Although we’ve tossed around the idea of choosing a catchy name for our “event building”, we most commonly call it “The Pavilion”. When we started out, we did not even know what a building with a roof and no walls was called, but the architectural drawings called it a pavilion and it’s kind of stuck.
In 2018, we oversaw the completion of this project with the intent of hosting on-farm events to diversify farm revenue. It began with cleaning up truckloads of debris and clearing dense ingrown bushes from the (relatively) flat area across the road from the barn, and behind the existing “shop”. We had the area cleared and ditched, building permit obtained, a concrete pad placed and then erected the post and beam structure (in one weekend) that was crafted off-site. It was up in time for our Open Farm Day event that year, with the metal roof added shortly after. Although the metal roof-covered part of the structure is the pavilion, it also has a pergola to one side.
After the planning and construction project taking most of 2018, we hosted a handful of trial-run events in 2019. We quickly learned that there’s a lot to know about event planning and set to work improving our plans. Then the pandemic hit derailing our event hosting plans for 2020 (and again in 2021). During the pandemic, we were able to use The Pavilion for a contact-free pick-up location for farm sales and a few very small-scale, socially distanced gatherings. We spent this time building a website where we can pre-sell tickets/registration to events. Christina has been working on flower and herb gardens surrounding the space, and eventually we would like to include a proper fire pit area.
Now, with pandemic restrictions lifted, we’re planning a summer full of events here on the farm. Some of the events will be held directly under the building (like the herb planting workshop at the end of May and dahlia bouquet making events in September) while for other events, it provides a meeting point and space for people to linger, eat their lunch, sit back and relax, seek shelter from the sun and/or rain etc.
