RHYTHM + RAKU FESTIVAL 2026
Celebrating 10 Years of Beale Pottery
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
12:00–9:30 PM
$10 ADVANCE ADMISSION
$15 AT THE GATE
This year marks 10 years of Beale Pottery, and we’re celebrating the best way we know how - by throwing one really big awesome party, and inviting the community in.
Rhythm + Raku is our annual celebration of clay, fire, music and community, bringing together potters, musicians, makers, friends and families for an entire day here at Beale Pottery.
Come early. Bring a lawn chair. Grab something good to eat. Shop pottery. Watch six Raku kilns firing throughout the day. Wander the grounds. Play some clay games. Listen to some incredible music. Stay as the sun goes down, the fires glow brighter and we finish the night together under the October sky.
Whether you’ve been part of Beale Pottery for years or this will be your very first visit - you’re invited, and you’re in for a treat.
SIX LIVE BANDS. A KILLER LINEUP - ALL DAY LONG.
12:00–1:00 PM
Dailey and the Bear
1:30–2:30 PM
Help Hounds
3:00–4:00 PM
Singing Sands String Band
4:30–5:30 PM
Corey Dennison Band
6:00–7:30 PM
Planetary Blues Band
8:00–9:30 PM
Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves
One ticket gets you into Rhythm + Raku for the entire day.
THERE’S A LOT MORE THAN MUSIC.
Throughout the festival you’ll find live Raku firings, professional pottery to shop, food + drinks, clay games, and plenty of room to settle in and spend the day with us.
Our pottery barn will be staged as our MERCH area and stocked with Beale Pottery work as well as pottery from some of our professional potter friends. We’ll have our special 10th Anniversary Rhythm + Raku merchandise available throughout the festival.
And then there’s the fire.
This year our incredible team of Beale Pottery members and volunteers will be running six Raku kilns as we attempt our biggest firing yet - 300 individually numbered, handmade Raku pumpkins in one day.
You don’t need to purchase a pumpkin to enjoy watching the process. The kilns, fire and Raku action are part of the Rhythm + Raku experience for everyone.
WANT TO RAKU WITH US?
Raku Pumpkin reservations are available separately for $65.
Before the festival, our team, members and volunteers will handmake 300 ceramic pumpkins, each carrying our special 2026 Rhythm + Raku commemorative stamp and its own individual number.
At the festival, pumpkin participants will choose their piece, decorate it with Raku glazes, watch it go through the firing process and take their finished pumpkin home.
Pumpkin start times are:
12:00 PM • 2:30 PM • 5:00 PM
Each group is limited to 100 pumpkins.
IMPORTANT: A Raku Pumpkin reservation does not include festival admission. Admission and Raku Pumpkin reservations are purchased separately.
PLAN TO SPEND THE DAY.
Rhythm + Raku takes place outdoors on the studio + grounds at Beale Pottery in Westville, Indiana. Our studio sits on our residential property, so you are being invited to our own backyard event.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket and make yourself comfortable. Come and go throughout the day, explore the festival, grab some food, listen to music and watch the Raku firings.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase throughout the day.
PLEASE NOTE: NO OUTSIDE FOOD + DRINK ALLOWED
Parking information, festival map, food vendors and additional day-of details will continue to be added to our Rhythm + Raku page as we get closer to October 10.
WE’RE MAKING A BEER!
Burn Em Brewery is coming back - and they are bring a trailer full of cold brews for ya! They are also collaborating with us to make beer celebrating 10 years! Watch the event page and our socials for all the special deets!
YOUR TICKET
Advance Admission: $10 per person
Day-of Admission: $15 per person
Purchasing in advance helps us plan for parking, facilities, staffing and the many details that go into welcoming everyone to Beale Pottery for the day - and it saves you $5 at the gate.
After purchasing, please keep your order confirmation email. We will have a festival check-in area when you arrive - it’s sometimes helpful to have your order number on hand.
Children age 12 and under are free.
A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW
• Your admission ticket is good for the entire festival. Come early, stay late and enjoy the day.
• Raku Pumpkin reservations are sold separately. A festival ticket does not include a pumpkin, and a pumpkin reservation does not include festival admission.
• Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Seating will be limited and we want you to settle in and stay awhile.
• This is an outdoor festival. Please dress for an October day in Northern Indiana and keep an eye on the forecast as the event approaches.
• Parking is free. Detailed parking and arrival information will be shared with ticket holders before the festival.
• Food and beverages will be available for purchase. No outside food or drink.
• Please keep your order confirmation. We’ll use it to help check you in at the festival entrance.
• All ticket sales are final.Tickets are non-refundable. Your advance purchase helps us commit to the artists, sound, facilities and infrastructure that make Rhythm + Raku possible.
COME CELEBRATE TEN YEARS WITH US.
Ten years of making pottery.
Ten years of teaching, learning, experimenting, gathering, growing and building this little clay community together.
Ten years of working harder than ever, and ten years of teamwork and love.
Rhythm + Raku has become one of our favorite days of the year, and this one feels special.
October 10th. Six bands. Six Raku kilns. 300 handmade pumpkins.
One big celebration of clay + community. Be there, or be square…
Grab your people, grab your lawn chairs and come spend the day with us!
$10 in advance • $15 at the gate
THE 2026 RAKU PUMPKIN EXPERIENCE
300 handmade numbered pumpkins. 6 Raku kilns. 60 live firings.
One incredible day of Raku!
$65 per pumpkin
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Choose your start time: 12 PM • 3 PM • 6 PM
• Festival admission is sold separately. A Raku Pumpkin reservation does not include your Rhythm + Raku entry ticket - it does however get you an automatic $5 discount on your entry ticket.
