Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Summer Pagan Festivals: A Guide

Summer Pagan Festivals: A Guide

Last updated on: April 21, 2014 at 6:40 pm by Jason Mankey

Summer Pagan Festivals: A Guide 2014-04-21T18:40:07-06:00 Jason Mankey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For many folks the summer sunshine means Pagan Festival Season! I’ve been hooked on festivals for over fifteen years now, since I attended my first Pagan Spirit Gathering at Wisteria way back when. I like indoor festivals quite a bit, but there’s something about being outside under a clear sky, stars as far as far as my eyes can see, and the sound of drums off in the distance. Festivals can be a truly magical experience!

Most outdoor festivals feature workshops, lectures, rituals, and panel discussions during the day followed by concerts, more rituals, and drumming at night. Nearly all of the festivals listed here allow children and adults, and many feature special programming for children and young adults. There’s almost always something going on at an outdoor festival! Generally outdoor festivals feature tent camping, and almost all of the festivals listed below have the standard creature comforts like showers and coffee available. (The amount of hot water will vary from festival to festival.) If you do hit the festival circuit this summer make sure you are prepared for rain. Nearly every festival I’ve been to has had at least a day or night or two of rain. Camping can be fabulous too, check out Cara Schultz’s Martinis & Marshmallows book if you don’t believe me!

Before we start, just a few notes:
-This is not a comprehensive list. There are probably over 100 different Pagan gatherings happening this summer. There are more other listings out there with even more festivals. Click here, and here, and here to see them. (Though you’ll miss out on my snark and wit if you leave this page.)
-Because there are so many festivals happening this summer I’ve limited this list to the longer ones, if something is just a weekend event it’s not here.
-Sadly there aren’t any big exclusively Pagan festivals out here on the West Coast. Sadness.
-The “Names” part is not meant to imply that the folks listed there are any more important than anyone else. Most of them are just people I recognize and I’ve included them to give people a feel for the festival. Besides, a lot of people go to festivals for workshops and concerts. Including at least some of that information seemed like a good idea at the time.
-There’s been some really good (and long overdue) dialogue recently about safety at Pagan Gatherings and events. I urge you to read up on it. Cara Schultz’s recent article on it over at The Wild Hunt is a great place to start.

Pagan Unity Festival (PUF)
Location: Montgomery Bell State Park, Burns TN
Dates: May 15-18
Cost: Day passes start at 30 bucks, 100 dollars for cabin space, 90 dollars for camping. Includes meals.
Names: Oberon Zell, River & Joyce Higgenbotham, Shauna Aura Knight

Of all the festivals I’ve never been to but badly want to get to PUF tops the list. Much of that is because I’ve heard nothing but truly great things about it over the years, but I’m also an old Tennessee-boy, a graduate of Gallatin Senior High School. How about it PUF? Next year Jason Mankey as a VIP speaker? I know both speakers and just regular old attendees who have attended PUF and they’ve all been consistent in their praise of this festival. Hopefully one of these years . . . .

Rites of Spring
Location: Southwestern corner of Massachusetts
Dates: May 21-26
Cost: 260 for the week, Meal plans available starting at 90 dollars. Heated cabins available.
Names: The Bardo Brothers, Orion Foxwood

Rites of Spring is one of the oldest gatherings in the United States, thirty-six years and counting! Rites of Spring is so old that it doesn’t even get carded any more. The location for this festival is gorgeous and nestled near the Appalachian Trail to boot! If I lived in the Northeast I know where I’d be this May.

Heartland Pagan Gathering
Location: Camp Gaea, McLouth Kansas
Dates: May 22-27
Cost: 100 dollars for the week with camping, meal plans also avaialble.
Names: Alaric Albertsson, Ed Fitch, Tuatha Dea

Heartland has always been the festival I “almost made it to.” I’ve had lots of friends who have talked up Heartland over the years and when I was living in Michigan I began putting together some plans to make the 16 hour drive. Somehow I ended up not getting any workshops picked up and had to cancel my plans, bummer, but I’m not one to carry a grudge. Music, drumming, workshops and all in America’s heartland, I like that.

Free Spirit Gathering
Dates: June 10-15
Location: Ramblewood Retreat Center, Darlington Maryland
Cost: 280 for the whole event, sliding scale and day passes too.
Names: Tom Swiss, Keva, Dynasty Electric

I’ve never had the pleasure of going to Free Spirit, but I’ve been to Ramblewood before and it’s a fine place to hold a festival. Free Spirit always boasts a diverse amount of programming, including a sacred sexuality track of workshops. The lakeside drum circle at Ramblewood is a great setting too.

