Freeform Arts Festival

Freeform Arts Festival is returning for its 5th year at its new home in Honesdale, Pa., just 20 miles west of Mysteryland. Join some of the most fascinating thinkers, doers, artists, and creatives as we get together for five days and four incredible nights. Although we have "festival" in our name, muggle festival we are not. Unlike most other events once you enter, there is nothing for sale (except for ice), and you set up your tent in the middle of the action. There will be art projects, theme camps, activities, workshops, galleries, the "Weirdo Olympics", yoga and well, you should get the point. We have a few rules because we have to. We ask that you come to our event with an open mind, the ability to respect others, leave things more beautiful than you found them and to become part of our experience.

What is Freeform Arts Festival?
Freeform Arts Festival is a transformational, interactive arts festival focused around a participatory, leave-no-trace mentality. The festival unites artists, performers and participants for four days of community-building activities, workshops, events, yoga, art and music. Freeform was founded to serve as an outlet to showcase a multifaceted array of talents among the underground artist community. Freeform also facilitates the development and growth of both artists and friends, while uniting the vast network of art collectives that exist along the East Coast. Freeform is a “Leave it better, leave it beautiful” event; our participants ensure that both the campgrounds and public spaces are left in the same or better condition than when they arrived. Our community also was founded upon an ethos summarized as The Freeform Fundamentals. The Freeform Fundamentals include: Accountability, Consent, Leave-No-Trace, Inclusion, Expression, Gifting, and Self-Reliance. Please continue reading for a definition of each of these concepts. For more information please follow us onwww.facebook.com/freeformarts or visit us atwww.freeformarts.com.


What are the Freeform Fundamentals?
Our event consists of a community of artists, dreamers, thinkers, doers, and we want to make the world a better place. The Freeform Fundamentals are our ethos of this event. They are not meant to be “rules” They are guildlines that represent the actions, lifestyles, and general beliefs of our community. By considering these Fundamentals not just at our event, but also in our daily lives, we are able to help ourselves and others be more socially conscious members of society.

The Freeform Fundamentals Include
**Accountability: At Freeform, you are responsible for your own actions, your contributions to the event, your participations, and your experiences. As well as following state, federal, and local laws.
**Consent: Consent doesn’t end with your physical body. Consent includes personal, emotional, and privacy boundaries. Always remember to be respectful when you are given a “no” and be aware that silence is not a “yes”.
**Leave No Trace: Respect and protect our environment as a community and as an event. All participants are expected to clean up after themselves and check all spaces you have played in. There will be no trash cans at this event! We strive to leave our environment cleaner than before we arrived!
**Inclusion: Every participant is equal to the other. We accept, welcome, and include all participants. This being stated, we also appreciate and welcome all backgrounds, walks of life, experiences, and forms of expression.
**Expression: We embrace the concept of radical expression in all forms as long as they are within the boundaries of mutual respect and consideration of oneself, fellow participants, and their environment.
**Gifting: Freeform is a sustainable event uninfluenced by advertising. Freeform promotes a gifting economy, which provides an environment without expectation and which is not weighed down by commerce.
**Self-Reliance: Freeform is an event of personal responsibility. You are required to bring whatever you need to survive (water, food, supplies, etc). The only thing Freeform provides will be firewood, bathrooms, showers, ice, and a space for positive growth and genuine connection (Ice is for sale).

Is there a theme?
Yes, Our theme for 2016 is METAMORPHOSIS! Here’s what it’s all about:
Metamorphosis, a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means. Caterpillars facilitate their own changing into butterflies. We each undergo an equally dramatic transformation, unfolding the path to liberation from within the depths of the soul and emerging, after great struggle, as an expression of divinity in the world. Change is the only constant in our lives and a transformation happens in each and every one of us daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. On a larger scale, freeform festival is going through a metamorphosis, every year, to become a new reflection of our community efforts. Let us come together in 2016 to honor these changes as we manifest and celebrate our metamorphosis both as individuals and as a community.