Who Are The Friends of The Hill?

Friends of The Hill is a community-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving Harry Brown’s Farm as a welcoming gathering place for arts and culture in Maine.

While The Happening is a public celebration of arts and music, Friends of The Hill focuses on what happens in between. Throughout the year, members maintains the steady, ongoing work that keeps the land cared for and the community connected. Along the way, this includes volunteer projects, small gatherings, and member-directed projects.

At its heart, Friends of The Hill exists to support community in its many forms. In practice, it provides structure for people who want to give back, participate, and help. Together, we ensure that The Hill remains accessible, inclusive, and alive with possibility. Through a shared love of the location and collaboration, the organization helps protect not only a place, but also the feeling that makes it feel like home.

To make this possible, the dues paid by Friends of The Hill members support our activities as a non-profit organization. Each year, we host the Bake-Off at The Happening, prepare the Memorial Garden and Family Zone, hold an August members-only Annual Gathering, and bring people together for a Spring Flea Market in the spring and Holiday Craft Fair in December.

In doing so, Friends of The Hill nurture the creative community on Harry’s Hill by supporting music, fire performers, visual artists, storytellers, artisans, and families who make the space come alive.

Become an official member of Friends of The Hill today for $20

Friends of The Hill in Action

When it comes time to lend a hand, Friends of The Hill members are often the first to step up. For festivals and gatherings alike, Harry Brown’s Farm looks to Friends of The Hill when volunteers are needed. One example is our Memorial Garden Clean-Up Day Saturday on Saturday, May 30. As we reconnect with the land, we also take time to honor those we remember, working side by side in community.

Looking ahead, if you are interested in being a volunteer at The Happening 2026 in June, we’d love to hear from you. Friends of The Hill directly supports and hosts the annual Bake-Off and provides landscaping and event support for Family Camping. Limited volunteer spots are available, let us know about how you can help by filling out an application. 

Friends of The Hill Volunteer Application

Friends of The Hill Vendor Events

Pitch in with the winter Holiday Craft Fair or Hippie Flea Market in the spring. The Friends of The Hill are looking for members interested in planning, set-up, day-of help, or tear-down. Many hands make it lighter, and it’s a beautiful way to meet people.

Visit Friends of The Hill on Facebook

The Friends of The Hill Annual Meeting

members-only gathering in August 

Workshops. Organize or join a working group with other members and share your project. Find out the latest updates about the organization and how you can help. 

Pot Luck. After the workshops, we feast! Bring food to share. A free grilled cheese can save your night. 

Live Music. After the feast, we dance! Live music in the Art Tent to be announced.

Camping. After we dance, we hang out! For a special Saturday in August, it is a Friends of The Hill members-only benefit to camp overnight. Campfire wood and above ground containers available to members.

Friends of The Hill Annual Flea Market

Friends of The Hill Bake-Off at The Happening 2026

Community Built on Care and Connection

Friends of The Hill is powered by the people. At its core, we are neighbors, artists, volunteers, organizers, and longtime supporters who believe that community is something precious.

On some days, we are tending gardens, setting up tables, contacting volunteers, or lending a hand behind the scenes. On other days, we are hosting craft fairs, holding space for families at The Happening, or judging at the Bake Off. In between, we check in on one another, all the while celebrating the magic of friendship. Together, all of it matters.

What really makes this community strong is not how much any one person gives, but rather the understanding that everyone brings something different. For example, some members have time. Meanwhile, others have skills or ideas. Many, in turn, participate when they can, in the ways that feel right for their lives. Because of this, Friends of The Hill is built to honor that reality with flexibility, compassion, and respect.

Throughout the culture of The Hill, care is present in everyday practice. It appears in intergenerational moments, in shared meals, and in the way people look out for one another during gatherings large and small. As a result, the community can grow without pressure — welcoming newcomers while still holding space for those who have been here for years.

By centering connection over obligation, Friends of The Hill is therefore as much about the process as the final product. We aim to create room for people to belong, everyone. In doing so, the organization nurtures not just events or programs, but also relationships, the kind that give a place its heart and future.

Friends of The Hill  Benefits

Becoming a member helps sustain a community nonprofit. In doing so, your membership supports high profile moments and the quiet work that makes them possible.

To begin with, Friends of The Hill benefits include official membership card, pin, voting privileges as well as invitations to participate in working groups.

Across Maine, many arts and culture spaces rely on seasonal events alone. Friends of The Hill exists to strengthen what happens year-round. Rather than focusing on a single celebration, our goals emphasize care for the land, volunteer coordination, and community programming that keeps the farm active.

When you become a member, you help preserve Harry Brown’s Farm as a place where people can gather for music, creative expression and meaningful connection. At the same time, your support makes it possible to care for the land, organize community-led projects, and host gatherings that reflect the values of inclusion, creativity, and mutual respect.

In addition, membership supports the local arts and culture community. By maintaining a nonprofit structure rooted in participation rather than profit, the organization provides space for muscians, fire performers, organizers, and neighbors to collaborate in ways that strengthen community life in rural Maine.

Most importantly, joining affirms a belief that community is something we actively build. While some members contribute time, others offer skills, ideas, or financial support. Still others participate simply by showing up when they can. In every case, each form of involvement matters.

Ultimately, becoming a Friend of The Hill is a meaningful way to invest in a Maine-based community nonprofit — one that protects a gathering place, nurtures creativity, and keeps the spirit of The Hill alive for generations to come.