Autumn Fires celebrates the changing of the seasons with bonfires, local music, feasting, drumming, activities, and ceremonies.
Wisteria Event Site, 39825 State Rt 684, Pomeroy OH 45769.
Join us in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains to welcome the fall with music, arts and crafts, workshops, celebrations, community, and fun for all ages. Our 2024 theme, “Revelation”, reflects the growing awareness that our world is changing and the value of community, play, and joy as we adapt and thrive.
Highlights of the event include music, workshops by Byron Ballard and others, pumpkin carving, pit kiln clay firing, haunted hayride, nature hike, a Stone Soup potluck, nightly bonfires at Paw Paw Drum and Fire Circle, live performances and local draft brews at Green Man Tavern, ritual, fire spinning, and more! Special presentations will be given Wednesday at 4PM on forest fire ecology, and Thursday 4PM on wildfire management.
Check back regularly for updates! For details see the workshop and performance descriptions
Preregistration prices (gate price slightly higher)
Age 13+ Full Event: $120
Child (3-12) Full Event: $45
Age 13+ Weekend: $90
Child (3-12) Full Event: $45
Age 13+ Day Pass: $45
Child (3-17) Day Pass: $22
No-camp day passes are available for locals!
$20 adult, $10 child, buy at the gate
Meal plans are also available upon checkout, and can be purchased on site (same price as preregistration).
Athens local band Hellnaw returns to rock the woods! Friday, 8:30PM, Green Man Tavern
Kojun will be presenting a sound bath, Friday 10PM at Stone Circle (weather permitting) or Main Stage. Bring a blanket and pillow and lay back and relax as Kojun takes you on a journey of sound.
From over the hills comes Harlot, the folk Americana duo bringing rich melodic vocal harmonies and intricate rhythmic tones to haunt your local holler. With over 10 years of songwriting, Harlot brings original music and a few unique covers that listeners have described as “mystical and ethereal” and “hauntingly beautiful”. Photo by Lisa Sullivan. Saturday, 4:30PM at Green Man Tavern
An Athens duo of original music by Kyle lyons and George Van Fossen. Heart beating banjo rhythms and foot tapping guitar and upright bass blending genres old and new. Saturday 8:30PM at Green Man Tavern
Thursday 4:30PM at Green Man Tavern
Author, teacher, and folklorist H. Byron Ballard is offering three talks/activities at Autumn Fires: Ghost Stories (7PM Thu Oct 10), The Cailleach and the Old Women of Winter (7PM Fri Oct 11), and Ancestor Veneration 101 (2:30PM Sat Oct 12). Those of you who have attended her talks before know what an engaging and dynamic speaker she is.
Athens, Ohio based singer-songwriter Megan Bee’s work has been called “as real as it gets”. Her album “Cottonwood” was listed in the best of 2022 by Americana UK and No Depression Magazine. Her music is a blend of distinctly homespun vocals, acoustic simplicity, yearning soulfulness, and winsome storytelling. Thursday, 8:30PM at Green Man Tavern
Digger T (pictured) – Friday 12:00PM at Pavilion
Steve Zarate – Wednesday 4:30PM at Green Man, Thursday 12:00PM at Pavillion
Brian Henke – Friday 4:30PM at Green Man Tavern, and Bardic Circle, Wednesday 8:30PM at Heart Hearth
Over 20 workshops and activities including martial and flow arts, sweatlodges, arts and crafts, meditation and wellness, and more. Additional performances may be added to the lineup, check the full schedule for up-to-date programming.
Come learn the basics of handbuilding with clay and make your own masterpiece! On Saturday, the creations will be fired in Wisteria’s pit kiln.
Carve your own jack-o’-lantern! Pumpkins will be provided, and we’ll have safety carving tools for younger kids who need them
Bring your little ones’ favorite costumes so they can haunt the streets of Wisteria for our annual Autumn Fires trick-or-treating! Festival attendees are encouraged to bring their own candy to hand out. The Saturday kids activities begin at 1PM with a drumming and fire building introduction, followed by costumes at 2PM, then the trick or treat costume parade at 3PM.
Rooted in European folklore, the tale of Stone Soup has a centralized theme on the value of community and sharing to create something that all will enjoy. Gather ’round the cauldron at Heart Hearth and brew a delicious recreation of this traditional soup. Friday, 5:30PM
Wisteria’s sacred sites will be illuminated with candles, from Shrine Valley (the trail and sites such as the Hellenic Shrine toward Spirit Circle), the Ancestor Mound, Stone Circle, the Labyrinth, and more. Beginning Friday at 8PM.
Live Performance
Prepare to be lured to your demise by the Prairie Creek Sirens’ lush vocal harmonies & silver strings. Indy Potter, Meredith Laine, and Maevyn Stone invoke the spirit of the ocean as they draw you in with their unique brew of Celtic, Appalachia, and magickal realism. Listen when the moon is full, and you may also hear the doomed sailors, Jimmy Clark and Stuart Cotton as the sound of digeridoo and tribal drums rise from the depths. Once you hear the call of the sirens, you will never be the same…..
“Colin blends lyrics and poems with melodies pulled from the ether to create spellbinding songs. The natural flow of the songwriting process makes room for different genres to blend together. With contributions from other musicians it culminates into an energetic and heartwarming experience to behold”
Singer-songwriter Steve Zarate taught himself to play guitar and harmonica as a teen, emulating counselors he heard singing around summer campfires. After earning three Ohio University degrees he traveled to Alaska, making his debut CD “Homecoming” in 1995 as a Juneau resident. Since returning to Ohio in 1997 he’s released three more, including 2019’s “Patchwork Of Light.” Playing professionally since 2006, Steve has performed at dozens of southeast Ohio events and venues, gaining a reputation as a passionate songwriter and an engaging entertainer with a vast repertoire.
