On-Farm Events Welcome Visitors to Enjoy a Slice of Rural Life

As more people want to learn about where their food comes from, farmers across North Carolina have stepped up to meet that demand in creative ways – through on-farm events. Throughout the state, farmers have opened their doors for regular or special on-farm events, from culinary events to on-farm entertainment.

Dinner in the Gap

The rising popularity of on-farm events is one of the most fascinating and enjoyable examples. In August 2022, BFR Meats in Deep Gap near Boone held its inaugural Dinner in the Gap event.

“We created it as a way to connect the dots for consumers,” explains Daniel Brown, who raises cattle. “As farmers, we’re always trying to bridge the gap between the farm and consumers.”

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Brown breathed new life into his fifth-generation family farm, Browns Farm Ridge, by focusing on dry-aged, grain-fed beef. What began as a high school project grew into a family-owned company, BFR Meats, which sells beef and pork directly to consumers and restaurants.

He notes the importance of the chef and how his farm’s annual dinner celebrates that connection.

Interesting On-Farm Events

“Dinner in the Gap showcases so many different relationships a farm can have – with chefs, artisans, other farmers, farm organizations, nonprofits, social media influencers and, of course, the consumers,” he says.

The gala on-farm event, which is a fundraiser for the pay-as-you-can F.A.R.M. Café in Boone, typically sells out months in advance. People come from all around for the fine dining and atmosphere. Last year’s dinner featured emceeing by noted tobacco auctioneer, writer and poet Parker Phillips; this year’s event, held in late July, was narrated by Lisa Prince, who has co-hosted local food television shows and now serves as the N.C. Egg Association’s executive director. Plans are already in the works for the 2024 dinner.

“Dinner in the Gap on-farm event shows that we can all work together to create awesome, super-nutritious products that can feed the world,” Brown says.

Elodie Farms

Elodie Farms cares for goats on a 24-acre farm 30 minutes north of Durham. Sandra Vergara and Ted Domville bought the farm in summer 2016 and launched their farm dinner program that November.

“People love to be out here in the country, eating a great meal in a completely different setting that is not pretentious,” Vergara says. Each dinner program starts with a tour of the farm and a meet-and-greet with the animals. After the tour – and washing of hands, she notes – everyone comes together for a five-course menu cooked on-site by Domville, who is not only a farmer but also a talented chef. The menu changes every month. Elodie sources organic whenever possible, and all meats are pasture-raised from Animal Welfare Certified producers in North Carolina.

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Elodie places a high emphasis on making sure all visitors are welcome.

“We are always willing to accommodate folks with food restrictions including vegetarians, gluten-free diets, and folks with common allergies like peanuts and shellfish,” Vergara says.

The farm’s dinners are a hot ticket, regularly selling out weeks before each date. In response to the overwhelming popularity of the dinners, Elodie Farms also offers private farm dinners for groups of 10 to 40 people.

The farm is open to the public on Saturday from mid-April to late fall. People come for miles to sample Elodie’s bilberry soft serve ice cream (made from a fruit similar to blueberries), and the farm also hosts yoga and immersive farm tours.

Tara Creek Events

Farm dinners aren’t the only events drawing visitors. Located between Bowdens and Faison in Duplin County about 40 miles inland, Tara Creek opened in 2020 as an events center. That year, owners Lee and Amanda Graham hosted the events center’s first professional rodeo.

“We wanted to bring good quality, wholesome family entertainment to rural North Carolina,” Lee Graham says.

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Tara Creek’s association with the Southern Rodeo Association provided the opportunity to make that dream a reality. The rodeo has since become an annual event, held every April.

“This year we will have an additional one-night rodeo on Oct. 20 as well,” Graham says.

The rodeos are wildly popular on-farm events, with Graham reporting that they welcome between 3,000 and 4,000 guests for each night. Working in cooperation with chapters of the National Barrel Horse Association, Tara Creek hosts a monthly barrel race that draws attendance from the Carolinas and Virginia.

In addition to rodeo events, the farm is now a popular spot for weddings and receptions.

Visitors can also enjoy a haunted house or hayride every October, a Christmas tree sale starting in November, and hunting grounds for active and retired military and veterans.

“Tara Creek has been transformed from a fully operational contract turkey farm into an equine and agritourism destination,” Graham says. “A recent visitor told me, ‘I feel like I have stepped back in time 30 years; everyone is happy, everyone is smiling, and it feels like I am in the ’80s again.’”

– Bill Kopp