Homestead Festival brings thousands to learn, play and build fellowship

The second annual Homestead Festival once again marked a weekend of live music, education and lots of fun for all ages, while creating a sense of community among all involved.

The two-day festival kicked off its second year Friday, which was briefly met with a short downpour, but didn't stop the thousands of attendees descending upon Rory Feek's farm to experience all the festival had to offer. The fun then rolled into a Saturday full of sun, stories and celebration of how the event came to be.

More: 'It's going to be exciting' Homestead Festival returns for second year this weekend

More: Growth & Development: Top residential development projects show record growth in Columbia

Festival founder Feek said he couldn't be happier at the turnout, which brought nearly 6,000 people to the farm each year. He was also pleased that the number of vendors had almost doubled compared to the previous year and that much of the festival's focus was put on the weekend's speakers, educational demonstrations and opportunities for attendees to "get their hands dirty" participating in various homesteading activities, especially for the young ones.

"It's been great, and I've loved every bit of it," Feek said. "It's been really successful, and we are very encouraged to do this again next year. We're already really excited to start planning."

Next year's festival will take place June 7-8, 2024.

Each night was marked with live music sets from artists such as Collin Raye, Craig Campbell, Paul Overstreep, The Malpass Brothers and Feek, along with other performers such as "cowboy poet" Waddie Mitchell and a slew of bands on a second stage.

But the music is just one element, with an enormous amount of activities such as education seminars, shopping among vendors, demonstrations like learning how to sheer sheep or the chance to jump in the massive "corn pit" to roll around.

A festival that gives back

Something just about all festivals have in common is that there will always be surprises that arise, sometimes for the better, while other times not so much.

Just two days before the festival began, Shawn and Beth Dougherty, two of the weekend's featured speakers, lost their Ohio home to a fire. Upon learning about this, Feek and his crew knew they had to do something to help out.

"We took up a collection and I think we raised a lot of money to help rebuild their house," Feek said. "Our community is just rallying to help them."

Donations were collected throughout the weekend, and contributions may also be made via Venmo @HomesteadHall with the subject "Dougherty Fire Donation."

Vendors galore, and building fellowship

While the Homestead Festival is highlighted with its many speakers and live music, one of the bigger aspects, quite literally, are the many vendors set up among the festival grounds.

This year's event featured more than 200 vendors selling anything from farm-raised foods to handmade crafts, clothing, jewelry and more. Many of them also provided additional educational opportunities regarding their respective trades.

Whiskey Trail Bees, who hail from Lincoln County, Tennessee, came to the first Homestead Festival last year and were very excited to be returning, selling honey-based products like local honey, lip balms, as well as hives.

"I don't normally do festivals, but I will come to this one because they get vendors that are all different, and real people, nothing imported or corporate. And I love that people want to learn about why it's important to us too, to learn about our food chain, and we're all very likeminded," Jennifer Evans of Whiskey Trail Bees said. "There is also enough uniqueness that there is something for everybody."

Tommy Wheatley of Fayetteville-based Raw Milk, also returning for his second year, said another part of the appeal for vendors is how it's an opportunity to build lasting friendships, and discovering ways each vendor can play a role helping their business.

"My business partner and I go around to different homesteading events each summer, and this is definitely one of our favorites, if not our favorite for sure," Wheatley said. "The big thing is the fellowship and all the people you meet. We were living in Virginia last year, and my business partner met a family and is now engaged to someone we met at the festival last year."

Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Homestead Festival brings another successful year of music, education