ThrivingFest spotlights Whidbey changemakers
Published 1:30 am Friday, August 7, 2026
Whidbey Island-based organization Thriving Communities will host ThrivingFest, a three-day film festival and community celebration, Aug. 13-15. The event features films, panel discussions and shared meals celebrating local leaders and community organizations, according to a press release.
For more than a decade, Thriving Communities, co-founded by Jerry Millhon in 2012, has filmed “common people doing uncommon work for the common good” — neighbors who turn conversations into collaborations and commitments into movements.
ThrivingFest will bring those stories and the organizations behind them together over three days.
The festival opens Thursday evening at the Clyde Theatre with the premiere of “South Whidbey Prepares” and a tribute to community leader Lynn Willeford, a co-inspirator of Thriving Communities.
Friday and Saturday programs at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts feature films and panel discussions with leaders from Hearts & Hammers, Whidbey Homeless Coalition, Organic Farm School, Whidbey Island Nourishes, Good Cheer Food Pantry, Mother Mentors, Healing Circles Langley and other organizations.
Saturday’s program also honors the legacy of local philanthropist Nancy Nordhoff and concludes with a community conversation hosted by the Whidbey Community Foundation.
“This isn’t a film festival. It’s a gathering of the neighbors who make Whidbey possible,” said Jerry Millhon, founder of Thriving Communities and film director for ThrivingFest Films.
Admission is free, though donations are encouraged. RSVPs are appreciated through the Thriving Communities website. Drop in for a single session or attend all three days.
Additional sessions include community meals at Langley United Methodist Church and Healing Circles Langley, as well as a Friday evening potluck with live music at the Organic Farm School in Clinton.
Full schedule, venue addresses and event details are at thrivingcommunities.org/thrivingfest.
Thriving Communities creates films that elevate community solutions to the challenges of our times. Thriving Communities is fiscally sponsored by Mission Edge, a San Diego-based nonprofit and is dedicated to uplifting common people doing uncommon work for the common good. For more than a decade, Thriving Communities has documented the leaders, volunteers and neighbors building a regenerative community on Whidbey and beyond.
