Events that I want to fit at my next place
One of my goals in establishing large intentional communities is to enable hosting events in the large common spaces of such a community. There are many types of events that I like to attend, and a smaller variety that I like to host. Most of them are somewhat to significantly constrained by the price and availability of space to host them, and that's something that can be minimized in a communally owned and managed space. This post is a description of some categories of events that I expect to be able to host, or attend while someone else hosts, at my next place. The features and needs of these events are significant priorities for me when choosing a property.
Camping festivals of 100-500 people. This might be a small regional burn (e.g. the early years of NECTR, Lakes of Fire, To The Moon), a skill share event like Wildfire, a music performance or jam, a community gathering like Vibecamp, or have any of a wide variety of other formats. The general idea is that everyone brings a tent for a [probably long] weekend, with a lot of planned and unplanned activities for people to participate in. Many of those activities would require large clear spaces, indoor and/or outdoor.
Music and stage performances. This will probably require an auditorium or theater, or at least a gymnasium with a stage, although there is also the possibility of an outdoor amphitheater as well. It will also need some sound insulation and/or isolation from neighbors, and a decent amount of power would be nice for non-acoustic musical equipment, lighting, etc. The properties I've looked at so far would support audiences of 200-1000 people for such an event.
Art parties where many participants thoroughly decorate rooms and spaces, possibly including immersive and/or interactive performance. This requires a lot of smaller spaces, perhaps bedrooms or offices or cabins. Some such events might be just one night, while others would likely be long weekends and require some sort of housing on-site. Such events that I am familiar with tend to look like camping festivals or hotel takeovers. I would want to have tens of separate spaces, and hundreds of participants.
Immersive and interactive theater and art events with a single focus. This could include traditional haunted house sorts of events, but also things like murder mysteries, escape rooms, LARPs, etc. There's no single specific necessary amenity for this, but the wider the variety of spaces available, and the more of them, the more of these sorts of things will be viable. Some of these events might have dozens of people involved for the duration, while others might have hundreds or even thousands of people experiencing it for just a short time each.
Educational events such as classes, courses, workshops, lectures, etc. This can be done in arbitrary spaces, but having dedicated spaces like classrooms or auditoriums will help. Spaces dedicated to particular crafts or sciences would enable teaching those specific things, e.g. a wood shop, chemistry lab, commercial kitchen, greenhouse, etc. These wouldn't be much larger than what I've done before, but I want more of them to happen.
Large dinner parties. This requires a large dining space, which could be permanent or temporary. It would also require a large kitchen.
Large scale physical activities, e.g. fitness or sports. The relevant amenities might include a climbing wall, a space tall enough for aerial arts, sports fields, etc. Having a variety would be amazing, but even just one or two such spaces would still be great. Having this sort of thing at home makes keeping fit much easier, as well as providing a focus for social interactions and an opportunity to teach classes or host competitions.
Water recreation, at least swimming, ideally also boating. There's a lot of hot weather festivity to be had around this sort of thing, but having private access is often difficult and/or expensive. Oceanfront property is hard to find without sea level rise concerns, and private lakes are expensive, but I've looked at a few steep ocean properties and plenty of places with frontage on a public river or lake.
There are, of course, many other types of events that I enjoy, but that don't require specific amenities. Having a dining hall with a hundred seats at 15 tables would make for an amazing board game night, but I can also host that event in a single family dining room. A theater with 400 seats will make for an amazing movie night, but so can a living room that seats five people. I'll keep doing many of those sorts of events wherever I end up, while the stuff described earlier has more exotic requirements.
Hopefully at least a few people reading this will be thinking “that sounds like a space I'd also like to host events in”. If so, get in touch, and maybe we can collaborate on whatever I'm doing next.