Questions about the gathering, logistics, registration, or pricing? Reach out by email to forestandvillagemen@gmail.com or text: 978-596-4220.
Reclaiming the life-serving potential of manhood.
——
Reclaiming the life-serving potential of manhood.
Welcome to the 2026 Forest and Village gathering for Men and Boys!
Join our band of Wild Boys, Merry Men, and Wise Elders for four days of camping, connection, and co-creating Earth-based culture
July 30 – August 2, 2026
Sacred Nectar Sanctuary, North Sandwich, NH
Come to the land known as Woban-aden-ok in the Algonquian language, the ‘place of the high white mountains, of crystal and mica’. Together we’ll head out into the forest and create a lively intergenerational village, exploring the potentials of sacred manhood, healthy boyhood, and deep belonging in the wild world.
In the Men’s Village you’ll experience a taste of things our ancestors knew and practiced for thousands of years — things that are worth reclaiming and keeping alive so they can outlive this current moment in history…
… Living simply, sharing meals in the open air, and sleeping under the stars.
… Enjoying each others’ stories, songs, dreams, and visions by the fire.
… Learning how to be whole and healthy men and boys, not from online influencers, but through face-to-face connection with elders and seekers of all ages.
… Working side-by-side to make the village run.
… Being open to spontaneous encounters and lessons from old trees, clear flowing water, thunderstorms, salamanders and hornets.
… Climbing up to a high point alone or together and contemplating distant vistas.
… Honoring girls and women, and heeding the counsel of grandmothers.
… Holding a shared understanding that life is sacred, and caring for the life of the village and the land.
Boys’ experience at Forest and Village centers around:
Days spent having fun, playing games, running, exploring, learning hands on skills, letting natural enthusiasm and creativity gush forth like a wild river.
Interaction with a variety of positive role models: being seen, heard, and invited into deepening self-awareness.
Sitting by the fire and being taken on a journey of the imagination, listening to mythic tales from centuries ago that are still captivating and relevant today.
Being tired at the end of a day — not from staring at a screen, or following others’ directions, but from being fully engaged in forest and village life.
Activities both in the full group, and in age-based cohorts (7-10, 11-13, 14 and up).
Boys’ experience at Forest and Village centers around:
Days spent having fun, playing games, running, exploring, learning hands on skills, letting natural enthusiasm and creativity gush forth like a wild river.
Interaction with a variety of positive role models: being seen, heard, and invited into deepening self-awareness.
Sitting by the fire and being taken on a journey of the imagination, listening to mythic tales from centuries ago that are still captivating and relevant today.
Being tired at the end of a day — not from staring at a screen, or following others’ directions, but from being fully engaged in forest and village life.
Activities both in the full group, and in age-based cohorts (7-10, 11-13, 14 and up).
Forest and Village is for men who want:
Authentic brotherhood, spaces for shared reflection, and meaningful connection with inspiring men.
Time in men’s-only spaces, with support from facilitators experienced in varied approaches to healing and soulful living.
A place to access and express forgotten or underdeveloped aspects of your inner life, and your vitality.
Time to slow down and engage with the wild and sacred, through ceremony, dreamwork, free wanders, and an overnight solo.
Opportunities to serve the village, including showing up in a mentoring context with boys and young men.
Opportunities to let loose, have fun, explore creative expression, chill in the sauna and pond.
Along with a whole slew of creative men at this year’s gathering, we’re especially excited to have James Bird and Satya Moses with us as our Village Bards. They will be sharing a fresh version of an ancient tale, taking the village of men and boys on a two-part mythic journey on Thursday and Saturday evenings by the fire.
Click here for Logistical Details and Registration.
Contact us with any questions or to book a call with one of our team at forestandvillagemen@gmail.com.
To view a list of our 2026 facilitators see our Guardians page.
Who This Is For
- Resonate with our Mission, Vision and Values.
- Are called to a path of deep inner development that emphasizes and centers psychospiritual wholeness, self-responsibility, integrity, and accountability.
- Are called to heal their wounded and defended parts and patterns, as well as addressing developmental needs that went unmet earlier in life.
