In its 6th year, HerbFest is our biggest herbal celebration of the year, so come hang with 1000 of your closest herb pals to learn, shop and celebrate the plants together.

I’m just putting this here as a placeholder, so you can all find the date easily. More details coming in April.

Head to the HerbFest page to see what it’s all about.

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We’re beyond lucky to welcome the legendary Pat Collins for a practical deep dive into the world of Indigenous Plants 🌾✨ 

Pat has been wildcrafting, growing, and medicine-making since the 1990s—over 30 years of practical, earth-rooted wisdom. And now, she’s bringing it straight to YOU.

In this immersive Post-HerbFest Masterclass, you’ll:

💚 Learn how to make an ointment from Indigenous plants for all kinds of skin issues
💚 Get to know these plants intimately—their healing properties, and versatile uses
💚 Learn to properly identify medicinal natives, a vital skill in wild plant medicine
💚 Take home a sample of your creation + a copy of the recipe to keep the magic going!

Pat makes and sells herbal products at her clinic in NSW. She’s also written a tonne of books on herbal recipes, home healing, medicinal and culinary weeds and more!

If you’ve ever felt the call to know and work with plants right outside your door and to cultivate a deeper connection with our wild green friends, then you’re gonna want to join us! 

In case you’re showing up and buying a ticket on the day – here’s some info:

Address: Valdora Hall, 360 Valdora Rd, Valdora.

Bring things to take notes and anything else you need to be comfy. I’ll have a selection of teas and morning tea provided. 

Depending on the weather, the hall might be chilly so come bundled up just in case.

And if you’ve got questions – reach out on Instagram, @everyday.empowered or @herbfest_sunnycoast

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HerbFest is our biggest herbal event of the year! Join us to celebrate our local herbal community, learn and stock up on artisanally made herbal products.

Full of practical herbal education – this year you’ll learn about:

🌿Shamanic Herbalist Heidi Wedd talking  “Rewilding from the Inside Out: Herbs as Spiritual Teachers.”
🌿Acupuncturist Dr Sally Taylor will teach us the secret language of plants and the five elements
🌿Pat Collins will show you some Indigenous Plants and how to use them
🌿Deanne Apostolou will give you the low down on nervine herbs for stressful times
🌿Heidi Merika will demonstrate a wild and weedy insect repellent
🌿Karen McElroy is going cosmic looking at  Herbal Medicine and Anthroposophy: Tapping into the Wisdom of Nature and Human Intuition
🌿Jim and Juila from Lighthouse Regenerative Farm will look at the role of herbs in backyard food forests

And more — with interactive workshops still to be announced.

See the timetable at the HerbFest page (click here) 

HERBAL MARKETS

These incredible local speakers will be joined by a thriving herbal market with 50 stalls- selling medicinal and culinary herb seedlings, skincare, natural soaps and bodycare, herbal remedies and a TONNE of other amazing offerings.

Save your pennies and stock up, knowing you’ll take home the best quality remedies whilst also supporting your local herbal makers and growers!

Food + Drinks

We’ve got the BEST food stalls on the block (well I am biased, but you’ll agree when you get there) with a variety of gluten-free, refined sugar-free sweet treats, Joseph’s Middle Eastern food, Mercedes empanadas, and Dhom’s Thai food

As always we’ve got chai and the Deadly Coffee on Walkabout- an indigenous social enterprise coffee truck which the HerbFest crowds love! 

And there’s the cruisey tunes to enjoy whilst eating and wandering around and something for the kids at the Kids Corner.

With its laid-back vibe, incredible speakers generously sharing their knowledge and chats with friends new and old – there’s 1000 amazing reasons people love coming to Sunny Coast HerbFest.

And – it’s definitely a welcoming event for all — from curious newbies to practitioners – we’re here to support you at every stage of the plant path.

Can you believe all this is just $20 and kids under 14 free!

See more info, including pictures from previous years at the HerbFest page

Note – whilst HerbFest is wheel-chair friendly (it’s a flat grassy oval at the school) there’s NO wheel-chair friendly toilets. I’m really sorry for any inconvenience – I’ve got it on my list to ask the school about it next year.

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Come explore the majesty and medicine of Plantain herb: a potent herbal ally.

Tatiana is a fun and skilled herbalist from Far North Queensland and she’s going to share from her deep love for and connection with this common weed. You’ll meet Plantain as a friend and learn how to work with this powerful plant in your life.

Learn how to harvest and make an array of different medicinal preparations with this beautiful plant, and how you can incorporate these remedies into your medicine cabinet.

