FOSM’s Summer Solstice Celebration Festival

Join us, June 20-22, 2025, as we celebrate the first few days of summer among the foothills of the Appalachia mountains.

Our annual festival highlights the area’s history, heritage, ecology, as well as the multitude of aspects associated with the Serpent Mound Park. The Great Serpent Mound effigy, built by the Ancient Indigenous Peoples, incorporates alignments to the rising and setting of the sun and moon on the solstices and equinoxes. The summer solstice sunset alignment is through the open jaws and across the oval.

There are many theories, stories, ancient knowledge, and unknowns with Serpent Mound. The Friends of Serpent Mound started this festival as a way for the public to share and learn about the many facets of Serpent Mound. Our presenters vary from locals, historians, Indigenous Americans, Scientists, Spiritualist, Musicians, and more. Learn about Serpent Mound and the surrounding area’s history, uniqueness, wildlife, and ecology, along with some fun family friendly summer activities!

FOSM’s Summer Solstice Celebration Festival Rules


  • This is a family friendly event – there is to be NO alcohol, drugs, guns, or nudity!
  • Children are welcome and must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times.
  • There is no smoking in the Main Tents, in the port-o-lets or within the group hikes. There are proper places to put one’s cigarette butts, so please do not throw them on the ground.
  • Dogs are permitted, but must be leashed at all times, next to owner, and must be cleaned up after.
  • The back gate to the Serpent Mound Park is closed. One can use the Buckeye Trail to access the  park during open hours.

     

 

Our 2025 Main Tent Tentative Schedule

Scroll down to see full description of presentations.

Friday
June 20

3:00 PMOpen Prayer & Welcome
4:00 PM – Nikki Allen – Hiking the Buckeye Trail
5:00 PM – 
6:00 PM –
7:00 PM – Festival Closes for the day

Saturday
June 21

9:00 AM – Canoe Tour below Serpent Mound (Hosted by MoonDoggie LIVERee)
10:00 AM – Joanie Boyle – Sound Meditation
11:00 AM – Aries Grant – How Serpent Mound is Calibrated to the Sun & Moon
12:00 PM –  John Hardin – Electric Didgeridoo Solstice Journey
1:00 PM –  Jeffrey Wilson – Textiles Found at Serpent Mound
2:00 PM –  Steve Free – Folk Music
3:00 PM –  Nathan Noble – The Bullroarer, A Universal Human Experience
4:00 PM – Inter-tribal Drumming
5:00 PM
6:00 PM –
7:00 PM – Festival starts Closing for the day

Sunday
June 22

9:00 AM – Canoe Tour below Serpent Mound (Hosted by MoonDoggie LIVERee)
10:00 AM – Deo Abellera – Singing Bowls
11:00 AM –
1:00 PM – Crystal Judge – Music
2:00 PM –
4:00 PM – Inter-tribal Drumming
5:00 PM –
6:00 PM –
7:00 PM – Festival ends

Going Places

Building brand integration and possibly funnel users.

See the World

Building brand integration and possibly funnel users.

Visit. Explore. Dream.

Building brand integration and possibly funnel users.

Going Places

Building brand integration and possibly funnel users.

See the World

Building brand integration and possibly funnel users.

Visit. Explore. Dream.

Building brand integration and possibly funnel users.

This years Festival Theme
“Ancient Tools, Textiles, and Traditional Skills”

Join us any or every day of the festival, for FREE.
No registration required to attend.
Sorry, we don’t have any public camping.
Visit Adams County Travel & Visitors Bureau,
Visitor’s Bureau of Highland County,
or Visit Pike County, Ohio 

Scroll down to learn more about our presenters.
the WORKSHOP SCHEDULE is here.
It gets finalized closer to the event.

Friday Main Tent Schedule

The views and opinions of the presenters are their own and not that of the Friends of Serpent Mound’s.

This is a “work in progress” & still has a mixture of presenters from 2024 & 2025.

3:00 – 4:00

Opening Prayer & Welcome

Opening Prayer & Welcome

 Opening Prayer by Dr. Catherine McNabb & Welcome by Delsey Wilson, Executive Director of Friends of Serpent Mound.

4:00 – 5:00

Nikki Allen

Hiking Buckeye Trail

Description

5:00 – 6:00

Presenter

Inter-tribal Drumming

Description

6:00 – 7:00

Presenter

Community Drumming

Bring your hand drum of choice and join in on this Community Drumming and drum the festival closed for the day.

Saturday Main Tent Schedule

The views and opinions of the presenters are their own and not that of the Friends of Serpent Mound’s.

This is a “work in progress” & still has a mixture of presenters from 2024 & 2025.

10:00 – 11:00

Joanie Boyle

Sound Healing & Meditation

Joanie is the owner & operator of The Gaia Den in Princeton WV, a healing arts studio & metaphysical shop. She offers a variety of classes and services: she is a CYT, meditation & breath-work facilitator and also a Tarot reader and astrologer, with over 20 years experience in her modalities.
Using a drum and 7 crystal quartz sound healing bowls, attuned to each of the 7 main chakras, she will guide people through a meditative sound journey, including light breath work.

11:00 – 12:00

Aries Grant

How Serpent Mound is Calibrated to the Sun & Moon

Aries Grant is an aficionado a of archeology more specific ancient structures. He calibrate them based on their
alignment with the solstice. So far, he has done Stonehenge, the pyramids of keys, and as of late,
Serpent Mound. He will present how Serpent Mound is incorporated with the moon phases and mathematically how we’ll be able calibrate it and other structures around the globe. 