One of our very favorite parts of Rhythm + Raku is getting to invite you into the process. When Eric and I met 24 years ago we spent many nights hanging out around the raku kiln, and love that we get to share this experience with all of you now.
In the weeks leading up to the festival, our Beale Pottery team, members and volunteers will make 300 individual ceramic pumpkins by hand. Every pumpkin will be a little different, and every one will be stamped with our special 2026 Rhythm + Raku commemorative stamp and numbered as part of this year’s collection.
Then, on October 10, you get to finish the story..
Choose your pumpkin, decorate it with Raku glazes, and then spend some time enjoying the festival while our crew takes it through the fire. You’ll be able to watch the kilns open glowing hot, see the pieces move through the reduction process, and eventually take home a one-of-a-kind pumpkin that you helped create.
And yes - it’s every bit as fun as it sounds.
CHOOSE YOUR START TIME
To make this year’s experience run more smoothly, we’re dividing our 300 pumpkins into three groups of 100:
12:00 PM | Group No.1
2:30 PM | Group No.2
5:00 PM | Group No.3
These are START TIMES, not individual firing appointments.
Please arrive at your selected time, check in with our Raku team, choose your pumpkin and get started decorating.
Once your pumpkin is ready, it will enter the firing queue. Raku is a live firing process, and fire has its own schedule! Your pumpkin will be fired during your session, but we cannot promise an exact kiln time or completion time.
Grab something to eat, listen to the bands, shop the pottery, participate in the clay games, watch the kilns and enjoy the festival while our crew works its way through the firing queue.
If you need to leave before your pumpkin is finished, that’s okay. We’ll safely hold it for you and you can return to Beale Pottery beginning Monday following the festival to pick it up.
PICK YOUR PUMPKIN
During the check-out process you will be prompted with a choice between a plain pumpkin or a craved one. When you arrive, you will get to pick your pumpkin from the dedicated “patch”.
300 PUMPKINS AND EVERY ONE HAS A NUMBER
This year feels especially meaningful because we’re celebrating 10 years of Beale Pottery - super cool, right?!
Each of the 300 pumpkins will carry our special 2026 Rhythm + Raku stamp and its own individual number.
When you select your pumpkin, you’ll receive a matching numbered claim ticket. We’ll take your name at check-in, you’ll take a picture of your pumpkin and it’s number, and you’ll hold onto your ticket while your pumpkin makes its journey through glazing, firing and reduction.
When your pumpkin is ready, simply turn in your matching ticket and take it home.
Please keep that little ticket safe - it’s how we’ll reunite you with your pumpkin!
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARRIVE?
Don’t worry if you’ve never touched clay or used a glaze before. No Raku experience is necessary.
Our members and volunteers will be there to walk you through the process and help you decorate your pumpkin.
You’ll:
1. Check in and receive your numbered claim ticket.
2. Choose your handmade pumpkin.
3. Decorate it using our selection of Raku glazes and surface techniques.
4. Turn it over to our Raku crew to enter the firing queue.
5. Enjoy the festival while five kilns fire throughout the day.
6. Watch the magic happen.
7. Take your finished pumpkin home, or return Monday if you can’t stay until it’s finished.
WHAT IS RAKU?
Raku is a fast, dramatic ceramic firing process unlike the way most everyday pottery is fired.
Once your decorated pumpkin is loaded into one of our Raku kilns, it is heated rapidly. Once it reaches temperature, our crew removes the piece from the kiln while it is glowing hot and transfers it into a reduction chamber with combustible material. This is where the magic happens!
The process changes the glaze and surface of the piece in ways that can be surprising and beautifully unpredictable. You’ll see crackle effects, and copper flashings… No two pieces come out exactly alike - which is precisely why we love it.
You’ll be able to watch the process happening throughout Rhythm + Raku.
MORE FIRE. BIGGER TEAM. 300 PUMPKINS.
Last year, our incredible Raku crew ran four kilns and fired 225 pieces in one day.
This year we’re going bigger..
This experience takes a village. Long before October 10, our community will be throwing, carving, stamping, drying, bisque firing and preparing all 300 pumpkins so they’re ready when you arrive.
Then another crew of volunteers (some of the same) will spend festival day helping you glaze, manage the firing queue, run kilns, work the reduction process and get your finished pumpkins safely back into your hands.
When you reserve a pumpkin, you’re not just purchasing a piece of pottery. You’re participating in one of the experiences that makes Rhythm + Raku what it is - and your purchase directly helps us produce the festival and keep this community celebration growing.
We couldn’t do it without all of you.
A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW
• Your selected time is your START TIME. Please arrive at 12 PM, 3 PM or 6 PM according to the group you purchase. You will get a reminder emailed to you before your start time.
• Firing is not an appointment. Your pumpkin enters the firing queue after you’ve finished decorating it. Exact completion times cannot be guaranteed.
• One reservation = one handmade Raku pumpkin.
• Pumpkins are limited to 300 total. Each start time is limited to 100 reservations. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
• Festival admission is sold separately. A Raku Pumpkin reservation does not include your Rhythm + Raku entry ticket - it does however get you an automatic $5 discount on your entry ticket.
• Children are welcome to participate with an adult. An adult should accompany younger children through the decorating process.
• Raku is unpredictable by nature. Variations in glaze, smoke, flame and surface are part of the process and part of what makes each piece one of a kind.
• Can’t stay until your pumpkin is finished? No problem. Finished pieces can be picked up at Beale Pottery beginning Monday following the festival.
• Please hold onto your numbered claim ticket. You’ll need it when collecting your finished pumpkin.
• All sales are final. Your purchase reserves one of only 300 handmade pumpkins and helps us plan and prepare materials, firings and staffing for the festival. No refunds or credits will be given.
