WisconSing!

WisconSing is an intergenerational community singing family camp, nourishing body, mind and soul.

We will come together in song, dance, artistic expression, playfulness, and a deep desire to truly connect and create a safe and healing place of belonging on the land. About 175 of us will gather in song, on 100 acres of the most beautiful land in the Driftless Area surrounded by forested hills and bordered by the Bad Axe Creek system, to allow for peaceful enjoyment, support and connection to the more than human world in nature. Oh what a glorious sound we will make in the privacy of this amazing place.

Singing in this way is an empowering collective response to the state of the world today. Join the returning WisconSing community to help weave ourselves together through songs of love, grief, joy, connection, celebration and spirit. We bring the medicine of song to each other, therein creating a place of resonance and harmonious community. We have experienced that when we gather together in this way a true sense of belonging emerges.

Our intention is to create a rustic, intergenerational singing village connected to the land, where each participant, from the youngest to the oldest, can play and sing from the authenticity of who they truly are. We will share and learn belonging skills from each other, inspired by the Kinship Tending for Events Series from Stellar Village/Grisha Stewart.

In addition to singing, there will be options to deepen your experience through artistic expression, wandering in nature, dance, sauna, sanctuary, celebration and offering your gifts to the community through service. Dis-connect from the outer world ... and connect to a village of singing humans, to the Earth and Sky, to the medicine of group singing. Every participant weaves themselves into this intentional village.

Come nestle into a beautiful setting amongst the bluffs of the Driftless, where we eat real food made with love. Gather around the nighttime fire, like your ancestors did, singing together and held by the living web of life.

We have an amazing team of song weavers this year!

• Sheniqua Trotman from Brooklyn, New York
• Karly Loveling from Eugene, Oregon
• Sarina Partridge from Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Liz Rog from Decorah, Iowa
• Lauren McElroy from Viroqua, Wisconsin
• Sarah Burgess from Madison, Wisconsin
• Tatiana Berindei from Madison, Wisconsin
• Beth Patterson from Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Kva Mary Wajer from Viroqua, Wisconsin

All voices are welcome at this family friendly event. We welcome people of all ages, races, backgrounds, genders, and identities. We are truly an inter-generational community, ages 0 to 160+, working together to create safety and a space of belonging for us all in our rustic singing village on the land.

Tending the children: The children's space and much of the children's programming will be offered in sight of the main singing tent on the grass around us. Jennifer Keely Yonda, a Waldorf teacher, will be planning and overseeing the children and their activities at camp, along with a team of awesome participant helpers. The children's role at the camp is to create beauty. They will be creating prayer/belonging flags, bobbles for the trees, and an art installation (bridge across the creek), along with playing in and exploring the nature all around them.

Details for the event

Cost: Adults are $375, teens (13-19) are $200, children ages 5-12 are $50, and young children ages 4 and younger are free. Early-bird pricing discounts available until May 30, 2026. Early bird pricing in registration.

Work Trade: Commit to at least 10 hours of work and reduce your registration costs to $225. BEFORE completing registration, please fill out the Work Trade Application. Once your application is reviewed and accepted, you will receive a follow-up e-mail containing a discount code to apply during registration.

Partial Scholarships: If you would like to be considered for a scholarship, which is based on donated funds, please complete this Scholarship Application. Please consider applying for a work trade position if you are able, as scholarship funds are very limited.

Sliding Scale & Donations: We are intentionally keeping registration costs as low as possible to reduce financial barriers to attendance. However, there are naturally costs to put on this event. Please be as generous as possible on the sliding scale, and consider donating to our scholarship and equity fund if you are able!

Lodging: The event spans Wednesday, August 12th through Sunday, August 16th (5 days/4 nights). Lodging options include tent camping, car/van camping, RV/campers, or staying offsite.

Meals: Registration includes 10 nutritious meals (Thursday lunch through Sunday lunch) made with love by Ruthie Hampton and crew. The menu will mostly be vegetarian, with vegan & gluten-free options. Our meat-eating kin, may select to pay extra for a locally sourced meat option to be served with each lunch.

Other perks:

• Enjoy access to outdoor showers, spring/creek dunking, and a sauna.
• Explore the beautiful surrounding Driftless land, and of course, all the weekend programming.
• Tony (our host at Defiance Springs) is creating composting outhouses, instead of porta-potties this year!

Policies

Partial attendance: Discounts are not given for partial attendance, and we do not have a day rate. We prefer folks to stay on-site as that helps create a sense of being a temporary village. That said, if you need to commute or arrive late or leave early, it’s okay.

Refund policy: Registration payments are refundable for cancellations made on or before July 1, minus a $50 administrative fee. After that date we will refund you only if we can fill your spot, minus a $50 admin fee.

Event cancellation policy: We live in an uncertain world. In the extremely unlikely event that something crazy happens (flood, global pandemic, etc) and the event must be cancelled last minute, all registrants will receive a full refund, minus $50. We are asking everyone to share the risk together, so that the organizers won’t be left personally liable for whatever money may already have been spent up front.

A note on sales tax: You will notice a 5% sales tax when registering. WisconSing LLC is in the process of becoming a non-profit; until that happens we are obligated to collect and pay taxes to the State of Wisconsin. Once we get our non-profit status, future events will not include sales tax.

Dogs and other pets: Unfortunately dogs and other pets are not permitted on site. Please reach out if you need to bring your ADA registered service animal (ESA’s are not considered service animals).

Email us at wisconsing2020@gmail.com with any questions!