Split Tree Farm is located 20 miles south of Chattanooga, TN and 100 miles NW of Atlanta in the NW Georgia mountains.  Click on map page.

The Particulars

Please help us "raise the roof" with the most fun Fool's Fest ever and bring your best fool's cap and costume for the Saturday night colorful Fool's Ball.  This special "Raise the Roof" FF will be a fund&fun-raiser to earn enough dollars to finish the studio for summer use by adding foam insulation and a new roof.  Your variable (go for the high end if at all possible) ticket cost of  $50-100 includes all music, instruction, food and sleeping space in the house, studio, floor, barn or pasture tenting.  It can be made tax-deductible (see registration form).  Or you can donate two full days at one of two roof work weekends this spring with a minimum $20 weekend payment plus $15 for 5 meals.  Our last fund-raiser weekend in Nov. 1999 generated $12,000, thanks to a $5,000 challenge grant from dancer Phillip Garrison in Berkeley, Calif. under the leadership of Stanford dancemaster Richard Powers. 

We are inviting musicians, callers, performers, artists, teachers to contribute their talents for this now traditional weekend of a variety of dance genres that have changed each year from FF's 1990 premier near Split Tree studio but that will include traditional contra, swing/Lindy, salsa, unstrictly ballroom, live or  recorded Cajun/Zydeco, waltz, contact improvisation, etc.  And expect surprise musical and dance combinations in our various Split Tree ensembles and also special performances.  

We invite artistic, kitchen, production, publicity volunteers to make this special FF a success.  Email:  sid [@] splittree.org.

Link to previous FF/ other STF weekends.       Link to photo page with ff99 and ff00.

Link to New Electronic Registration Form      History of the Fool's Fest        Email Text page

Photos of Fool's Hall of Fame for $250+ contributors  

   Link to  Adobe PDF file for printing one page FF flyers for copying/ distribution

Single dance tickets are available: $15/evenings; $8/half days;  food optional but registration needed by 4/3/01 if meals desired;  single meals $5 each.
Smart Fools will register electronically now or email registration now to save a space.  Paired registration very strongly encouraged but you may sign up as a single dancer.    Link to New Electronic Registration Form, or you can email the registration form below with a check to follow or send in the flyer with check.  Or call us at 706/539-2485 and give the information and send a check.   Just come and join the fun and help "raise the roof".

More info: For registration/housing information:  email Bart Ruark at registrationff2485 [@] splittree.org.  General information: 706.539.2485.  Please use new electronic registration form if possible.

Cost:  Total weekend adult donation: from $100 to $50; give as much as you can or more to "raise the roof" for studio, dancing, music, calling, instruction, farm lodging.  Children under 12 donate $20 for the weekend plus $10/food) for weekend; must be supervised.   Tax-deductible checks can be made to Southern Pitch, Inc, an IRS-approved non-profit arts support organization which nurtures organizations like Split Tree Participatory Arts Center.  Or you can donate two full days at one of two roof work weekends this spring with a minimum $20 weekend payment plus $15 for 5 meals; email Bart Ruark at registrationff2485 [@] splittree.org  for more on this option.  Musician volunteers needed for these work weekends.
         Join the Split Tree Fool's Hall of Fame by contributing $250 or more--see current HF Fool photos 

Weekend Food: (optional) is a low-budget $15 per person for the weekend, includes five meals Sat/Sun. Children under 12 pay $8 for food.  Food is the only optional cost.  Single dance tickets are available: $15/evenings; $8/half days; food optional but registration needed by 4/3/01 if meals desired; single meals $5 each with advance notice or potluck without notice.   Several work exchange dancers are needed for food preparation, serving and clean-up.  Email:  chefbecky [@] splittree.org.  For Friday night, bring your picnic or contribute $3 to Leah's  hot soup crockpot fund, this year offering beef/vegetable and vegetarian garlic potato soup.

Lodging:  Split Tree has limited house beds and house floor space but has ample studio floor space and also tent shelter in a large barn next to the studio.  For more privacy you can camp on 200 acres of woods and pasture in the NW Georgia mountains.  Bring usual camping supplies: bedding, towels, soap, flashlight, rain gear, etc.
Off-campus housing info:  http://www.splittree.org/housing.htm.  The Key West Inn near LaFayette (10 miles, special STF price) and Hidden Hollow Inn (4 miles) are recommended.

General Considerations:  Dress for Saturday Fool's Ball is funky double retro 21st century (i.e., use your imagination).  Weekend pre-registration is required but last-minute dancers may call during the weekend to learn if space is available.  Paired (buddy) registration is very strongly encouraged for gender balance, but come anyway, with or without a partner.  Fair warning dancers:  Open registration means there may be, although not necessarily and not historically, more women than men and therefore, women, please recruit some of those "must dance with" or "shy but intriguing" guys to even things up--we'd offer a gender bounty for male fools but this is a fund raiser Fool's Fest and we need all who love or might love social dance.  Dancers are all asked to help preserve our beautiful hard wood floor by wearing clean non-street, non-marking, soft-sole shoes.    Children must be supervised at all times; no underage foolishness allowed for the safety of all concerned.  No pets or alcohol are allowed.  Avoid strong perfumes/fragrances.  We believe social dance may reduce or even stop nicotine addiction over time, and so smoking is allowed for humanitarian reasons for the addicted but only away from all non-smokers and buildings--no ifs, ands or butts. 

