Von Hand 2026 Round Up

Gratitude

Von Hand 2026 was held up by so many hands, and we want to name them.

To the valley — for holding us, for the trees and the birds and the wide open sky. To the waters — for cooling us, cleansing us, and giving us a place to ground ourselves. To the site itself — for being ready to receive us and generous in what they gave back. And to every participant who showed up, brought their full self, and made this the gathering it was — thank you.

To our Kitchen — for the meals that nourished us and gave us energy to be creative. Thank you for the early mornings, the smiles and connections while serving, and the late nights.

To our Kids Team & Children — for the joy, the noise, the games, and the reminder of why we do this work. Thank you for keeping the little ones safe, seen, and delighted.

To our Worktraders & Staff — for the labor most people never saw. Von Hand ran because you showed up in all the in-between moments, stayed after dark, arrived early, and left late.

To our Instructors — for sharing your knowledge and craft, and for the patience it takes to teach. Your dedication to keeping craft alive inspires us all.

To Parents & Families — for trusting us with your children, your time, and your energy. This gathering is built on that trust.

To our Photo & Video Team — for capturing what words can’t hold, so we can carry these moments forward.

And to everyone who brought something — Sharpening supplies, extra tents, decor, tea, cookies, treats, yourself and your gifts — thank you. Those gestures are the glue.

Von Hand 2026 was not any one person’s doing. It belongs to all of us.

Photos & Video* of the Gathering

*Video will be shared once it’s ready by Mare.

It will be exciting to receive this at a later date =)

Notes on using & sharing these photos

  • Please tag/credit Noam when you share photos - you can tag him on instagram @noam.winkler and otherwise his name is Noam Winkler

  • Please focus on saving and sharing photos that you are in, moments and workshops you were present for, group and environment photos.

  • Please avoid sharing photos of children that are not your own.

  • If you’d like to share portraits of other individuals, do so considerately (ask them =)

  • If you would like any photos removed please leave a comment on the photo in the google album and Noam will delete it.

  • Noam has been very generous with his gifts - If you would like to contribute to his work & travels you can send a wee bit here - https://buymeacoffee.com/photographernoam

Photo Links by day

Set up • Sunday • Monday • Tuesday • Wednesday • Thursday • Friday • Saturday

*Parents - please email me for a link to the kids photo album

Reflections & Feedback

Got Thoughts? We Want ’Em

We’d love to hear how the event landed for you. Loved a workshop? Had a takeaway you’re still thinking about? Something we could’ve done better? Just email us and tell us — good, bad, or somewhere in between, we’re all ears. If there’s anything that needs further discussion don’t hesitate to reach out to connect about it.

info@vonhandfestival.com

…We aren’t sending out a feedback form this year as it was feedback that people aren’t good at doing those haha…

Songs From the Week

Trees grow Slow - Lawrence Cole

We Shall be Known - by Mamuse - also on streaming platforms!

Forget your perfect offering - adapted from Anthem by Leonard Cohen

You help us to Grow - Rafe Halsey - I have no link for this but the lyrics as I know them are:

You help us to grow, you help us to live, and we all have different jobs to do, thank you for what you give.

Von Hand 2027 - August 1-7th

Work has already started for next year - the site is booked, a couple instructors are making their way onto the docket as well! Make sure you save the date.

The plan is for tickets to go on sale in February 2027, followed by workshops in March.

Some winning highlights from this year:

  • The Wednesday off day of (most) workshops was a great success, so this will become a permanent fixture! We are also brewing exciting features for Wednesday evenings.

  • We also felt really good with the size and don’t have the intention of growing a lot more. There may be a wee bit more to accommodate more support for the kitchen, staff, kids program, and a new element or two we’d like to add - a wellness tent/space & a teens program. But something I personally loved this year was the ability to have a moment with most people onsite and I don’t want to lose that!

Looking Ahead: Supporting Future Years of Von Hand

This year, your generous donations helped us cover our kids’ program and contributed toward a new tent (we bought the one sheep skin tanning was under!) — thank you! Looking ahead, we have some more goals in mind and would love your continued support.

Here’s what we’re hoping to fund in the coming years:

  • A cooling wagon to keep the food (& maybe drinks) cool.

  • Additional shelters (each costs between €1,500–€8,000) (We aim to purchase one shelter year so we can eventually eliminate the marquee rental which costs us €3k a year)

  • A larger trailer to store and transport our Von Hand Gear.

  • Kids & Teen Program - this is an annual need

We’re grateful for support in many forms, not just monetary — including:

  • Second hand Shelters & Tools

  • Sponsors - If you have ideas of companies who fit with Von Hand who might want to sponsor let us know.

We’re also researching grants and funding opportunities within Germany so that we can pay our organizers, instructors, and staff properly. If you know of any programs or opportunities that might fit, we’d love to hear from you!

Lots of our instructors teach over the year

check out their individual websites via the instructor page

Other events that some of you have shared with us (there are so many other good events too!)

Bringing Gifts from the Festival Home

The real harvest of a week at Von Hand isn’t what we pack out in our bags. It’s the habits we carry into daily life. Connection with people who stand outside our usual circles. Showing up with play and curiosity instead of a fixed script. Inviting neighbors in rather than staying behind closed doors. Looking for what’s good in a stranger, in a moment, in ourselves. Staying willing to learn, flexible enough to change course.

Von Hand—by hand—is the whole point. Nothing here is mass-produced or automatic. It’s made slowly and deliberately, by people willing to get their hands in to the work. That’s part of why the week feels different from most of the spaces we inhabit. And that’s part of why it’s worth paying attention to.

We probably can’t recreate the festival itself once we’re home. But we can take its small, repeatable habits—curiosity over judgment, generosity over scarcity, showing up over staying safe—and keep practicing them. Be the change we wish to see, not as a slogan, but as something we keep doing, by hand, one day at a time.

REMEMBER TO - DRINK WATER - WALK SLOWLY - DON’T DRINK & CARVE - TAKE BREAKS - HELP THE KITCHEN