2020 Festival of Little Houses: Uncertain
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 25-27, 2020
Will there be a Little Houses in 2020?
If the pandemic remains at its current levels of concern, we will be canceling the festival this year. If something amazing occurs and we have new information that ensures the festival would be safe, we will be having the festival.
Waking the Village leads 8 programs and the top priority is safety and wellness. As devastated as we would be to cancel our 10th Anniversary event and have our homeless programs lose key funding, we will not put families at risk. We will make a final decision by mid-August based on what science and good sense tells us is the right thing to do. If we do hold the festival, we will email all families who registered in the last 3 years to let them know one week before we open registration.
We have sold out the last five years within hours. We recommend early purchase.
Tickets include field camping for the weekend.
Tickets purchased prior to August 15th:
Adult $85 weekend
Kids: $50 weekend
Tickets purchased after August 15th:
Adult $95 weekend
Kids: $60 weekend
Meal Packages: Includes 6 meals, tea, coffee, lemonade, popcorn, and a s'more kit. Meal packages must be purchased in advance to ensure availability.
Adults $55 and Children (0 to 12) $45
On Site Prices:
$12 per meal. $1 per drink. $1 popcorn. $1 s'more kit. $4 beer.
Tent Rental:
Tents with two pads can be rented for $25 for the weekend9
Contact Us
Email: admin@wakingthevillage.org
Call: 916-601-2979
Directions to the Festival
The Festival of Little Houses is held in Coloma, CA at the Point Pleasant Beach Campground:
7423 Highway 49
Coloma, CA 95613
Travel east on Highway 50 from Sacramento. Take Exit 37 for Ponderosa Rd. Turn left to cross over the freeway and take the first right onto North Shingle Rd. North Shingle turns into Lotus Road after 4 miles. Continue straight for another 7 miles. At the end of Lotus Road, take a right onto Highway 49. Point Pleasant Beach Campground is the first dirt road on the left. We will have a festival sign in front.
Parking at the Festival
A dirt parking lot is available. To accommodate all the attendees, we pack the cars in close to one another. If you arrive Friday night, an attendant will help direct you to a site. Signs will lead the way as well.
If you arrive on Friday before 4 pm, you may drive down the road (slowly) to the festival site and unload your camping gear. After 4 pm and at all other times, you must carry your gear from the parking lot to the festival site. We do have 2 wagons available to assist with carrying supplies to your chosen site.
When you arrive, let the parking attendants know if you plan on staying the entire event or coming and going with your car as it may impact where we decide to direct you for parking.
How Does Camping Work?
The festival site stretches along the river. The entire area is grassy and relatively shady from the canopy of oaks. Tents are set up throughout the festival site with the exception of the center area where activities occur. Tents will be close to one another and not spaced as a traditional camp site with large individual sites. We are not able to accommodate RVS, campers, or tent trailers at the event site.
One end of the campground has bathrooms and showers with plumbing. The other is serviced by a row of portable toilets with an outdoor sink.
Camping on Friday and Saturday night is included with weekend admission. If you are coming for one day, camping is not included. If you want to only camp for one day, you will still need to purchase the weekend admission. Since the event sells out and the funding generated is needed for our programs for families overcoming homelessness, we just can't offer discounted one day camping.
If you rented a tent, it will be assembled and ready when you arrive. You can take any unclaimed tent. Likewise, you can set your tent up anywhere in the camping area. Due to the limits on space, we ask that families bring a tent of reasonable size to accommodate their family.
Since the festival is attended by families with young children, things get pretty quiet after tuck in! Aside from a song circle at the campfire, most families seem to settle in for the night and rest well for the next day. At times, children in neighboring tents will cry. We encourage families with children having a hard night to find a place to sooth the child that will not disrupt the other families sleeping close by. We thank all families in advance for their generous spirits in facing some of the challenges of being in community. We do promise there will be more blessings from this community than trials!
Other Common Questions:
What do I do when I arrive?
Check in at the main desk. We will have an envelop waiting for you with your registration and any meal plan wristbands you ordered. We will also have brochures to orient you to the space. The brochure will also list the schedule of events.
Will it be cold?
The weather is nearly identical to the weather in Sacramento.
Can we swim?
The river runs alongside the event site. The water levels rise suddenly as the dam releases water for rafters in the late morning. There is definitely a place to wade and play in the water, but we recommend caution. Life guards will NOT be on site. We recommend children wear personal flotation devices (life jackets) when playing by the river. Adults must be close to children playing in the river.
When can we arrive?
Friday from 2 pm on. Friday will be a calm day with activities and meal service beginning at 5 pm. Most people arrive in the late afternoon to settle in. Friday is also a good day to explore the town of Coloma which has sites of historical interest within a mile of the festival site.
Can we buy food at the festival?
The outdoor kitchen will be serving meals throughout the event. We are planning meals for all families that purchased meal plans as well as a portion of the additional families that may purchase individual meals. Coloma does not have a grocery store and only has a few places to eat nearby.
Given the constraints of serving from an outdoor kitchen far from an urban setting, we offer only the items listed on the menu. The menu accommodates vegetarians and herbivores. The menu is not vegan or gluten-free. Families are welcome to bring food and cook on camp stoves near their tent.
We cannot guarantee meals for families without meal plans purchased in advance, though typically we can accommodate some single meals.
What are the bathrooms like?
There are nice, plumbed bathrooms and even a couple showers. There are also pit toilets to allow for extra capacity.
How much money will I need? Do you take cards?
We ask people to bring cash. There are no banks in Coloma. We will have VERY limited capacity for credit cards. Most events and workshops are free. If you need to buy a white Tshirt to tie dye, they will be on sale for $4. There will be also be beer and wine ($4).
Note: We will be using a ticket system for all sales except to individual vendors. Tickets will be for sale up at the check in desk.
Can we bring our dog?
Our planning committee asks that families not bring any animals for a few reasons. This includes liability issues for the owners of the property and the nonprofit running the event, risk of rattlesnake encounter by dogs wandering the property, and the unpredictability of even the best of dogs at an event with over 150 children- many of whom are very young and may not know how to greet a dog in a safe way.
Many of the festival planners own dogs and we take our dogs on nearly all family trips and adventures. We just would not take them to this event. It's a long time to have a dog in a space full of children. Thank you for finding pet sitters to care for your pets while attending the event.
Tell me a bit about the site.
Coloma is a small town in the foothills. It holds a lot of history and it is worth wandering up the road to learn more about the history of the local tribes and the discovery of gold. The site itself is shaded by oaks and enlivened by local plants and river birds. Rattlesnakes do make appearances in Coloma and Sacramento, but will likely be far from the festival site as they prefer a more quiet setting! We did not see snakes in the past. Poison oak is a reality all along our Sacramento rivers. If you are not sure what it looks like, ask an event organizer. It is not prevalent, but if you go wandering, you should keep an eye out.
What if it rains?
We will hold the event rain or shine and all sales of tickets are final. As this is a key fundraiser for Tubman House, we rely on the funds generated to sustain our program.
If it were to rain, we would have no choice but to embrace the possibilities! We would set up some tarps to continue our creating and stage performances, but since this is an outdoor event, we would all be dancing and playing and camping together in the rain. We do recommend checking the forecast and bringing along rain gear if it looks like a possibility.
