The Land Remains

The LEAF Festival at Lake Eden, 1995–2025—and what comes next.

40,000 artists. 600,000 people. Thirty years at Lake Eden.

Swannanoa, NC — Lake Eden Retreat April 13, 2026,
Photograph James Navé

Greetings,

What’s the news from your part of the world?

This Afternoon

I’m sitting at Dobra Tea in East Asheville, with easy flute music playing and a few people talking, reading, and writing. Afternoon sun reflects off the car hoods, traffic flows on Highway 70, and a sign across the parking lot advertises chiropractic care. Maybe I need an adjustment.

For the past six weeks, I’ve been working with Jennifer Pickering at Lake Eden Retreat, helping her develop plans for a gathering there this fall. It’s been a pleasure to participate in our vision process inspired by the Black Mountain College experience, the Black Mountain Music Festival, and the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF).

With that in mind, here’s a bit of history.

The Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF), founded by Jennifer Pickering in 1995, held its final festival at Lake Eden / Camp Rockmont in October 2025.

I’m attached to this narrative because in 1995, Jennifer called on a group of friends, including me, to help imagine what an art festival could be with music, contra dance, juried art, crafts, healing arts, a kick-ass poetry slam, and enough accommodations, including tent camping, to handle 6000 people per festival.

None of us imagined in 1995 that the Lake Eden Arts Festival would span 30 years and showcase 40,000 artists for 600,000 people.

What Changed

The LEAF Festival decamped from Lake Eden when the LEAF Global Arts board decided it needed new leadership and a new location.

Even though the LEAF Festival has moved on, the land remains connected to Lake Eden and Camp Rockmont’s creative legacy, threading through the Black Mountain Music Festival, Black Mountain College, and back to the 1920s, when George Vanderbilt and E. W. Grove helped establish this region as a place where people come to imagine, recover, and create.

Now we prepare for what’s next at Lake Eden/Camp Rockmont, October 16–18, 2026: The Lake Eden Reunion and Live Life Like a Festival book launch. More on that later.

Cherry Street, Black Mountain, NC

A few Sundays ago, Jennifer Pickering and I were walking in Black Mountain, discussing plans for the October 2026 gathering at Lake Eden.

We walked past the Town Pump Pub at 135 Cherry Street. I said to Jennifer, “Before the Town Pump was here, the listening room McDibbs, owned by David Peele, was here, and he founded the Black Mountain Music Festival in 1983, which set the stage for the Lake Eden Arts Festival, 1995-2025.

Jennifer said, “Tell it to the video. Everything is linked together. None of us stands alone.”

Here’s the unedited video Jennifer recorded.

More to come

Wherever you are in the world, lean into what you’re doing. Be receptive to your ideas and images when they appear.

Plug in, charge your batteries, keep the porch light on. Send news.

Warm wishes from my table at Dobra Tea.

Navé

Imaginative Storm Writing Retreat, Taos, NM
In person- 5 days - April 27-May 1, 2026
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Imaginative Storm Weekend Writing Transformation, La Veta, CO
In person- June 25-28, 2026
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Swannanoa, NC—Walter Parks, James Navé, and Eliot Wadopian—Jazz and poetry at The Lake Eden Arts Festival, 2003

Photo: Jennifer Pickering