$165 Adults, $100 Children (12 & Under) for Full Event. Price includes Meals, Lodging, Seminars and Workshops.
Join the second longest running annual wild food event in North America. Held every Spring since it’s inception in 1968, this event provides education and experience finding, processing, and feasting on edible wild plants and other foragables in a beautiful park like setting in the hills of North Carolina. This event was inspired by followers of Euell Gibbon. It is open to anyone from beginning to advanced foragers. This year’s theme is Survival in the Wild, and the event requires advanced registration. Some lodging is included in most circumstances.
On a spring weekend (typically the 4th full weekend of April), 120 people from all over Eastern North America will take into the woods and fields of North Carolina to learn about edible wild plants, meet other foragers, and celebrate spring. After an introduction to some of the plants to be collected, participants will join small groups led by experienced foragers to collect wild foods. Each year the North Carolina Wild Foods Weekend hosts a featured speaker. The climax of the weekend will be a wild feast composed of collected foods prepared by the participants. The Sunday program will feature uses of wild plants & a variety of outdoor activities. Read about the weekend here.
Contact: Carolyn Quinn, daisymaewells@hotmail.com, 910-442-8742.
Speakers: About
Registration: Form
Reidsville Location: Map
Facebook: Visit
Each year many local wild food enthusiasts help teach and facilitate the weekend. There are usually one to three outside wild food instructors who speak or teach at the event. Dr. Kallas teaches at the weekend about once every 10 years. He is NOT attending this year. This event is listed here to help spread the word to people who check this web site. There are different guest speakers each year.
The North Carolina Wild Food Weekend is held annually at the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4H Center: 804 Cedar Ln, Reidsville, NC 27320. The center is built within a woodland off of Lake Hazel. The center can be reached at 336-349-9445.
Lodging is available in rustic dormitory style cottages around the central meeting area. Bath and shower facilities are available in each cottage. Each person is provided with a twin bed. It is up to you to bring a blanket, sheets, pillow, a bath towel, hand towel, wash cloth, and toiletries. There are facilities for men, women, family, and friends. Camping is not permitted on the center grounds. No pets. Young people who are interested in participating in our program are welcome. Parents are responsible for the supervision and safety of their children during the weekend. Staff at the 4H center prepare all meals except the Saturday evening feast.
The 4H center provides standard meals (served “Southern home cooking” style) with the exception of the Wild Feast on Saturday. Most participants will share in the processing and preparation of wild foods for that Saturday feast.
There typically is a favorite wild dish contest, a wine tasting event where the participants choose the best wine. Crafts and classes vary. All these events happen in addition to foraging experiences and the Saturday Wild Feast.
You will need comfortable shoes and clothes appropriate for outdoor weather.