Béla Fleck at Plant and Sing
“Local food, spoken word, and foot-stomping music” will take over the fields at Shelter Island’s Sylvester Manor Educational Farm this weekend. Barn dancing, storytelling, and theater will also be part of Saturday’s attractions at the Plant and Sing Festival, as will all things organic, from planting to harvesting to culinary delights.
An all-day kids area will entertain the young ones with pony rides, arts and crafts, butter making, pumpkin painting and carving, farm games, and a Goat on a Boat puppet show at 4 p.m. The musical headliner, with a sunset show on Saturday, will be Béla Fleck, a 14-time Grammy Award-winning banjo player, joined by Abigail Washburn.
Events begin tomorrow with a 7:30 p.m. Historical Film Archive screening of a roots-music film by Joe Lauro and Bennett Konesni, the farm’s creative director, at the Shelter Island Library.
On Saturday, a 10 a.m. forest and shoreline nature walk will be led by Peter Priolo, a naturalist, and at 2 p.m., Maura Doyle will lead a tour of the manor’s historic grounds.
Throughout the day and early evening on Saturday, a “literary lounge” will be moderated by Kathy Lynch, sponsored by Canio’s Cultural Cafe. Among the readings is one at 1:30 p.m. by Scott Chaskey called “Seedtime: The History, Husbandry, Politics, and Promise of Seeds.” Silvia Lehrer, a culinary instructor, will give a reading and a tasting of one of the recipes from her recent cookbook, “Savoring the Hamptons.”
Megan Chaskey, a poet, musician, yoga instructor, teacher, and healing practitioner, will give a staged reading of “The Beautiful and the Senseless” on Saturday at 3 p.m. The one-act play was written about Rachel Carson to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her book “Silent Spring,” which led to a revolution in environmental thought and practice.
Music will kick off at 1 p.m. that day with the Hoodoo Loungers, formerly the Who Dat Loungers, a New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration band, followed by Sylvester Manor’s own Worksongers and others with choral singing and folk music, both electric and unplugged. At around 3, it’ll be Lily and the Tigers performing gothic Americana tunes, and then Dunegrass and the Sun Parade Velocipede.
The Gawler Family will play folk music with banjos and contra calling, and then Free Seedlings will take over before the Béla Fleck show.
On Saturday and Sunday, from 6 to 8 a.m., Heidi Fokine will lead a sunrise yoga class. On Saturday, those wishing to take part in garlic shucking should arrive by 10 a.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., all have been invited to observe and join in the singing and planting of garlic at no charge, as part of the harvest festival tradition to preserve customs and explore a “contemporary culture of food that is joyful, alive with people, and rooted in place.”
A full schedule is available at plantandsing.com, and tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com/event/ 266389. The $25 admission fee on Saturday includes on-site parking. The cost is $10 for students ages 7 to 21. The event is free for those under 7.