- Seek opportunities to explore and experience healthy full-spectrum manhood, including capacities not valued by stereotypical versions of masculinity.
- Desire greater intimacy with the wild, animate, more-than-human world, as well as their unfolding relationship with Mystery.
- Want to be part of a movement that aims to reweave human cultures back into the sacred web of life.
- Are passionate or curious about expanding their path of service to include mentoring boys and younger men. (This isn’t required for this event.)
The Men’s Village at Forest and Village is for boys and young men 7 years old and older who are ready for adventure, fun, and learning some new skills. Portions of each day will be spent in one of three age groups: 1) 7-9 years old; 2) 10-13 years old; and 3) 14 and older. Each boy in the 7-9 age group will need to be accompanied by his father or other trusted male guardian as part of the Youth Guide Team.
What to Expect at the Gathering
What to Expect
The beating heart of the gathering will be our woodland village for boys and men. This is where the days’ meals will be shared, and where our minds, hearts, and voices will join together in laughter, song, and storytelling by the fire’s flickering light. Everyone will have ways to contribute as part of one or more teams that tend to the village’s needs, including: food prep, fire tending, safety, ceremony, wisdom keepers, and more. On Sunday afternoon, there will be a ceremony of reconnection with the women and girls, and an optional evening feast and celebration.
For Boys: During the days, varied experiences will be offered for each age group, including games, foraging, natural building, and skills like knot-tying, plant ID, and open-fire cooking. While there will be opportunities for self-reflection and group sharing, the emphasis will be hands-on activity, and learning by doing.
For Men (Option 1) is to be part of the Youth Guide Team. This is for men who are feeling particularly called to show up for boys and young men. Their primary focus will be sharing fun and meaningful experiences for the boys, while also developing their experience as mentors and guides. Youth Guide Team members will also have opportunities to be part of men-only containers for certain time blocks during the weekend.
For Men (Option 2) Spend more time in a men-only space. This will be for men who want to spend part of the weekend in the Village — while also having significantly more time in men-only spaces. This path is for those who feel called into deeper brotherhood, self-inquiry, and solitude in the forest. There will be an optional overnight solo quest, with preparation and integration support from experienced guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
Coming soon.
Men's Village Values
Men's Village Mission
Men's Village Context and Vision
The Men’s Village at Forest and Village is rooted in a vision of regenerative, Earth-centered, place-based cultures that recognize the developmental needs and capacities of people at every phase of life. Only with the innocence and playfulness of free-spirited children and the wisdom of true elders can we hope to achieve this evolutionary vision. Men and boys can embody their true power and potential only as part of healthy intergenerational communities that are rooted in wisdom, respect for girls and women, and sacred relationship with the web of life.
We begin by recognizing that centuries of patriarchy, domination, racism, extractivism, and concentrated wealth and power have proven to be a disaster for people and the planet. And for men, living with the shame and shadows of unearned privilege, conscious or unconscious misogynistic attitudes, and narratives of ‘victimization by the feminine’, distorts and diminishes our best potential and our relationships. This also serves powerful political and economic interests by keeping us divided within and among ourselves.
In response, we envision a village where each person’s soul journey is honored, and their gifts, medicine, and mythic identity are evoked through relationships not only among humans, but through direct contact with the wild Earth and life’s deep mysteries. In this vision, living simply among all our relations with abundant connection and joy is the heart of a deeply meaningful life.
We carry the seeds and the spark for this transformation within our blood and our bones. For direct inspiration we turn to our ancestral lineages and wisdom traditions, and to conscious relationship with each other, with Mystery, and the animate world around us.
We come into the forest to listen. What better place to learn about reciprocity? And what better teachers than Moss, Moose, and Mink, Hobblebush, Hemlock, and Hermit Thrush? Teachers who have been perfecting their unique ways of knowing and coexisting for millions of years.
We start to re-member here and now by invoking our ancestors and their seemingly simple technologies and practices: things like sitting in council around the fire; accessing our deep imagination and sharing myth, story, dream, and vision; joining our voices in song and praise; enacting ceremonies that connect and reconnect us with the wild and sacred.
villagekeepers@forestandvillage.org