Directions: Detailed directions available from web site, or call 706/539-2485 if no web access.
Split Tree General Information   Maps, Directions  Lodging  Chattanooga Weather

Link to New Electronic Registration Form

Receive a free "live at the studio" Split Tree "Waltzes" CD with $100 tuition donation; 
more info at Split Tree Web Store 

Print/Email Registration form (Please use new electronic registration form above or, only if it's easier for you, select/print and paste/email Bart Ruark at registrationff2485 [@] splittree.org or mail this portion w/check to address below):    Date:____________________
Name/s:  ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________(age if under 12)

Street Address _________________________________________________________

City_________________________ State__________   Zip ___________________

Phone: ______________________  Email:_______________________________

Note:  The FF weekend tuition donation is priced at a $100 contribution unless you simply can't afford that much and need to pay less down even to the minimum $50 to be able to come and donate what you can for the fund drive for the roof insulation.  We will have wasted much exceptional and generous volunteer talent if all register at the $50 minimum and will be short of our roof insulation goal of $3-5,000.  So please contribute as much as you can.  Sid

Join the Split Tree Fool's Hall of Fame by contributing $250 or more--see current HF Fool photos 

Please note:  For your and our convenience, please click on the new electronic registration form and pay by mailing a check or pay by going to the credit card Split Tree web store link on that form.  Of, if you prefer, you may complete the form below or on the printed flyer and mail w/check.  Or you may complete the form below and select, copy and paste into an email to us at the address given in the next paragraph and then put a check in the mail.  You may pay for as many persons on the form below as you wish (up to four on the electronic form).  We will send an email confirming your registration or will call with confirmation.
(Or, you can call Bart or Sid at 706/539-1222 and register by phone.  Or come register in person.  Just come.)

Adults Tuition:** #_______ [@] $100^{+ (}to 50) each   =    $____ (tax-deductible?**  Y___N___)
Adult Meals:*       #_______ [@] $15/person     =    $_______ (5 wknd meals)
Child Tuition: **   #_______ [@] $20 each    =    $_______  (under 12 years)
Child Meals: *       #_______ [@] $8/person    =    $_______ (5 wknd meals) (under 12 years)
Adult Work Wknd: #______ [@] $20 each  =    $________
Reserve a "Waltzes" CD for me   yes _____  no ______ (with minimum $100 tuition donation)
Note:  Children must be supervised at all times and we do not have child-care at this time.  We welcome children yet we ask parents to use good judgment in allowing children to dance in contra lines.  If requested, we can set aside one or two contras for beginners and families if enough experienced dancers will assist.

Total $ Enclosed: (STF) ___________(Tax-Ded.)_____________  Number persons:________
*   Make check payable to Fool's Fest 2485/Split Tree Farm.
**   If tax-deductible, make check payable to:  Southern Pitch, Inc./Split Tree Fund.  Meals not tax-deductible.
Online credit card payment is available:  Split Tree Web Store, but first register electronically.

Lodging plans (indicate # beside each choice):   
_____ Barn space (a mattress of wood shavings)
_____ Pasture tenting
_____ Motel/BnB, see housing page below
_____ House (beds now all reserved for artists/staff)
_____Studio/house floor space (ample room)
_____ Other?______________     Nearby Lodgings

Make checks payable to and mail to:  Split Tree Farm/FF2485, Split Tree Farm, 597 W. Cove Road, Chickamauga, GA 30707.   (Or payable to Southern Pitch, Inc/Split Tree Fund if tax-deductible; use same mailing address). 

We welcome your registration by Link to New Electronic Registration Form or you can email or fax (770.216.1596) but checks must be received within 7 days for registration to be confirmed.  Confirmations will be made by email or phone.  No refunds after 3/30/01 (tuition credit only after confirmation).  Email: registrationff2485 [@] splittree.org   Single dance tickets are available: $15/evenings; $8/half days; food optional but registration needed by 4/3/01 if meals desired; single meals $5 each.

FLIGHT INFO:  Nearest public airport is Chattanooga (45 minutes); Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, Knoxville airports are about 2-3 hours and usually some rides can be found with the help of dancers in nearby cities. 

History of the Fool's Fest and First 1990 Fool's Fest Dawn Dance Flyers

a Fool's History of How Contra Dancing Got Its Name

"All I Really Need to Know I Learned at Contra Dancing," by Ginger Pyron

Split Tree is supported in part by Southern Pitch, Inc. and other generous supporters of the social and participatory arts.

Thanks to Bart Ruark, creator of Dance Vortex, for designing the new electronic registration form and updating our email mailing lists.

Guest Book     Sign Up for STF Email Lists

Visitors:     Updated:   07/06/05   Return to Home Page