Get to know the different species of Plantain (including how many native species there are!)

Plantain is a safe remedy for the whole family and for all stages of life.

You’ll leave the Plantain herb Masterclass inspired by the incredible versatility of this plant, and learn why we should all be growing and/or wildharvesting this wonderful plant everyday!

Location

Valdora Community Hall is located at 360 Valdora Rd, Valdora QLD 4561.

Valdora is a suburb between Coolum and Yandina, near Mt Ninderry.

Earlybird prices end June 7

HerbFest Masterclasses

Whilst these amazingly knowledgeable speakers are on the Sunshine Coast for HerbFest, I asked them to stay and teach us more!

You can also catch Kimberly Ashton’s deep dive into Traditional Chinese Medicine 5 Element Nutrition Masterclass. (click here)

rab a bargain with a full day Masterclass ticket to learn from both Tatiana and Kimberly. It’s just BYO lunch

Btw – this is a follow-up MASTERCLASS following on from Tatiana’s shorter HerbFest talk. Come see her 30 min intro at HerbFest- along with an amazing line-up of speakers and topics, all around kitchen medicine.

Meet Tatiana

Tatiana is an engaged, active and amazing grassroots community herbalist hailing from Far North Queensland. She’s an active herbal medicine educator, herb grower, herbal-medicine maker and visionary on a quest to create a botanical sanctuary for us to all learn and grow in.

Her small business, Alchemilla Herbals click here) was “created from a dream of bridging the gap and allowing re-connection. Tuning into plants as our allies we have the opportunity to live in a symbiotic relationship with nature, because we are nature too. What we want is to assist in creating/maintining is a life that is full of deep and sacred connection to all life.”

She’s also a mother, permaculturalist, geneologist, lomi lomi, reiki and attunement therapy practitioner, Sahumadora, Sacred Song Carrier and Oneironaut.

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The changing seasons.

If the seasons ebb and flow throughout the year, why do we think a uniform, same-food-every-season approach to nutrition will see us thrive!?

Ancient Chinese medicine knew that to be healthy is to live in alignment with the seasons – to create seasonal harmony.

In this 3 hour Masterclass, Kimberly Ashton is going to dish the secrets on how to tune in to the world around you to eat for optimum health.

This will be a very practical, immediately-applicable deep dive into seasonal eating according to the ancient Chinese wisdom of 5 elements nutrition.

You’ll be inspired to inhabit this wise and ancient worldview that saw food as PART of something bigger than itself. ie part of:

• the changing seasons;
• all of us – knowing food affects people differently;
• the whole meal – food combinations and cooking techniques matter and they’ll change how food affects our bodies

The penny will drop that food can’t just be reduced to its isolated constituents or ‘superfood’ status and we need a more holistic way to understand and talk about food – in relationship to the world around us.

What does the workshop cover?

You’ll learn about the connection between the 5 seasons, flavours, energetic properties of different foods and herbs. You’ll learn ways of cooking for balancing mood, well-being & life energies. 

If you’re feeling disconnected from nature, and from a holistic food culture, you’ll love this workshop.

5 element nutrition is all about us reclaiming and returning to the natural world and having a clear roadmap for how that applies to what we cook and eat.

Location

Valdora Community Hall is located at 360 Valdora Rd, Valdora QLD 4561.

Valdora is a suburb between Coolum and Yandina, near Mt Ninderry.

HerbFest Masterclasses

Whilst these amazingly knowledgeable speakers are on the Sunshine Coast for HerbFest, I asked them to stay and teach us more!

Tatiana from FNQ is also doing a Masterclass – a deep dive into the wonderful wild and weedy Plantain! (Click here)

If you want to do a full day of Masterclasses, with both Tatiana and Kimberly – buy a full-day ticket. You’ll need to BYO lunch.

Earlybird prices end June 7

Curious but want to know if it’s right for you?

I loved hearing Kimberly talk about 5 element nutrition on the SuperFeast podcast – definitely left me wanting to know the nitty gritty details of how I use this ancient wisdom as everyday kitchen medicine in my home! Take a listen

Btw – this is a follow-up MASTERCLASS following on from Kimberly’s shorter HerbFest talk. Come see her 30 min intro at HerbFest- along with an amazing line-up of speakers and topics, all around kitchen medicine.

Meet Kimberly Ashton

Kimberly Ashton is a 5 Elements wellness coach, energy healer, Yin Yoga teacher, author & educator focusing on intuitive eating and food energetics. 

