Huntly Hairst is the toon’s annual harvest festival, celebrating local farming traditions and produce. With an extended farmers’ market taking place across the Square and lots of other events such as cookery demonstrations, The World Stovies championship, Huntly’s Room to Roam race and others, it’s not to be missed!

This year at Deveron Projects, join artist in residence Rah Naqvi and local collaborators Angela Rivera and Trang Le, to build solidarities across borders and kin, through baking, foraging and song. Drop by Square Deal community hub and learn how to make Pandesal, a Filipino sweet bun, and a version of Lammas harvest bread, with Angela in Solidarity Baking workshops. Bake buns to share with abundance on the day, and beautiful Lammas harvest loaves as a gift to the many migrant workers in Huntly’s care homes and nearby farms.  

Enjoy hot buns from the baking workshop with a fly cup of local foraged tea, facilitated by Trang in Brander Community Garden. There will be a range of dried and fresh herbal teas to try, such as fermented ‘ivan chai’ tea from rosebay willowherb, clover, chamomile, pineapple weed, meadowsweet and many more.

From 11:30am - 12pm join Rah in the garden for songs new and old, including 'The Far Famed Holy Coo' and 'Huntly Workers' Lament’. Influenced by North-East bothy ballads, the songs were written by Rah throughout their residency, with input from community members in Huntly. Together, they show that folk song, often thought of as historical, is very much alive in its ability to connect, unite and gossip over our shared experiences today.

Throughout the day you can watch the short film ‘Abundance: Living with a Forest’ (2024) by Professor of Anthropology, Dolly Kikon. The film follows Zareno, a Lotha forager in the forest of Khumtsü, Northeast India. By documenting the edible plants that Zareno forages, and the traditional songs they sing in the process, the film weaves together land and song to gesture towards the loss that Indigenous communities are experiencing worldwide. 

Come and learn of the power of abundant and resilient local plants and stories, and what they can teach us about nurturing, stewardship and healing.

Schedule

Square Deal
10am - 3pm: Solidarity Baking

Brander Community Garden
10am - 3pm: Making herbal teas, film screening
11:30am: Performance by Rah Naqvi

Access

• All events are free and open to all. 
• We ask that children are supervised by a responsible adult at all times.
• Hairst is a really busy event in the Huntly calendar. Our events are generally quieter first thing in the morning and at the end of the afternoon, but the number of people fluctuates throughout the day. If you arrive and it feels too busy please come back as it may be quieter later. 
• There is a guide to visiting Square Deal online here. This includes information on travelling to the venue, photos and plans of the space, and sensory information. 
• The Brander Garden is located behind Huntly Library. Access is via the white metal gate at the top of McVeagh Street. There is an accessibility guide, with photos of the garden, online here.

Dietary

Pandesal are vegetarian, but contain egg, wheat and dairy. We will be preparing these in a space that may have traces of nuts, seeds, dairy and other allergens. Everything will be clearly labelled.