From soil pits to succession planning, cultural burning to carbon, frog croaks to foliar fertiliser – GROW Festival invites the Macedon Ranges community to dig deep, literally!
This Friday, February 20, Kyneton Racecourse and adjoining Rock House Farm will host more than 40 short, practical and thought-provoking sessions across six spaces: the GROW Lounge, themed learning hubs for People, Soil, Animals and Plants, plus a demonstration program in the GROW Paddock.
After attracting almost 600 people from around Australia to its inaugural event, the volunteer organisers – part of Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group – made a bold decision to redesign GROW 2026 as an ‘unconference’, putting the community at the centre of the event with content crowdsourced and pay-what-you-can ticketing.
“This day has grown out of kitchen-table conversations about community need, interest and capacity,” GROW Festival’s Donna Coutts said.
“We talked to those with a burning question about an aspect of agriculture or the environment plus those with expertise or experience to share. Lots of cups of tea later, we had a program.”
The day begins with a live-from-the-US Q&A with Carbon Cowboys’ filmmaker Professor Peter Byck and Mississippi farmer and soil scientist Dr Allen Williams. Peter came to Kyneton to headline the festival last year and has continued working with the GROW team.
The action moves to the learning hubs for small, interactive sessions across the day. In the Soil Hub, farmers and gardeners can learn how to do DIY tests, take a soil-science masterclass, peer into a soil pit to see what’s happening under our feet, explore using biological treatments and see pasture-renovation demonstrations.
Animal-focused sessions range from keeping sheep and cattle healthy, to keeping yourself safe, to improving profitability in your livestock business. Animal topics continue in the paddock with cattle grazing demonstrations and quick-and-cheap fencing ideas.
In the Plant Hub, learn about weeds, foliar fertilisers and seed treatments and join a tree-planting masterclass. Sessions on multi-storey farming and establishing multi-species pastures explore integrating trees, crops and livestock for resilience and profit.
The People Hub tackles big topics: challenges for net zero, the economics of regenerative farming, succession planning and whether farming can be for both nature and profit. Several authors are dropping in for GROW-relevant book talks too.
“The positivity around GROW is inspiring,” Ms Coutts said.
“Regional Victoria has had some tough seasons and yet here is a grassroots response of people wanting to come together, work collaboratively and with generosity and build something positive together.”
From a ‘Cheers to regen beer’ session to a fun evening auction, music and a paella dinner, GROW is designed as much for connection as for content, whether you’re a cropper, run livestock commercially or for interest, nurture a vineyard or the landscape or simply take an interest in how your food is grown. Tickets from $25 at www.growfestival.au
