The place makes the people

This past weekend, more than 10,000 people gathered in downtown Boone for Boonerang, a festival built around a simple idea: that this place has a way of drawing people back.

If you’ve spent any time here, you probably know the feeling. People leave for jobs, adventures, or new chapters of life, only to find themselves looking for reasons to return. Some come back for a weekend. Some come back for a season. Some never really leave at all.

What is it about this place?

Maybe it’s the mountains. Maybe it’s the music. Maybe it’s the friendships formed here, or the memories attached to a favorite trail, restaurant, farm, or street corner.

But I think part of the answer is this: the people who love this place have chosen, over and over again, to invest in it.

We have a thriving music scene because people show up. They attend concerts. They put a tip in the jar. They support venues that book local musicians.

We have incredible artists because people buy local artwork, visit galleries, attend Art Crawl, and make space for creativity to flourish.

We have a vibrant local food scene because people choose restaurants that celebrate the flavors, ingredients, and traditions found here.

And we have local farms because thousands of people choose to build part of their weekly routine around supporting them.

Every Saturday morning, people wake up on their day off, gather their families and friends, navigate the parking lot, and make their way through the market before they’ve even had breakfast. They do it because they care about where their food comes from and because they understand that local farms only exist if local people support them.

At the Watauga County Farmers’ Market, our producer-only policy means that every vendor grows, raises, creates, or makes what they sell. The person standing behind the table is the person responsible for bringing that product into the world.

When you purchase from them, you’re doing more than buying a loaf of bread, a bouquet of flowers, a piece of pottery, or a basket of vegetables.

You’re helping make it possible for that farmer, baker, artist, or maker to continue doing what they do. You’re helping keep working farms in production. You’re helping preserve skills, traditions, businesses, and livelihoods that contribute to the character of this place.

The mountains help shape the people who live here. But the people shape this place, too - not the landscape itself, but the culture that grows within it.

Places like this are the result of countless ordinary decisions made by people who care.

Decisions to show up. To participate. To support local musicians, artists, farmers, makers, and businesses.

This Saturday, Dead of Winter will fill the Music Tent with Grateful Dead favorites, our Youth Makers will return to the Kids Corner with their newest creations, F.A.R.M. Cafe will be collecting ingredients in the Donation Station to prepare meals for our community, and Margie will be back with another simple cooking demonstration celebrating the flavors of early summer.

Whether it’s a festival downtown or a Saturday morning at the market, the principle is the same.

The Boonerang effect isn’t really about returning to a place.

It’s about returning to a community.

And communities are created and sustained by the people who choose them.

We hope you’ll join us Saturday.

—Michelle, Market Director