12:00 – 1:00

John Hardin

 Electric Didgeridoo Solstice Journey

 John Hardin lives in his solar-powered recording studio, off-grid, deep in the forest of California’s “Lost
Coast,” His works includes more than 25 albums of original music, 3 feature documentary films,
hundreds of radio and TV shows, and almost 1,000 articles in publications ranging from 5th Estate,
The Journal of Anarchist Thought and Action, to the Lincoln Journal Star, a conservative Midwest
newspaper. His activism in the Anti-Nuclear Movement, and the struggle to legalize marijuana led to
the films Nukebusters (1998) and Hemp Disconnected (2024). He co-founded Mass Cann, the
Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition, and worked for Greenpeace USA. John’s steadfast

dedication and original approach to the instrument makes him one of the preeminent didgeridoo
players in the country today

He will introduce his musical performance with a story about his experience at the Serpent Mound.
Following that, he will lead participants on a trance journey through music and ecstatic dance in a
performance that celebrates the power and energy of the Summer Solstice.

1:00 – 2:00

Jeffrey Wilson

Textiles of Serpent Mound

Jeffrey Wilson, President, Volunteer and a founding Board Member of the Friends of Serpent Mound. With a Master of Science and a double major in English Literature and History from Eastern Michigan, Jeffrey’s lectures bring a scientific approach with a refreshing side of Native American mythology. He has been researching Serpent Mound for over 10 years, and also gave a guided sunset tour at Serpent Mound for years. In 2015, he even discovered a new Winter Solstice Sunrise alignment. He has become the local Serpent Mound Researcher.
(Photo compliments of Don Reed)

 

2:00 – 3:00

Steve Free

Folk Music

Among contemporary Singer / Songwriters Steve Free is one of the most versatile artist on The Americana Music scene , an unorthodox tunesmith and smooth voiced troubadour with a voice comparable to James Taylor and John Denver … yet with a timbre uniquely his own. Combined with heart – felt lyrics and well crafted story – songs that have continued to win him legions of fans worldwide – Power Source Music Review Nashville

3:00 – 4:00

Nathan Noble

The Bullroarer, A Universal Human Experience

Nathan has spent over three decades exploring eclectic pathways, and lives his life as a unique cross section of those teachings.
For the last fifteen years, he has studied and explored the possibilities of an instrument/device called a Bullroarer…

Bullroarers are the most universal sound-making device found across history. They transcend all cultures,beliefs,and regions of the world. If you’re a human, at some point in your ancestry, you used, or experienced the sound of a bullroarer.

He will show different types of bullroarer, explain their uses across cultures, and touch on their benefits. Afterwards people will be invited to explore them for themselves.

There will also be a variety of hand-made bullroarers for sale at his vending booth, along with personalized instruction for anyone interested in taking the experience home.

4:00 – 5:00

Name

Inter-tribal Drumming

Description

5:00 – 6:00

Name

Title

Descritption

6:00 – 7:00 (or past)

Lawrence Greene

Friends of the Plains Mounds

Lawrence R Greene is a founding member of the Friends of The Plains Mounds a new non profit formed to preserve the mounds and educate people about them. He is the lead Natural and Historical interpreter with Rising Appalachia in Athens county Ohio. Lawrence is also the lead drummer and founder of Ugata: drum and dance, a Pan African drum group in southern Ohio and West Virginia.

He will be speaking about the formation of the Friends of The Plains Mounds and why it is such an important site in Ohio.

Sunday Main Tent Schedule

The views and opinions of the presenters are their own and not that of the Friends of Serpent Mound’s.

This is a “work in progress” & still has a mixture of presenters from 2024 & 2025.

10:00 – 11:00

Deo Abellera

Plays Crystal Singing Bowls

Deo Abellera is a member of the Great Serpent Mound Society of Dowsers. Along with volunteering many hours throughout our community here in Adams County. He loves sharing his enjoyment for Singing Bowls. He will do a demonstration at 10:00 AM on Sunday. Visit his tent any time to learn more on the subject of self healing. 

11:00 – 1:00

Jeffrey & Delsey Wilson

Serpent Mound’s Pre-Park History

Learn about the occupants living on or around the Serpent Mound park for before European Occupation up to the last purchaser before the Harvard Peabody Museum officially declared it the Serpent Mound Park.

1:00 – 2:00

Crystal Judge

Musician & Herb Enthusiast

Crystal Judge teaches Herbal Learning classes and makes herbal remedies for Gracious Farm, a 5 acre land that she and her family steward while growing native and naturalized plants for medicinal use and sustainability. Crystal has been a student of herbs for 28 years, although her interest was peeked at a very young age. She received knowledge from many mentors who were often women passing down information learned through generations. For years, she would offer work trade to these women who needed help maintaining their abundance so that she would be able to spend time with plants intimately, learning about them, and harvesting. Plus, she can sing!

2:00 – 4:00

Jeffrey Wilson

The Women Who Saved Serpent Mound

Learn about who these women that saved Serpent Mound where and why they wanted to save the park.

4:00 – 5:00

Name

Inter-tribal Drumming

Inter-tribal Drumming

5:00 – 6:00

Name

Title

Description

6:00 – 7:00

Name

Title

Description

our Presenters

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our workshops

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Our Vendors

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To Be a Vendor

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Where is Soaring Eagle Retreat?

Soaring Eagle Retreat is east of Serpent Mound and the Ohio History Connection has asked that all of our participants come in from the Horner Chapel entrance and park in our field. One can assess Serpent Mound park via the Buckeye Trail during Park hours. 

375 Horner Chapel Rd., Peebles, OH 45660

1-937-205-0094

Contact Us Today