Toward the light

This weekend is much anticipated. It is the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and Boonerang.

Boonerang, our town's annual free music and arts festival, invites all the folks with a soul-connection to this place back to their roots, back home, and back to the place that helped shape them. Locals and lovers of these mountains come together to celebrate and contribute to the vibrant culture that makes Boone what it is.

I think there is a reason Boonerang falls on this weekend every year. Boone is absolutely glorious in June, but it also arrives just as we welcome the first official day of summer.

The streets fill with pedestrians headed from one stage to the next. Old friends reconnect. Local art spills onto sidewalks. Community groups and vendor booths set up shop throughout downtown. Food trucks appear on corners. Music drifts through the air.

For a few days, it almost feels as though the entire town becomes an extension of the farmers’ market.

At its heart, this weekend is a celebration of growth.

The longest day of the year arrives after months of steadily increasing daylight. The sun has been quietly doing its work all along. Crops have been growing, flowers have been blooming, and fruits have been ripening.

Children and communities grow too. Art and music bloom. Summer itself arrives because the sun has been steadily giving life to everything around us.

Perhaps that is why it feels fitting that Father’s Day shares this weekend too. Fathers and father figures, like the sun, often support growth in ways that are not always noticed in the moment. Their influence can be quiet, steady, and life-giving.

In the lead-up to this peak moment of the season, our farmers have been hard at work. The first squash, cucumbers, peaches, and nectarines of the year made their appearance last Saturday, and many growers are anticipating even larger harvests this week. The bouquets keep getting bigger and brighter. Our makers are feeling inspired. And our bakers continue to outdo themselves week after week.

Summer is here, and the abundance is arriving with it.

This week at the market, we will be hosting a tamale fundraiser benefiting the Immigrant Justice Coalition. The Hand-Me-Down Hub free children’s clothing and gear exchange returns to the Kids Corner, and Hunger & Health Coalition will be featured in the Donation Station.

Danny Whittington will be serenading shoppers from the Music Tent throughout the morning and warming us up for a weekend full of music.

Whether you’re headed to Boonerang, searching for something special for Dad, planning a cookout or picnic, or simply looking for a reason to spend a summer morning outdoors, we hope you’ll start your weekend at the farmers’ market.

The days will begin growing shorter after this weekend, though you’d hardly know it.

The peaches have only just arrived.

The fields are still stretching toward the light.

Summer in the High Country doesn’t rush.

It unfolds.

One harvest, one song, and one Saturday morning at a time.

—Michelle, Market Director