honor, connect, celebrate

History of Nut Fest

Elodie Eid, one of Nut Fest's founders, was deeply inspired by the Nut Bonanzas at Twisted Tree Farm in Spencer, NY. There, she witnessed people discovering the abundance around them in real time, with exclamations like "Wait, you mean I can eat that?" and "Wow, that's the best nut I've ever had!"

While Elodie was working at Arthur's Point Farm in Ghent, NY, Mark Phillips of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures approached the APF team with the idea of gathering nut growers together. This led to the first-ever Nut Fest in 2021 at Little Apple Cidery. Antonia Mompalao, Ryan Surrano, and Annabel Roberts-McMichael of Wally Farms, Bug Nichols of Breadtree Farms, and Elodie Eid kept the Nut Fest fire alive in 2022 and 2023 at Rose Hill Cidery. Unfortunately, due to limited financial support and capacity, Nut Fest took a hiatus in 2024.

In 2025, Ben Crockett of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures recognized Nut Fest's value as a way to share new pathways for abundance in our region. He approached the organizers asking, "How can BAV support Nut Fest to make sure this event continues?" Thanks to BAV's foundational support and our sponsors, Nut Fest is back and better than ever! We're deeply grateful to continue this work and hope you'll join us in celebrating a nutty future!