Celebrating Fall at WWC’s Farm and Garden
Jaylei Davis | Oct. 6, 2026
On Oct. 3, Warren Wilson College (WWC) held their annual Fall Festival at the farm and garden. This year, the event coincided with Homecoming and Family Weekend, bringing together alumni, students and their families and community members to enjoy the food, music and atmosphere of the festival.
The Fall Festival was divided into two separate areas: the garden and the farm. Each section had booths and displayed the different things that various crews produce to benefit the campus community.
The Fine Woodworking Crew’s table at Warren Wilson College’s Fall Fest on Oct, 3 2026. Swannanoa, N.C. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
In the garden, the Fine Woodworking Crew sold handmade bowls, containers and etched decorations. The Forestry Crew, responsible for maintaining the health of WWC’s forests, sold tinctures and facilitated a station where attendees could make a wood-print stamp on paper or a piece of cloth.
Garden Crew members were busy during the event, offering tours of the college’s garden, where some of the produce consumed at Gladfelter Dining Hall is grown, and making freshly pressed apple cider for the attendees at their booth.
Grace Payton, a senior WWC student and member of Garden Crew, explained that many alumni take the tour and visit the Fall Festival to see how everything has changed since they were students.
“The cider press was bought by the first Garden Crew supervisor that started the garden in the 80s,” Payton said. “There's a bunch of alums that come down here and they're like ‘Oh, I was on the Garden Crew however many years ago.’ It's cool to just see people come back.”
Garden Crew members Ella Tatro and Grace Payton pose for a photo at Warren Wilson College’s Fall Fest on Oct. 3, 2026. Swannanoa, N.C. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)
The farm was also bustling with attendees listening to students’ musical performances, trying out food truck offerings or hopping on a tractor ride. WWC students sold handmade bags, clothing, jewelry and art, while the Social Media Marketing Crew offered WWC merchandise to attendees. Members of the Farm Crew staffed the Farm Store, providing the community with the opportunity to buy WWC-raised beef and pork, fresh grown vegetables and other consumer goods made by the Farm Crew.
The Community Engagement Crew, responsible for facilitating partnerships with off-campus service partnerships, were also in attendance, promoting food insecurity awareness and Box of Baguettes (B.o.B), WWC’s on campus, crew-run food pantry.
The River Stewards Crew, a new crew created after Hurricane Helene, had a booth showcasing the vegetation that they are planting in order to rebuild the ecosystems for the plants and animals in the river.
Mazzy Carroll, a junior WWC student on the River Stewards Crew, explained that the river stewards are trying to make the river habitable for the animals and plants that live within and along the river.
“What we're trying to do right now is repair the stream banks by planting [silky willow, silky dogwood, button bush] that secure the banks with their roots and also provide shade so that the water will go down in temperature,” Carroll said.
Fall Festival is an event that showcases various crews, departments and students. These festival groups bring people together, whether students or Swannanoa residents, on the WWC campus. The festival allows WWC alumni to see what has changed since they were students in many different ways, along with displaying the many ways in which Warren Wilson contributes to the greater community of Swannanoa and Asheville.
