In 2010, when we were first planning this thing called Hutchmoot, we weren’t sure if anyone would come. But people did come—a lot of people—and Hutchmoot has continued to grow and evolve in ways we couldn’t have imagined. This year, things are taking a leap forward.
Here’s what’s new:
The Venue — Hutchmoot has always been a small, intimate affair. We love that about it and don’t want that to change. But while we love Church of the Redeemer and will be forever grateful to them for allowing us to take over their facility for the past seven years, we’ve outgrown it.
After a lot of thought and prayer, we’ve decided to move Hutchmoot to Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee. It’s a beautiful facility, and we think you’re going to love it.
The Size — We’ve traditionally allowed anywhere from 100-180 guests to attend Hutchmoot. Those numbers were our attempt to manage both the intimacy of the weekend and the capacity of the venue. Christ Community is a much bigger venue, but that doesn’t mean we aim to pack the house. We’re increasing registrations, but only to 300. Yes, that doubles the size. But in combination with the venue change, we doubt you’ll notice. This means more people will be able to experience the weekend in a more comfortable way, and hopefully we’ll alleviate some of the pressure to get tickets as soon as they go on sale.
The Program — We don’t have all the details worked out yet, but some things are changing. The biggest change is the Thursday evening concert (in the past it’s been variously called In the Round, The Square Peg Show, and The Local Show: Special Edition). This year, Rabbit Room LIVE, our annual fundraiser, will take place on Thursday, October 5th, at Hutchmoot. It makes sense to wrap this event into Hutchmoot and allow more people to get a taste of the weekend.
The Food — Feeding 300 people (closer to 400 if you include staff) is a big job. To alleviate the workload on the kitchen crew, we’ll no longer be offering a full-service breakfast and lunch. There will still be food available for those meals, but Christ Community is in close proximity to a lot of great local dining, so we’re encouraging folks to venture out into the community if they need more than the provided snacks.
This allows our kitchen staff to focus on providing a great meal for dinner each evening. It opens up a lot of menu options that weren’t available before, and we’re confident the result will be delicious.
The Price — While the price tag remains the same as it has for the past several years, we are offering a new option: a payment plan. In order to help spread out the cost for families on a budget, you’ll have the option (during registration) to pay in three monthly installments. Note that in order to take advantage of this, you’ll need to register before April 1st.
And there you have it. Hutchmoot 2.0. We’re excited about all of these evolutions. We think Hutchmoot 2017 is going to be the best year yet. Is it going to be different? You bet. But we’re confident that all of these changes are in the service of making Hutchmoot the best it can be. If anyone has questions, feel free to post them in the comments. We can’t wait to see you in October.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow afternoon (March 1st) at 2pm CST. Visit Hutchmoot.com for more information.