DIVERSITY IN ACTION – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2026
7 – 8:30pm -- Phoenixville Recreation Center
Beyond the Routine: Creating Festivals and Art to Bring Us Together
An Evening with Henrik Stubbe Teglbjaerg, founder of the Phoenixville Firebird Festival
I was born in Denmark and grew up in the cities, but I chose to go into farming because I wanted to connect with the Earth. In Denmark and Switzerland, I worked on biodynamic farms based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. This way of farming looks at the land as a single living organism, which is part of a much bigger whole.
My plan was to buy my own dairy farm in Denmark and be there 365 days a year. But then I got an offer to visit America. I decided I should travel just one more time before settling down. Even though I had negative feelings about American politics on the world stage, I knew there were many exciting things worth exploring here.
What was supposed to be a short journey became a completely different life. I traveled around the United States for a year. I spent a month living in the woods with the Rainbow Family. I traveled to the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, where I spent time with the Lakota people, attended sacred ceremonies, took part in the Sun Dance, and helped build a house. I later organized Rosebud workshops in Denmark and the Black Hills. I even spent several weeks living on the streets of San Francisco to explore what it means to live without a home, and for a time, I was the caretaker of a spiritual retreat center.
During these travels, I met Pamela, who later became my wife. Instead of returning to Denmark for that dairy farm, I put down my roots right here in Pennsylvania. In 1989, I began working as a cheesemaker at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, an intentional community influenced by (once again) Steiner’s biodynamic agriculture. I refurbished their "cheesery" and trained a wonderful apprentice from the Dominican Republic to take it over. From there, my daily work turned toward gardening and caring for the land as a groundskeeper for two significant local properties.
Eventually, Pamela and I parted on good terms, and I moved to Phoenixville. I quickly became involved in our local arts scene through the Arts and Entertainment Committee. We looked for unique ways to bring people together through public art, helping to bring murals to life like the Dance mural behind the Colonial Theatre and the Kites mural on Bridge Street. Then, in 2004, we created the Phoenixville Firebird Festival to celebrate our community’s spirit.
The question of how we live together has followed me all the way from Denmark.
When I first settled into ordinary American life, I watched the daily routine: work nine to five, come home, eat dinner, watch a movie, go to bed, and repeat. There is nothing wrong with these things, but I kept wondering: Why are we here? What happens when our habits separate us from each other and from nature?
My years of farming, traveling, and community projects have taught me that we need opportunities to break through the isolation of habitual life. We need real reasons to work, create, and celebrate together. That is what I hope to talk about: how shared community can interrupt the routines that isolate us, and remind us that we belong to something larger than ourselves.
Diversity in Action~Phoenixville's Mission Statement: To transform ourselves and our world by listening, understanding, and valuing all individuals. We do this through the Education, Celebration, and Promotion of Racial and Social Justice.