Farm Fest 2018 - Delhi, India
Farm Fest 2018 - Delhi
This week Delhi-based urban farming consultancy Edible Routes announced that its gala annual event - the Farm Fest 2018 - will take place on Sunday, March 11th. This community-focused event will take place at their headquarters Farm 8, located in Phase 5, Ayanagar, near Arjangarh Metro Station. The event’s primary objective is to bring together kitchen gardeners, ecologists, artists, architects, children and other folks with an interest in food, community, and the environment. In the casual guise of a picnic, the event aims to create a space for knowledge sharing and community building.
The first Farm Fest (Feb 2017) was an unexpected success with over two-hundred attendees. This year the numbers are expected to increase. This year’s theme for the fest is ‘ZERO WASTE’. Kanchana Weerakoon, a zero-waste celebrity from Sri Lanka who has recently moved to Delhi, will be present at the event conducting workshops and talking to people about the importance of going zero waste. Edible Routes is also attempting to produce zero waste from this festival as well.
The fest will host food stalls with a specific focus on fresh foods and millets. Adult attendees to the fest will be able to attend farm tours, kitchen gardening workshops, composting classes, educational games, kombucha- and pesto-making sessions, mud-building demonstrations and lots more. For kids, there will be a special farm tour, storytelling, nature crafts, upcycling and a treasure hunt.
In addition to these activities, the fest will host the first of its kind ‘Chhat ki kheti’ Farmers’ Market. At this market, Delhi’s ‘urban farmers’ can bring a basketful of their surplus homegrown veggies and barter them for other urban farmers’ produce. Or cook and share their produce with other attendees for free. This market will be based on gift economy and aims to encourage growers to share their surplus produce with neighbors and friends.
The contribution fee for the fest will be Rs 150/person which includes an entire day in the serene environment of the farm, all activities, and a homemade potluck desert serving.
Edible Routes aims to establish this as their flagship annual event to celebrate and strengthen the community of urban kitchen gardeners it is creating.