With an entrepreneurial spirit she spent over 16 years in Greater China, 8 of which she co-owned China’s first health food store, cafe & teaching kitchen, inspiring clients to restore their well-being through 5 element nutrition.

Kimberly believes in the power of reconnecting with the elements and natural world, and realigning our individual & collective relationship to food, emotional & energetic health.

In 2019 she published her second book “Chinese Superfoods” which encourages new generations of nutrition enthusiasts to explore Asian traditional foods, everyday ingredients & get back in the kitchen. It has sold over 7000 copies and is in its 2nd reprint in Mandarin, Chinese. She is also the co-author of a TCM e-book series which focuses on theory & recipes for each of the 5 elements and health imbalances.

She is launching an online 5 Element Nutrition training course in September 2024.

Check out Qi Food Therapy and get to know Kimberly better (click here)

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Sunny Coast HerbFest is our biggest celebration and gathering on the Sunshine Coast each year.

You’ll love:

🌿being inspired by our speakers and demonstrations

🌿chatting with our local herbal products crafters and growers! Up for 40 stalls!

🌿snacking on coffee and delicious food

🌿watching your kids explore with face-painting and free nature activities

🌿gathering with a whole community of other plant-loving folk.

Tickets are just $20 and kids under 14 are FREE

It doesn’t matter if you’re a total herbal medicine newbie or an experienced practitioner, HerbFest is a place where we all come to celebrate, laugh and fill our {herbal} cups together!

Speakers will be announced mid/end March and I’ve got a banger line-up for you this year!

In the meantime, check out some pics from previous years! Click here

Can’t wait till June, I run lots of events and courses throughout the year- check them out and come join me!

Events (click here)

Online and In-person courses (click here)

How to buy tickets

We’re a big gathering, in a short amount of time – buying tickets ahead of time online helps make it quicker for you and everyone else. We’ll have a queue on the day just for online tickets.

If you miss getting a ticket online, though, tickets are on-sale at the ticket gate.

🌿Coolum State School has many entrances, I really appreciate it if you could make your way to the ticket rego desk at the Barns Lane entrance before joining HerbFest. I keep the prices as low as I can to make this herbal medicine gathering accessible for all — please help me do that by buying your ticket. 🌿

I want to also give a huge shout-out to the sponsors who make it possible for me to offer such cheap tickets – check them all out on the Sunny Coast HerbFest page (click here), and if you see any of them, give them a big thanks from all of us!! 💚

If you love plant medicine, or you’re simply curious, really hope you can join us for a fun, family day out at HerbFest.

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HerbFest is the biggest herbal event of the year! Join us to celebrate our local herbal community, learn and stock up on artisanally made herbal products.

June 18, 10am – 2pm. Barns Lane, Coolum State School

Full of practical herbal education – this year you’ll learn about:

🌿Tim Nixon talking all things Psilocybin mushrooms.
🌿Leonie Shanahan will show you how to grow herbs at home
🌿Tame your stress with Claire Murrey – How to Choose an Adaptogen for your Stress
🌿Wayne Celeban will tell you how to build healthy relationships with plants using Ayurvedic energetics
🌿Heidi Merika will show you winter wellness remedies – glycetracts and throat sprays
🌿Alyson Maier will share the lost art of earth healing traditions

See the timetable at the HerbFest page

These incredible local speakers will be joined by a thriving herbal market over 45 stalls- selling medicinal and culinary herb seedlings, skincare, natural soaps and bodycare, herbal remedies and a TONNE of other amazing offerings.

Save your pennies and stock up, knowing you’ll take home the best quality remedies whilst also supporting your local herbal makers and growers!

Food + Drinks

We’ve got the BEST food stalls on the block (well I am biased, but you’ll agree when you get there) with a variety of gluten-free, refined sugar-free sweet treats, Joseph’s Middle Eastern food, Luke’s incredible curries, Mercedes empanadas, and a new vegan pizza truck!

As always we’ve got an Deadly Coffee on Walkabout- an indigenous social enterprise coffee truck which the HerbFest crowds love!

And there’s the cruisey tunes of Soul Tree Union to enjoy whilst eating and wandering around and something for the kids at the Kids Corner.

With its laid-back vibe, educational content and chats with friends new and old – there’s a reason people love coming to Sunny Coast HerbFest.

And – it’s definitely a welcoming event for all — from curious newbies to practitioners – we’re here to support you at every stage of the plant path.

See more info, including pictures from previous years at the HerbFest page

NOTE – buying tickets online helps us all by getting you through the door quicker, but you can always grab tickets on the door!

E

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