need to register for General Admission tickets for each person in your party. See Pricing details below. General Admission is a 3-day pass, so come and go as you like!

    Be sure to reserve any overnight accommodations (camping / cabins) by adding those things on to your order within the registration process.

    Please add-on meal tickets for each person for the provided meals (Saturday evening dinner and Sunday morning dinner) as applicable.

  • There will be a schedule for the weekend, but we don't want you to feel "over-programmed." Come and go as you please, and choose the parts of the programming that work best for you / your family. Here's a general overview.

  • Saturday evening dinner, Sunday morning breakfast, and some snacks throughout the weekend will be provided. These meals are listed as add-ons in the registration; if you plan to eat them, please include them in your registration for our planning purposes.

    You will be on your own for the other meals. There are some fire rings available to cook over, but those will be first-come, first-served. If you plan to cook, be sure to bring camp stove or other self-contained cooking apparatus to prepare your food. Campsites and cabins should have access to picnic tables.

  • The overnight accommodations for the weekend include primitive campsites, RV sites / sites with water and electric, and hostel-style unheated, A-frame cabins.

    Primitive Campsites: fit one vehicle and up to two tents. While water and electric are not provided, they are easily accessible in shared-use pavilions. Bring a container to carry water. A bathhouse with toilets and shower will also be easily accessible.

    RV Sites / Sites with Hook-ups: fit one RV or camper. Sewage hook-ups are not guaranteed and are first-come, first-served. A bathhouse with toilets and shower will be easily accessible.

    A-frame cabins: sleep up to 12 people in bunk beds. Cabins are not heated, but they do include basic electricity, a campfire cooking area, and water. Does not include a kitchen. Cabins are available only for groups of 8-12.

    A limited number of winterized hotel-style rooms sleeping 2-5 people are available for families needing accessible accommodations for people with disabilities.

  • There are some accessible accommodations in winterized hotel-style rooms available for people with disabilities. Food will be provided for families staying in these spaces. We recognize that we have limited capacity to make this retreat fully accessible, but we are committed to doing the best we can with the spaces available. If you have questions or would like to talk further about you or your family’s particular needs, please contact Seth directly.

  • Highland Retreat is a non-profit, year-round Christian retreat center and summer youth camp located in the mountains of northwestern Virginia on the edge of the Shenandoah Valley. The 167 acres of mostly forested land is close to the George Washington National Forest and offers scenic vistas as well as a wide variety of wildlife in its hills, streams, pond and fields.

    Highland Retreat is an alcohol, tobacco, and firearm free facility.

    Check out the area on Google Maps.

  • We really don't know!

    This is the first time trying something like this, so it's hard to say. Ask us again in two months! That being said, we're thinking/hoping that there will be around 500 people coming from Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and maybe even some really ambitious friends from even further away!

  • Pets are not permitted anywhere on Highland Retreat grounds. Animals that have been ‘individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability’ as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may be admitted provided that the animal does not fundamentally alter the program and/or retreat (please contact the office at Highland Retreat for additional guidance for service animals). Animals that provide comfort and emotional support are not permitted. Service animals in training are not permitted.

PRICING

The Soil and The Seed Project is committed to a different kind of economy. We anticipate that:

  • some families and individuals will attend for free as guests, blessed by the generosity of our community and ready to receive and be filled;

  • some families and individuals will want to help sustain this work and these kinds of gatherings by off-setting their costs;

  • some families and individuals will simply want to pay what you will, either to cover part of their costs or to cover the costs of other families;

  • some families and individuals will need particular accommodations and support to make the weekend accessible to them and their family (and we are committed to welcoming these families and individuals without charge). 
    All are needed and welcome.

If you start one kind of registration and realize that one of the others is a better fit for you, close out and return to this page to use a different form.