Welcome to the first annual Soil & Sky Festival!

Soil & Sky Fest is a collaborative music and arts festival promoting community, self-expression, and connection with the land. Since the pandemic so drastically changed our world, people have also changed how they connect with one another.

After lockdowns, social distancing and health scares, people are more selective about which and how many events they attend. Folks long for more intimate spaces to gather, where they can foster genuine connections. We want to prioritize moments that allow us to breathe deeply and settle in.

Building off The Collection’s fanbase, and in conjunction with the community-oriented town of Saxapahaw, Soil & Sky Fest aims to be more than a disconnected crowd listening to music, and will focus on honoring and connecting with the Earth, communing with others, and providing spaces for reflection, mental health, and inspiration.

Housed on the magnificent 32-acre Benzai Bloomstead near Saxapahaw, Soil & Sky Fest is nestled within the green, rolling hills of rural NC, framed by two creeks and watched over by the generations-old, deciduous forest. The land itself is at the heart of the festival, showcasing intimate performances in the woods, community sessions, bonfires, creek trails, and a late night open mic—all surrounding a festival-size main stage with our favorite national and local bands.

The event will be hosted and headlined by the NC-based group The Collection, a national touring band that has been praised by NPR, PARADE, and American Songwriter. The Collection has garnered over 500k monthly listeners and millions of streams across platforms. The band’s fanbase was built by several years of national touring, playing Shaky Knees and Shakori Hills fests, and opening for artists including The Oh Hellos, Sammy Rae & the Friends, Ripe, and Larkin Poe. The Collection’s music is known as a platform for creating safe spaces for folks to express themselves, and Soil & Sky Fest is an extension of that commitment.

Soil & Sky Fest

By Benzai Bloomstead

Soil & Sky Fest

A music and arts festival hosted by The Collection in rural Saxapahaw, NC