The Land Institute celebrates 50 years at Prairie Festival 2026

The Land Institute invites perennial advocates, scientists, partners, students, food lovers, farmers, food and beverage makers and fans to Salina, Kansas, for Prairie Festival 2026: 50 Years of Perennial Possibilities.

The festival takes place Sept. 25 to 27 near the banks of the Smoky Hill River on The Land Institute’s prairie campus. The milestone event celebrates a half-century of collective work to transform global food systems and envisions the next 50 years of a perennial agriculture revolution.

Since 1976, The Land Institute has become a global leader in developing perennial grains like Kernza to create an agricultural system that functions like nature’s ecosystems. This year’s festival offers an immersive opportunity to see, taste and experience this transformative work firsthand.

“For 50 years, The Land Institute has been rooted in the radical idea that agriculture can work with nature, not against it. Prairie Festival 2026 is both a celebration of that legacy and a launchpad for the future,” said Rachel Stroer, president of The Land Institute. “We invite new and longtime supporters, partners and people new to the movement to join us on the Institute’s prairie home as we chart the next 50 years of perennial possibilities for our communities, our soils and our planet.”

A weekend of culture, science and community

Attendees will enjoy a robust schedule of keynote speakers, hands-on field tours, live music, a panel discussion, poetry, film and interactive art installations. Special guests this year include The Land Institute co-founders Dana Jackson and Wes Jackson.

“Transitioning to perennial agriculture is both a scientific endeavor and a cultural shift,” said Aubrey Streit Krug, director of the Perennial Cultures Lab. “This festival is an opportunity to connect with fellow creative minds who are working to imagine what is possible for a more just and sustainable future. Together in community, along with researchers and artists, musicians, writers and poets, we can begin to taste that perennial future and practice new ways of seeing, placemaking and pursuing change.”

Tickets and registration

Full-access weekend tickets in a range of price points are available now. On-site camping passes and Saturday meal passes are also available for purchase. To view the complete schedule, secure tickets and plan travel, visit landinstitute.org/events/prairie-festival-2026.

Program highlights

• Hear from climate scientist Kate Marvel; land steward and Indigenous food sovereignty leader Brett Ramey (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska); and UC Santa Cruz professor of sociology Jenny Reardon.
• Festival tickets include a Friday Community Welcome Meal and a Sunday Kernza Pancake Breakfast. Attendees can also enjoy the Prairie Bar for Kernza beers and other beverages and purchase a Saturday meal pass featuring regional vendors serving dishes such as Kernza crust pizza and perennial Baki bean salad.
• Take guided research plot tours at The Land Institute farm, walk the Wauhob Prairie and explore the Marty Bender Nature Area.
• Attend a deep-dive discussion on the promise of perennial foods with co-editors Aubrey Streit Krug and Liz Carlisle and contributors Elsie DuBray, Jesse Smith and Tim Crews.
• Place-based installations on the festival grounds include works by Dana Fritz, Sean Whalen, Karen McCoy, Rena Detrixhe, Ernesto Pujol, Lori Brack and Prairie Works Designs, as well as a special commission by Chicago-based artist Jenny Kendler for a multiyear art and ecological restoration project.
• · The Salina Art Center will feature works by 20 artists whose engagement with The Land Institute spans 50 years, including Terry Evans, Jim Richardson, Bill McBride, Claire Pentecost, Dornith Doherty and Wes Jackson.
• Enjoy a Friday evening barn dance with The Land Band, Saturday performances by Jim Scott and The Little Miss, and a Saturday afternoon music and poetry circle hosted by David Wayne Reed with musicians Josué Dick, Kristoffer Parker, Alejandro Sabillon, Matt Kirby, Ann Zimmerman, Annie Wilson and Jim Scott, and poets Jesse Nathan, Traci Brimhall, Mary Silwance and Canese Jarboe.
• Hear from regional community members JohnElla Holmes of the Kansas Black Farmers Association, Melinda Williamson of Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and Kansas Alliance for Tribal Community Health, Sheila Kjellberg of Saline County Food Action Community Team, Kara Walker of Kansas Farmers Union and Homegrown Prosperity, Taiomah Rutledge of Warclan Collective, Matt Regier of School for Rural Culture & Creativity, Jackie Keller of Kansas Rural Center, Christina Haswood of Climate & Energy Project and the Douglas County Indigenous Food System Study, Zack Pistoras of Sierra Club of Kansas and Max McCoy of the Kansas Reflector.
• Book signings.

Prairie Festival 2026 is funded in part by the Horizons Grants Program of the Salina Arts and Humanities Foundation. Funding is provided by Horizons, a private donor group

PHOTO: Aubrey Streit Krug, The Land Institute’s director of Ecospheric Studies, talks of the prairie as she leads a sunrise prairie walk that is part of the institute’s annual Prairie Festival. (Courtesy photo)