The Love Grows Festival is a two-day event built around a simple but serious idea: love as action, not just sentiment. Love for people. Love for the planet. Love is the kind of radical, practiced, deliberate force that writers like bell hooks and thinkers like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent their lives articulating.
Who Is Behind It
The festival takes place on August 1-2 and is built on a network of partners who are already deeply embedded in the Athens community. Rural Action, a membership-based nonprofit that has been working to build a more just and sustainable economy in Appalachian Ohio since 1991, is leading programming across both festival tracks. Their work spans sustainable agriculture, environmental education, watershed protection, zero waste, and more, and their involvement here reflects how naturally the festival’s mission aligns with what Rural Action has been doing in this region for over three decades.
Ohio University’s Festivals, Events, and Event Management certificate program is also a key partner, with Professor Thom Stevenson and students from his practicum course taking the lead on feeding festival-goers using mostly local and regional ingredients. The Bookmobile will be parked outside the main festival entrance, free and open to the public, no ticket required, stocked with titles to help you find something new to love about different cultures, landscapes, and creatures.
Camping and Day Passes
Registration opened in May and includes both camping and day pass options. If you’re a student living in Ohio University off-campus housing, a day pass gives you a low-commitment way to drop in for whatever part of the programming speaks to you. Campers get the full two-day experience.
How to Get Involved Beyond Attending
The festival is actively looking for contributors. Educators, artists, musicians, and community organizations can lead a workshop, give a talk, or sign up as an art or food vendor. Anyone interested in contributing their time and talent can fill out the interest form on the festival website.
For businesses looking to support something with genuine community impact, three sponsorship tiers are available. Ground Breaker sponsors ($2,500+) receive a named tent, space, or program at the festival, a premium booth, public acknowledgment during announcements, and two commemorative wood-engraved tickets. Harvesters ($750+) get logo placement on flyers, the website, and the program, a featured social media post, and four festival tickets with camping passes. Seed Planters ($250+) receive a social media shout-out, name recognition in the program and on the website, and two festival tickets.
For full schedule updates, registration information, and to fill out the contributor interest form, check back at the festival website.