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Your Goat Festival Survival Guide

Brie Mazurek, CUESA Staff
April 2, 2015

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For the last seven years, CUESA has hosted an annual celebration of everyone’s favorite caprine critter: the goat. Featuring a small petting stable, a cheese tasting, and cooking demos, Goat Festival helps urban eaters of all ages get to know our hoofed friends a little better and engage with our local agriculture community.

But after we posted this year’s upcoming Goat Festival to Facebook earlier this week, something unexpected happened. Within 24 hours, the event page grew into an overnight sensation, one of the greatest online convergences of “degoatees” ever. Amidst the goat memes, videos, and punnery, a hashtag referencing a certain popular music festival emerged. Band lists were created and T-shirt designs were posted, as the creativity of the goat enthusiast community was unleashed.

We’re still scratching our heads (and goatees) over the phenomenon, but perhaps it was inevitable during the Year of the Goat!

We’ve assembled a few tips to prepare you for this year’s Goat Festival. We’ll be doing our best to accommodate increased crowds at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, while prioritizing the comfort and safety of the goats.

So, mooove over, Cowapolooza. Baaack up, Outside Lambs. Take an oink, Sow by Sowthwest. Here’s your guide to Goat Festival.

10 Tips for Goat Festival

1. Rideshare or hoof it! Goat Festival is easily accessible by BART, MUNI, ferry, and donkey.
Mini Donkey and goat babies

These Miniature donkeys truly are the best guardians! Watch how patient Laya is with the baby Nigerian dwarf goats.

Posted by Lonely Mountain Farm on Monday, July 21, 2014

facebook.com/lonelymountainfarm

2. Dress for unpredictable San Francisco weather. Wear sunscreen and layers.

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3. Stay hydrated. Bring a water bottle to Goat Festival. Troughs will be available for VIGs (Very Important Goats).

flic.kr (Tambako the Jaguar)

4. Forage. CUESA will have a ticketed goat cheese tasting and talk, and there will be vendors selling their products throughout the farmers market. Check at the Info Booth for a map. For ungulates, we’ll have a grazing bar of organic alfalfa hay and microgreens.

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5. Expect lines. If you’ve been to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, you’re no stranger to crowds, but we will have only a few goats and a long line of people who will want to pet them. Keep with your herd, relax, and embrace the journey. We’ll do our best to keep you amused while you wait!

thehindu.com (L. Balachandar)

6. Be aware of your surroundings. Due to increased threats of (goat) kidnapping, security will be out in full force.

photoshopcontest.com (Takser3)

7. Know the lineup. Toluma Farms & Tomales Farmstead Creamery and the San Francisco School will be bringing about half a dozen Saanen, La Mancha, and Alpine kids. The goats, just a few weeks old, will be in their special VIG lounge, with caretakers nearby to cater to their every need. (Goatye, Hall & Goates, and Goatörhead have not been confirmed.)

cuesa.org

8. Handle with care. Need we say it? These are baby goats, folks.

facebook.com (Toluma Farms/Ron Purdy)

9. Do not kiss the goats. We know they are achingly adorable, but please resist the urge. If you were a mama goat, would you want some stranger kissing your kid? Plus, the Department of Public Health strictly forbids it.

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10. Goat crazy!

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Join the Party

Thank you to all of the party animals on Facebook for a wild week of Goat Festival-inspired April Foolery. If you want to go down the rabbit hole—or up the goat tree, as the case may be—visit Facebook and join the fun. Here are a few of our favorite posts.

Promo Art

facebook.com