DMV Spring FigFest May 31st 2025

9ah-figlet said:
I was just building the suspense!

The DMV Figfest was a blast! We had over 150 attendees, three speakers, over 10 vendors, and nearly 100 trees and other fig related swag raffles/auction off. A little rain wasn't going to dampen our spirits!
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DMV Fig Growers showcased Figfanatic.com with multiple tabletop signs, FF labels/stickers on trees donated by members, and the FF swag in the welcome area.

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Thank you again @TorontoJoe for generously donating the FF swag!
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VENDORS
Most of the fig tree vendors sold most of their trees. Some DMV members came prepared with wagons to cart their purchases around!
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@Bigbill's Off the Beaten Path
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Our own @DCallahan
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and @WVMJack who pre-sold his sought-after trees via the FB group and delivered them at the Fig Fest
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Fig Trees USA (formerly Traveling Gardeners based in NJ)

Some DMV members set up their own tables to sell their wares while others presold/traded via the FB group and used the Fig Fest for deivery.
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I bought a cold hardy banana from Kendall.

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Mid-Atlantic Screen Printing provided fig-themed t-shirts as well. You could purchase there or pre-order and pick-up at the event.

SPEAKERS
First off was our own @Gladstone1969 who shared his knowledge on grafting. Brian held a raffle on FB that gave two winners a mature tree grafted with the varieties of their choice. He grafted these trees as part of his demo and then stayed around to help anyone who wanted to graft threes they bought at the fest.
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Is that a Vince #3 that Brian is grafting? Seriously, Brian was able to offer DMV members a beautiful selection of varieties to choose to graft on the trees. He raised more money by selling buds for people to try grafting at home. I recognized the gold metallic labelling of a certain famously generous member (ahem, @Fig Gazer) so thank you and any other forum members who may have donated cuttings.
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Next up was Jack Ma who spoke on cutting propogation. A legend in our area, Jack isn't as active online but is always generous with his time and fig tree donations.
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@Bigbill offered his wisdom for general growing tips in our region as well as an extended question and answer session. His tip of black landscape paper to raise the temperature so figs have better ripening window is a good tip I hadn't heard very often.
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LUNCH (and a little rain)
The storms broke quickly so I took shelter in the cidery tasting room along with many other attendees. The fig fest is a real family event--many people bring their kids (both human and dog).
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We are very grateful to Two Story Chimney Ciderworks for hosting our event. The venue is perfect for us, and their cider is delicious. I took a 4-pack of the Over the Falls (a dry hopped cider aged in red wine barrels) home with me. That's the owner hard at work with his baby.
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Origins BBQ and Grill offered yummy bbq brisket/pork for lunch.
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The kids weren't bothered by the rain at all! This girls were adorable splashing in their pink boots.
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RAFFLES/GIVEAWAYS
DMV Fig Growers keep their events free to attend through raffle ticket sales of donated trees. As well as the smaller trees, @DCallahan donated a beautiful 15-gallon Maltese Beauty and 10-gallon Italian Honey. As well as 20 trees, @JC Figgy donated a 6-ft Frankenfig with Beltrana, Cdd Mutante, De La Roca , Moro De Caneva grafted on it. One lucky attendee won 2 Angelito and the Boysenberry Blush! View attachment 7911
Dan winning the HSK Unk or the Vince 3.
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A happy winner of one of @bushdoctor82's Figo Pretos.
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That’s awesome. I’m hoping to attend in the fall. I only have one weekend that doesn’t work 🤞🏼
 
Before we jump into organizing our Fallfest, I wanted to take a moment to Thank my organizers behind the scenes and at the Figfest. Some of them may or may not be on the Forums yet, but none the less, THANKFULNESS!!!

THANK YOU AND I APPRECIATE my CORE Organizers who help make Events like our 2025 DMV FIGFEST (SPRING Event) happen and run smoothly. I definitely couldn’t make this happen with out them. You guys/gals are Figtastic!!!

Marie Has been helping with multiple Figfests now and I can always count on her. Her husband has always been willing to help out on site as well-
AKA the RAFFLE QUEEN.

Jeremy Has been a great addition and wonderful MC! Can always count on him for some humor and a loud voice. His skills behind the scenes organizing are very much appreciated!
AKA MC JEREMY.

@9ah-figlet Has been a blessing and jumped in knee deep into our group figfest organizing, and not to mention has been one of our TOP Fig tree donaters for the past few events! Donating to the event some of the most coveted varieties wanted!!! Her husband has been very helpful as well, giving us an extra hand on site.
AKA FIG QUEEN.

My Volunteers, you guys help make the event run smooth. You guys were appreciated as well, and looking forward to you guys during the upcoming fests.

Thank you,
@scott draper
@catherine Hambly AKA Cookie Queen.
For running our welcome table! And th

@Can Sarratt
Always helping with set up and clean up. So dependable!
@tryst jesse lee came out JUST to help set up and not even get to enjoy the Figfest because he had other obligations to attend to.
@sarah Schroeder for volunteering to help as well.

If I missed anyone, I’m getting old and forgetful, but you know who you are!!!!
 

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JC Figgy said:
Before we jump into organizing our Fallfest, I wanted to take a moment to Thank my organizers behind the scenes and at the Figfest. Some of them may or may not be on the Forums yet, but none the less, THANKFULNESS!!!

THANK YOU AND I APPRECIATE my CORE Organizers who help make Events like our 2025 DMV FIGFEST (SPRING Event) happen and run smoothly. I definitely couldn’t make this happen with out them. You guys/gals are Figtastic!!!

Marie Has been helping with multiple Figfests now and I can always count on her. Her husband has always been willing to help out on site as well-
AKA the RAFFLE QUEEN.

Jeremy Has been a great addition and wonderful MC! Can always count on him for some humor and a loud voice. His skills behind the scenes organizing are very much appreciated!
AKA MC JEREMY.

@9ah-figlet Has been a blessing and jumped in knee deep into our group figfest organizing, and not to mention has been one of our TOP Fig tree donaters for the past few events! Donating to the event some of the most coveted varieties wanted!!! Her husband has been very helpful as well, giving us an extra hand on site.
AKA FIG QUEEN.

My Volunteers, you guys help make the event run smooth. You guys were appreciated as well, and looking forward to you guys during the upcoming fests.

Thank you,
@scott draper
@catherine Hambly AKA Cookie Queen.
For running our welcome table! And th

@Can Sarratt
Always helping with set up and clean up. So dependable!
@tryst jesse lee came out JUST to help set up and not even get to enjoy the Figfest because he had other obligations to attend to.
@sarah Schroeder for volunteering to help as well.

If I missed anyone, I’m getting old and forgetful, but you know who you are!!!!
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Aww thanks @JC Figgy! You’re such a great leader for DMV—always remembering everyone. I’m happy to be part of your crew.
 
Figsee said:
I went to the pa fig fest last year and it was just ok. Seemed pretty clicky and I wasn’t in it unfortunately 😆
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I was in your area a couple of weekends ago for a bleeding disorder conference at the Hershey Lodge. We went to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday before heading home. I was happy to see that they did have a couple Figs waking up.
 
JaimeAdams said:
I was in your area a couple of weekends ago for a bleeding disorder conference at the Hershey Lodge. We went to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday before heading home. I was happy to see that they did have a couple Figs waking up.
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Ha small world, I live close. I was just there and it looks like the testa fig froze to the ground last winter.
 

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