Northwest Herbal Fair 2021

A message from NW Herbal Fair Founder, Michael Skeeter Pilarski

We look forward to having hundreds of herbal people, young and old, gather together at the Northwest Herbal Fair to celebrate, to learn from each other and to raise our spirits.

Are you interested in herbs? Do you know people who are into herbal medicine? Spread the word about the NWHF to friends, family and email networks.

Since 1996, the NWHF has served the Northwest herbal community. Over the years we have hosted hundreds of famous and not-so-famous herbalists as workshop presenters. Started by Skeeter Michael Pilarski and ably assisted by Burke Mulvaney since year one. Great place for herbal networking!

In 2021, we will have a lot of new and younger presenters as well as many of our esteemed past presenters. Back in the 1970s. the herbal scene was almost all young people.  We had few elders in those days.  I remember bringing Dr. John Christopher in as a keynote speaker at an event I organized in 1976. Now in 2021, The NWHF will have lots of herbalist elders as well as the younger generations, dancing together.

The herbal movement stretches unbroken back into pre-history.  There are herbal people in every generation in every culture.  In modern times these age-old traditions have been largely lost to the industrialized societies. You might say that herbs lost a lot of market share to the pharmaceutical industry. Media blared that herbs weren’t scientifically proven, old fashioned and not as powerful.  Many herbalists and herbal traditions have been repressed over the centuries in different cultures at different times.  The loss of traditional herbal knowledge is ongoing in indigenous cultures around the world, but there is a resurgence of interest in keeping their traditions alive.

The NWHF is part of an herbal resurgence that took root in the 1970s in the United States, Canada and other Western countries and has been growing and blossoming ever since.  Most of us, not having elders to learn from, had to fall back on reading and empirical science.  The reading and research is from many cultures and many times.  On my herbal bookshelf there are books from Russia, Poland, Thailand, Spain, India, Belize, Mexico and many other countries and indigenous peoples.

My herbal knowledge is a hodge-podge from many traditions.  Some of it is gathered from personal experience.  Some herbalists study Traditional Chinese Medicine for a lifetime, or Ayurvedic, etc etc.  In a sense our modern culture has become a melting pot.  Many of today’s herbalists (or all to a certain degree) have developed their own knowledge base from their own practices.  Some have developed schools to pass their knowledge on.  The NWHF is a melting pot for herbal knowledge.  We all have something to share.  We are all students and we are all teachers.  In many cases we just keep re-discovering the same uses for medicinal plants that were known to the ancients.  So let us celebrate the herbal universe that we are part of in all of its diversity.

Each herb gathering has its own personality, it’s own flavor, its own specialties. We aren’t putting down any other herb gatherings.  They all have their niches and all accomplish good things and bring parts of the herbal community together. In a sense we can say that all herb gathering help do the things outlined above.  What is special about the NWHF is that is so grassroots and so celebratory.  We have fun as well as exchange herbal knowledge.

So what makes the NWHF so special in 2021? It is one of the only herb gatherings happening in the region in 2021.  If you are excited about getting together with your peers in the herbal movement, please join us!

You don’t have to be an “herbalist” or herbal expert to attend the event. All levels of knowledge are welcome. If you want to learn about herbs than this is for you too.  We have kept our day prices low to make it possible for people to check us out, take some classes, visit the herbal marketplace to see the herbal wares and services available and enjoy some entertainment.

You are invited!

You can register or learn more here: https://www.nwherbalfair.com/registration