INDEX
Worktrade Information
Worktraders help make the Herbal Fair possible!
We appreciate your help!
We are accepting 50 worktrade positions this year.
Worktrade tickets require 6 hours + $95 deposit
(Two 3-hour shifts)
This covers full weekend admission and tent camping. If you want to car camp you must pay the normal fee ($30).
Questions? Email Us:
nwhfworktrade@gmail.com
Worktrade Application Steps
Fill out & submit the Work-trade Application, indicating which position(s) you can help with.
Our team will confirm over email, and give further instructions.
To secure your spot, we will send a code for you to purchase your Work-trade ticket.
Please Note —
Applying early is a good idea as we may fill all positions well before the event.
The form allows you to indicate what position(s) you would like to fill.
More details will be forthcoming once you register.
Apply Today!
Open Worktrade Positions
Set-Up
Join our team to help create the magical atmosphere of the Northwest Herbal Fair by setting up booths, signage, and event spaces prior to the opening. Attention to detail and physical stamina are key for this role.
Must arrive early Thursday or Wednesday
Sign-Making
Showcase your creative flair by designing and crafting eye-catching signs to guide and inform attendees throughout the Northwest Herbal Fair. Prior experience in arts and crafts is appreciated.
Must arrive early Thursday
Parking
Be the welcoming face of the fair by efficiently directing vehicles and ensuring smooth traffic flow in our parking areas. Excellent communication skills and a friendly demeanor are essential for this role.
Food Service
Join our food service team to provide nourishing and delicious meals to attendees, ensuring compliance with food safety standards. Having a Food Handlers Card is preferred. Please consider investing the time to get one before the event.
Children's Program
Ignite young minds and foster a love for nature by facilitating engaging and educational activities for children attending the Northwest Herbal Fair. Creativity, patience, and a passion for working with kids are essential.
Tea Kitchen
Indulge attendees in a delightful tea experience by preparing and serving a variety of herbal teas in our cozy tea kitchen. Attention to detail and a friendly disposition are key for creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Registration/Gate Crew
Be the first point of contact for attendees by welcoming them at the gates, facilitating registration, and providing information about the fair. Strong interpersonal skills and organization are essential for this role.
Sanitation
Ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of restroom facilities by regularly cleaning and restocking supplies throughout the Northwest Herbal Fair. Attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining a sanitary environment are crucial.
Security
Help maintain a safe and secure environment for attendees, vendors, and staff by walking along the fairgrounds, monitoring entrances and exits, and addressing any security concerns if they arise.
Our security approach focuses on positivity and de-escalation techniques. We value individuals who are friendly, empathetic, and adept at understanding others' perspectives. While prior experience in security or similar fields is advantageous, we welcome those with a compassionate demeanor and a willingness to learn.
Medical Team
Join our dedicated medical team to provide essential first aid support during the Northwest Herbal Fair. Preference will be given to individuals with experience and certification in first aid or wilderness first aid, ensuring attendees' safety and well-being throughout the event.
Apply Today!
Our Team
-
Michael "Skeeter" Pilarski
Is a life-long student of plants and earth repair. His farming career started in 2nd grade and his organic farming career began in 1972 at age 25. Michael founded Friends of the Trees Society in 1978 and took his first permaculture design course in 1982. Since 1988 he has taught 36 permaculture design courses in the US and abroad. His specialties include earth repair, agriculture, seed collecting, nursery sales, tree planting, fruit picking, permaculture, agroforestry, forestry, ethnobotany, medicinal herb growing, hoeing and wildcrafting. He has hands-on experience with over 1000 species of plants. He is a prolific gathering organizer and likes group singing.
-
Anna Pallotta
Anna has been working under Skeeters wing and with Friends of the Trees since 2017. She juggles many hats and mostly works behind the scenes helping manage the Friends of the Trees Botanicals herb farm business, as well as organizing many grass-root events from small workshops to large gatherings. Passionate about community building and helping people feel more connected to nature. She was part of the 2021 NWHF core team and is excited to be back organizing for the 2024 gathering! She was a core organizer for the Wildcrafters’ Rendezvous in 2023 and the Global Earth Repair Conference in 2019. Thanks to her herbal mentors over the years, she's started a small wildcrafting business called Ramble Botanicals.
-
Hudson Gardner
Hudson Gardner is a writer & photographer who drinks a lot of tea in the woods, usually made with boiled creek water and whatever medicinal plant is growing nearby. He joined the Friends of the Trees crew in 2020. Since then he has supported a few events as well as maintained the website, and helped out with farming and wildcrafting.
-
Burke Mulvany
Burke Mulvany is the Executive Director of the Peace Through Music Foundation, a Washington State Non-Profit.
Burke has had the honor of being part of the NW Herbal Fair production team since the events inception in 1996. He was Director of the NW Herbal Fair in 2003, 2005, 2022, and 2023 and collaborated on the NW Herbal Council with Skeeter Pilarski and many other amazing humans since 1999. In all those years Burke has been the dedicated “Stage Coordinator & Emcee” a dharmic role he cherishes deeply.
-
Josephine Dow
Josephine Dow is an Empowerment Facilitator at The Rhythms Within, where she supports Women in gaining confidence and connection to the Handpan and Frame Drum. Besides being a facilitator she is also a recording artist/multi instrumentalist and has 3 self-released albums under the moniker “Jocean”. Josephine has been on the NW Herbal Fair production team since 2021 and helped Co-Direct the NW Herbal Fair in 2022 and 2023.
As a teacher, she encourages her students to understand music first as a personal healing tool for self expression and connection to source. When music is created from this place it has a greater potential to positively impacting others.
-
Melissa Yaden & Stephen Bonnell
Vendor Coordinators
Melissa Yaden, EAMP, LMP, AP, is a lifelong herbal enthusiast and supporter who is classically trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Herbalism and Ayurvedic Medicine and Herbal practices. Melissa's husband, Stephen Bonnell is a musician and nature lover, who endeavors to spend more time around herbs, and the people who cultivate, steward and prepare them.
-
Janet Kingsley
Registrar
Janet is on the team to assist you with all your registration needs. She attended her first NWHF when it was just getting its start at the River Farm outside of Bellingham, WA, when the workshops were held in woodland nooks.
Janet's passions are gardening, creating in the kitchen, preserving food for winter's use and offering Holotropic Breathwork® workshops. She is the office manager/registrar for Grof Transpersonal Training. She is a mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, granddaughter and friend.
-
The Friends of the Trees Botanicals crew is helping organize the 2024 gathering. Stop by their booth and say hello!
Help Wanted
Roles Open
Sponsorships/Fundraising
Solicits sponsors and donors to raise funds and in-kind donations.
Publicity
Social media and other forms of publicity.
Video and photography
Taking video and photos during the event and delivering photo albums and documentation videos after the event.
Kitchen
Mardi Ledbetter and crew. Perhaps the biggest job of the fair. Keeping people happily fed. The kitchen scene will require a number of coordinators as well as work-traders and volunteers. The venue has just installed a small, commercial kitchen so we will be able to provide meals to some people. Looking for people who would create one meal.
Food Procurement.
Someone who arranges food purchases and donations from local farmers.
Decoration
Coordinator and some volunteers. Natural and gaudy art, lights, color, banners waving, ambiance, whimsy. Need to line up the flags, props, etc before the event.
First Aid
Coordinator and volunteers.
Children’s area/ Kids Activities
Recycling/Compost
Night Lighting
Depending on the weather, we could have Christmas lights, luminaries, and tiki torches at specific locations and times.
How To Apply
Contact Michael “Skeeeter” Pilarski.
Include which position you are interested in
360-643-9178
friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com