Jul 28, 2026

Jennifer speaks on Building a Legacy Through Festivals

I sat down with Jennifer Pickering right as she was looking back on 30 years of building LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival) - and honestly, this conversation left me full. Jennifer founded LEAF in 1995 after the folks running the old Black Mountain Festival essentially told her "you're going to buy my festival," and from there she built something that brought over 600,000 people through Lake Eden.

She walked me through the "LEAF formula" - baking healing arts and poetry into a festival at a time when almost nobody was doing that, and building something intergenerational from day one (babies to grandmas, just like she pictured).
One of my favorite stories - the longtime "leafer" named Charlie who turned out to be an international mall developer named Charles the rest of the year, and who told her Lake Eden was the one place he got to be whoever he wanted to be.
She got quiet talking about the friends and elders she's said goodbye to just this past week, and how that grief keeps reminding her how precious it is that we still get to gather, sing, and drum together.
What stuck with me most - a boy named Hope, from one of LEAF's international culture programs, telling her "I didn't know myself until I learned my traditions." That's the whole thing, isn't it.

LEAF is transforming into the Lake Eden Reunion this October, and Jennifer's book, Live Life Like a Festival, launches there too. If you've ever built something for decades, then had to ask what it becomes next - this one's for you.

What have you built that's ready to become something new?

Jennifer speaks on Building a Legacy Through Festivals

Links