Wic-Can Fest
Dates: June 11-15
Location: Mansfield Outdoor Centere, Mansfield Ontario Canada
Cost: 192 with camping, 210 for a spot in a cabin. Meal plans for 75 dollars.
Names: The Dragon Ritual Drummers (and it doesn’t get better than those guys), Donata Ahern, Jeremy Tool

Wic-Can Fest ranks as one of my all time favorite festivals. The folks going to this festival and putting it together are just some of the best and nicest people I’ve ever met. I haven’t been in a few years now (it’s a pretty long drive from out here on the West Coast) but because of Facebook and things many of the individuals I’ve met there over the years have remained a part of my life. Also, absolutely the best drum circle in North America! (Special mention for having the best website out of all the festivals on this list, I want to steal all of the graphics!)

Pagan Spirit Gathering
Dates: June 15-22
Location: Stonehouse Farm in Northern Illinois
Cost: 250 dollars, weekend passes also avaialble
Names: T. Thorn Coyle, Selena Fox, Kathryn Hinds

PSG was the first Pagan Festival I ever attended and to say it was a life changing experience would be a complete understatement. At that PSG I made life-long friends, was initiated into the mysteries of Jim Morrison and The Doors, and presented my first ever workshop outside the state of Michigan. PSG has always been a great festival, but since moving back to the upper Midwest it feels completely reinvigorated. One of the great things about PSG is its focus on community and workshops. Every time I’ve attended an event held by Circle Sanctuary I’ve felt very much at home.

Wisteria Summer Solstice
Dates: June 19-22
Location: Wisteria Campground, near Athens Ohio
Cost: 120 for the four days, day passes available
Names: Primal Rhythm, Paul Stranahan

Wisteria is one of the prettiest campgrounds in all of Pagandom and one of my favorites. Their amphitheater-like concert stage is a wonder to behold (and hear-the acoustics are great!) and makes for some truly magical musical experiences under the stars. I also love the drum circle, which is tucked into a small clearing surrounded by trees. It can get a little cramped in there, but it’s truly spiritual. Like most festivals it’s also populated with some truly fine folks.

Chrysalis Moon
Dates: July 9-13
Location: Tippicanoe River State Park, Knox Indiana
Cost: 80 dollars, cabins available
Names: Joyce & River Higgenbotham, Corirose Anjali, Murphey’s Midnight Rounders

I’m having another “what could have been” moment now . . . . . I got asked about presenting at Chrysalis Moon earlier this year and at the very end they chose to go another way. I completely understand, I’m just a lowly blogger after all, but it looks like a great festival! I think I have reasons for being disappointed. This is another festival I know some people at so I can say with complete confidence that CM is full of fine Pagans.

Starwood Festival
Dates: July 8-14
Location: Wisteria Campground, near Athens Ohio
Cost: 175 dollars for the week, weekend passes also available
Names: Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Ian Corrigan, Daniel Harms, Rev. Ivan Stang

(I just saw that Daniel Harms was going to be at Starwood, he edited the new edition of The Long Lost Friend that Llewellyn released two years ago. I’m so bummed that I won’t be there to meet him. OK, fan-boy moment over.) Starwood is one of the longest running Pagan-friendly festivals in North America and was for many years the biggest too. I’ve been to a lot of Starwoods over the years, and to this day I can’t thank the organizers enough for being nice folks and giving me a place to lead several crazy-ass Dionysian/Jim Morrison Rituals. Starwood is a great party, but it also features an eclectic and strong list of speakers from year to year. It’s also the only festival I know to feature a yearly “devival.” Starwood also has a pretty strong trance and dance community these days too, in addition to the great bands they bring in every year.

