join us for wild heart herb fest!
New Bedford, MA / Wampanoag Nation
Saturday October 10, 2026 from 10-4
Spend the day exploring the intersection of herbalism, ecology, art, and cultural tradition at the beautiful Haskell Gardens.
Participate in hands-on workshops, plant identification walks, and creative practices led by local herbalists, artists, + educators.
This is a community centered experience where learning unfolds through connection to plants, to place, to yourself, and to one another.
Wild Heart Herb Fest is rooted in the belief that access to cultural knowledge, creative expression, and connection to the natural world should be available to all. We are committed to accessibility, inclusivity, and community care, offering sliding scale pricing, free programming, and accommodations to support diverse needs.
We honor herbalism as both a cultural tradition and a living practice, shaped by many lineages and communities. Through hands-on learning, artistic expression, and ecological education, we aim to foster connection, belonging, and community resilience—strengthening our capacity to care for ourselves, one another, and the land.
Thanks for your patience as the schedule comes together!
Building an Herbal Blend for your Cycle - Denise
Herbal Support for Grief - Mimi
Astro Herbalism 101 - Emily
When you arrive for the day, please check in at Wild Heart Herb House. You may begin to arrive at 9:30 to pick up a schedule, pour yourself a cup of tea, and get ready for the day!
This is a grassroots, no/low tech community event so there are some things that you need to bring:
a full water bottle
a mug or jar for tea
a towel, yoga mat, blanket, chair, something to sit on outdoors
something to add to our community alter like a plant from your garden, stone, shell, something that you made (optional and you can take it back home with you)
LUNCH! There will be no food vendors on site but you can order a pre-made with so much love Herb Fest Lunch Box made by Michele! Order yours here! You may also pack yourself a lunch or maybe do a little potluck with your friends that are attending! Lunch break is an hour and there are limited local food options nearby.
a notebook (we have some for sale at Wild Heart) + writing utensil to capture the inspiration you'll be receiving
Street Parking is available on Shawmut Ave and Loftus St bordering Haskell Gardens and on Sutton St and Townsend St which are smaller side streets across Shawmut Ave from Wild Heart Herb House. There are no meters or time restrictions. Handicapped parking is available right on site.
We want this day to feel welcoming and accessible to all! If you need any assistance or accommodations, please email wild.heart.herb.house@gmail.com and we will do everything possible to ensure you have a safe, easeful, and enjoyable day at Wild Heart Herb Fest! ASL interpretation available upon request. The event is wheelchair accessible, with accessible paths, parking, and restrooms.
This is a day to connect with community and make new friends! Introduce yourself to someone new, say hello to our vendors + healing practitioners, chat with a teacher after class. Everyone is excited to meet you! I know this can be intimidating and if you need some support, come find Nico, Michele, or Amelia. We will be happy to introduce you to someone that would be thrilled to get to know you!
Many of you know Mary as a teacher, mentor, and prominent figure in our local herbalism community. Mary founded Farmacy Herbs 20 years ago and has been practicing herbalism since the 1990's. Mary has taught herbalism and farming at various local businesses, hospitals, events, universities, high schools, nursing homes, elementary schools, conferences, and for special interest groups and non-profits, locally and around the world.
Join Mary as she discusses her new hot tintcure method for making potent medicinal herbal extractions. In the Hot Tincture Method, the water part and alcohol part are extracted separately. The water part gets heated / decocted, and the alcohol is blended and cold extracted. Yes like a double extraction mushroom tincture.. but for EVERY tincture!
You do not want to miss this opportunity to learn from a herbal legend with a heart of gold and hear what I'm sure will be heartwarming + hilarious stories!
Aliya has had holistic wellness knowledge from a young age and aims to provide unique and fulfilling experiences to those she comes in contact with. Aliya is a self proclaimed “retired bartender” who has sought out ways to marry her love of bartending with her passion of wellbeing and healing for what she believes is a more enjoyable cocktail experience.
Join Aliya as she shows you how to incorporate herbs into mocktails and low abv (alcohol by volume) delicious cocktails. Discover the magic of identifying different herbs and understanding their flavor profiles. Learn how to infuse them into alcohol or non-alcoholic bases such as teas, syrups, or tonics. These drinks can be enjoyed at home, with friends and family, or added into any bar’s cocktail menu.
For those of you who I am just becoming acquainted with, here is a little more info about me! I am a mom, community herbalist, earth centered entrepreneur, and self care advocate who specializes in teaching people how to deeply connect with all parts of themselves and the living world around them through simple techniques that are available to all. I hold space for my community to strengthen intuition, commune with the earth, and connect with source energy whatever that looks like and feels like for them. No expectations, no judgement, all are welcome!
Learn about smoke medicine and how to incorporate this powerful practice into your every day. We will also make smudge bundles with locally foraged herbs that you can take home!
It will be a true honor to sit with you at Haskell Gardens and share my radical self care plant medicine knowledge + experiences!
Zu is an interdisciplinary artist and lover of people and medicine. Their work in centered on exploring the healing possibilities of self and community expression though community art events and workshops around zine making.
In this class we will be looking at the medicine and wisdom that we all carry with us, and creating a collective zine to share with our communities. There is also the option to create a personal zine to take home! Each participant will get a digital file of the zine and a copy to keep.
Honor the change in seasons with the help of some Venusian herbal supports! Learn about the types of body conditions associated with the sign of the scales, plus some constitution balancing plant medicines for Libra-dominant folks. You don't need to have Libra placements to benefit from the info provided!
