From Shoeboxes to Zero Waste: A Look Back at the MCS Farm Festival

As we gear up for Saturday’s 55th Annual MCS Farm Festival, we’ve been feeling nostalgic about the ways in which this wonderful community event has changed and, more importantly, the ways in which it has stayed the same.

In 1969, MCS was relatively new and not many people outside the community knew about the Farm. With shoeboxes for cash/ticket boxes in hand, a group of families set out to change this in the most MCS way: a street fair open to the public and put on through the communal effort of parents, staff, children, and friends of the school. Thus, Farm Festival was born!

Lois Gelernt, who was a founding MCS parent and staff member and is a former grandparent of MCS students, recalls that in that first year a company donated hot dogs for the event, and the 4-5s students baked cupcakes. Tables were set up for clothing and toys (“rummage sale” as it was called), and a section on the street was designated for used books, both of which became popular stands to be repeated year after year. In fact, the rummage sale became a well known event in the neighborhood in its own right! Soon it was clear that the goals of Farm Festival were being achieved: the school community was consolidating its presence locally and getting the word out about the MCS experience for children and families, both in the city and up at the Farm.

Join us this Saturday!

October 19, 2024

11 am-4 pm 

85th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues

Successive groups of parents worked tirelessly to make Farm Festival an annual school tradition. The event is now spearheaded by the 6-7s families, though it remains a school-wide effort and way of joining together to celebrate and serve the community. Its carnival-like atmosphere is second only to the spirit of cooperation needed to pull the event off - which is no easy feat! Over the years, Farm Festival evolved into more than that first group of parents could have imagined: hay rides, bouncy houses, fresh produce & bake goods stands, delicious food, live music, a haunted house, games, crafts and more have all been a part of the Farm Festival experience. Since 2017, true to the school’s focus on sustainability, the Farm Festival has become a blueprint for zero-waste street fairs in New York City. In 2022, despite welcoming more than 1,500 attendees, only two bags of trash ended up in the landfill, a testament to the community's commitment to reducing waste.

As each new group of families works to add their own creative spin, we can’t help but marvel at those aspects of Farm Festival that endure, more than half a century later. We hope you enjoyed the pictures of Farm Festivals past and join us on Saturday to experience it for yourself!