Sirius Rising
Dates: July 14-20
Cost: 180 dollars for the week, sliding scale after the 14th
Location: Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman New York
Names: JASON MANKEY (damn it!), Peg Aloi, Lilith Dorsey, Cu Dubh

All right, I’m completely biased, I’m speaking at Sirius Rising this year, but I’d be ranting and raving about Sirius even if I weren’t going to be in attendance this July. Brushwood has been my summer home for nearly fifteen years now, and with the exception of my first year in California the visit is annual. Brushwood is the perfect combination of “rustic and developed” when it comes to private completely Pagan-friendly camping. Hot (clean) showers, a hot tub, a shady pool (perfect for warm hot Western New York days), the legendary four flushers . . . . . plus it’s all nestled in Mennonite country ringed with rolling hills and lovely trees. The facilities at Brushwood are top-notch and it’s yet another place with truly great people. They’ve also got the best soundman in all of Pagan music running the nightly concerts, Roofy you are appreciated my friend! I leave a small piece of myself at Brushwood when I visit these days too (I have a cooler, a tent, and a chair in storage there). Sirius is also now flanked by the Sankofa Festival (July 7-13, prices start at 150 dollars), which should make for two fine weeks of camping, art, and ritual.

Summerland Spirit Festival
Dates: July 12-20
Cost: 320 bucks for nine days with a meal plan, 160 without. Sliding scale after the start of the festival.
Location: Turtle Creek Glen, Clayton Wisconsin
Names: Wendy Rule, Steven Posch, Teri Leigh

I got a random email the other day informing me of this festival, and after checking out their website I can’t believe I’d never heard of it before! They’ve got some really great musical performers lined up this year, and their website lists an impressive array of workshop offerings too. A “How to Judge Beer” class!?! If only I wasn’t allergic to the stuff! (The scotch tasting is a whole different story . . . .) This looks really fun and the pictures of the campground look very picturesque.

Kaleidoscope Gathering
Dates: July 30-August 4
Cost: 130 loonies for the whole festival, day passes and sliding scale after the festival starts.
Location: Raven’s Knoll, Eganville Ontario Canada
Names: Fiddlehead Soup, Jamfola,

During my many Wic-Can Fest visits I ran into lots of folks who talked about a festival in Eastern Ontario named Kaleidoscope. Due to the vast distances involved (even from Michigan) I was never able to make it that far East, but it always looked like a great festival. I still don’t know that much about it, but there’s a lot of really diverse music on their schedule this year (I think I saw a picture of a guy with just a turntable . . . you don’t run into that at very many Pagan festivals). The campsite looks nice too, and it’s completely affordable (as are most of these festivals). If only my bank account was self-replenishing and there were more days in a year.

Sacred Harvest Festival
Dates: August 4-10
Location: Southern Minnesota
Cost: 120 dollars, day and weekend passes available too
Names: Crystal Blanton, Tony Mierzwicki, Yeshe Rabbit

Sacred Harvest is another of those festivals I’ve heard a lot about over the years but have never had a chance to attend. I know Crystal Blanton speaks highly of Sacred Harvest quite a bit and her opinion counts for a lot in my book. This year’s line up looks like their best yet (I’d love to listen to Tony Mierzwicki), and should result in some great workshops and rituals. I’ve also heard that Sacred Harvest is especially family-friendly.

Dragonfest
Dates: August 6-10
Location: Rustic Creek Ranch, Pike National Forest, Colorado
Cost: 87 dollars until July 1, weekend passes available
Names: Phil Catalano, Lady Eva Michenet

Dragonfest might be the only festival on this list that has intentionally downsized. At one point Dragonfest was attracting 1000 or so Pagans and now they limit attendance to only 500 folks. (That’s still a big number for a Pagan festival.) No bands that I can see on their schedule, but past editions of this festival have featured a lot of varied and imaginative programming. It’s right next to a national forest, how much more Pagan can you get?

And that concludes my not even close to comprehensive list of major, Pagan festivals this summer. If you can’t make any of these great events, poke around, there’s probably something worth doing happening near you.

Princes quoted are accurate at the time of this writing and sometimes represent “early bird” registrations. Make sure to check up on any festival you are interested in attending.

(Also if you liked this article share it with your friends via social media. I know it doesn’t read that way, but this took forever to write with all the links and stuff!)

Uncategorized

Free Spirit Gathering

Heartland

Pagan

Pagan Festivals

Pagan Spirit Gathering

Paganism

PSG

Sacred Harvest Festival

Sirius Rising

Starwood

Wiccan Fest

Previous Post

April 15, 2014

Easter Myths

Next Post

April 23, 2014 Beltane Traditions

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Editorializing Gateways to Paganism Guest Posts Holiday Histories Led Zeppelin News and Views Occult Pagan Pagan TV Club Paganism polytheism Ramble On Reviews Ritual Strange Days Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 April 2025 August 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 January 2023 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Pharisee" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Holy one Teacher Healer Separated one