Emily Sorlien (she/her) is a disabled artist, witch, astro-mage, and herbalist living on Narragansett-Wampanoag land in Providence, Rhode Island. Last year, Emily founded Earth Riot Apothecary with a goal of cultivating health, resiliency, and concrete resources for her people and community. Her creative practice involves ongoing experimentations with images, ritual objects, talismans, and herbal potions prepared in devotion to her pantheon of celestial deities and chthonic spirits. She has previously studied herbalism under Mary Blue, Suzanna Stone, 7Song, Sajah Popham, Sarah Corbet, Margie Flint and Matthew Wood.
Vaginal steaming has many names and reasons for practicing. Learn about why this global healing modality is supportive for nervous system, pelvic and menstrual health. Meet some plants that are wonderful to work with for vaginal steaming.
Julia of Moonbeam Steams is a womb steam practitioner, herbalist, cycle educator, mother, and founder of Wise Gal-period/puberty teacher for tweens and their families.
Choosing herbs for our menstrual cycle can feel overwhelming. Which ones should we use, and in what amounts? And what about hormone imbalances? In this class, I'll guide you through each phase of the cycle, explaining the relevant anatomy + the most supportive herbs for each stage. By the end, you'll have the foundational knowledge needed to create your own herbal formulas!
Denise is a clinical herbalist, cycle and sexual health educator. She is the owner of Eclipsic Herbs, where she teaches in-depth cycle tracking and personalized cycle health support. Denise's work focuses on bridging together body literacy and plant medicine. She believes that our cycle is not our shackle, it is our compass. Her formal education and experience is rooted in Bioregional herbalism in North Eastern America incorporating her Colombian tradition.
We are living in tumultuous times, when so many of the communities that we are part of and that we care for are under attack, and the daily news delivers heartbreak upon heartbreak. Herbs can’t mend a broken heart, and they can’t rid us of grief, but they can provide us with support in a variety of ways. Whether your grief is intimate and connected to personal loss, or you are holding grief for the daily, constant heartache of the world, herbs can help you move through and work with your grief. In this class we'll explore a range of herbs that can help you handle grief and the ways it shows up in your body and your heart.
Mimi Budnick is a queer yoga teacher and community herbalist based in Providence, RI that draws from many years as a Community Organizer and Adult Educator to ground her offerings in an anti-oppression framework. Mimi runs Wellspring Apothecary and offers classes, workshops, and retreats that explicitly support people to tap into their own wisdom and resiliency, and that help promote collective and community healing. She is also the co-founder of RI Herbal Allies, a mutual aid project based in Providence.
Enjoy sipping on nettle and mint tea before we practice identifying and interpreting symbols shaped by you and the plants. Expect to work in groups, use reference materials/worksheets provided, and be in verbal conversation with each other.
Aneshia Savino (all pronouns) is an apothecary/dancer/scribe exploring labor, material culture, and relationships within systems over time. Observation and research guide them to processes of erosion, curiosity, and transformation. They have read tarot and tea leaves for over 20 years and are the grandchild of English, Italian, and Yiddish speakers.
This is a community event that we want to be accessible to all, so there is a sliding scale admission of $0-90 for the day, with a suggested price of $45. This money goes directly to the organizing of the event and funding other free/low price events at Wild Heart.
The link below will allow you to register for $1.00 and up. To attend for free, email wild.heart.herb.house@gmail.com.
When you click the above link you will see the price set to our suggested admission amount of $45, but you can click the "change amount" button under the price and event description to adjust to a different price that you are effortlessly able to pay!
Tickets to Wild Heart Herb Fest are NON-REFUNDABLE but they ARE TRANSFERABLE so if you can’t make it after you purchase a ticket, you can send a friend in your stead!
In the unlikely event that Herb Fest gets cancelled all together the money you paid for your ticket can be used as store credit at Wild Heart Herb House.
Please also note that access to the gardens, vendors, healing practitioners is free! (vendors + practitioners will charge their own rates for products and services.) Your purchased ticket to Wild Heart Herb Fest includes admission to all classes and workshops.
A bodywork experience to slow down in deep presence with yourself, with the land, and the seasons. This 25 minute treatment is guided by plant kin to ease the whole being into a restorative space of deep rest and connection. We will be utilizing plant-infused oils, warm stones, dried florals to bathe the body in sound, fresh flowers for body brushing, and botanical cordials to awaken taste. All while lying on a cozy mat in the gardens immersed and held by nature! Book your Rest Nest experience here!
Michele Marcus-Dew (she/they) is an herbalist, gardener, artist, mother, and kitchen witch of Jewish Eastern European diasporic lineage, currently planted and finding their way on Wampanoag Land, also known as New Bedford, MA. She moves and yearns in devotion to the plants and more-than-human world as a way of re-membering, and can often be found thumbing through one of her many emotional support bookstacks.
Amidst the magic of Wild Heart Herb Fest, gift yourself a moment of deep care with a 20-minute Holistic Thai Bodywork Mini-Session en plein air with emerging bodyworker and brain health advocate Lauren Fiske, MSc, RYT.
Surrounded by nature, these sessions weave together rhythmic stretching, acupressure, and energy line work to melt tension, improve flexibility, and help you land gently back in your body.
Sign up day of, or email lauren@moonpathwellness.com to learn more—your nervous system will thank you!
Ashleigh Marie, is a New England based artist, writer, poet, mother, entrepreneur, small business owner, and healing practitioner. Ashleigh has a deep love for art, music, nature and community. Her first book, Where The Woods Meet The Sea, is an anthology of her original poetry that captures the depths of emotions through her growth and healing journey. Nature themes and their teachings through the seasons are interwoven throughout her writing. Ashleigh has been sharing her original poetry art in community since 2023 at local artisan markets, festivals, spoken poetry events, and is currently working on her second book!
At Herb Fest Ashleigh will be offering her original typewriter poetry art framed in various sizes (some hand painted), hand painted reminder magnets, and signed copies of her original poetry anthology Where The Woods Meet The Sea.
