Campout vs Conference

There are two main ways people celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles today. Some groups gather in hotels and convention centers for a conference-style event. Others, like us, gather outdoors in tents, RVs, and cabins for a campout. Both approaches honor the commandment. But after 16 years of hosting the Feast, we believe the outdoor campout model is closer to the biblical vision and produces a deeper, more transformative experience for families. Here is why.

Dwelling in Booths: The Heart of the Command

The Hebrew word sukkot means "booths" or "temporary shelters." YHWH did not say to gather in auditoriums. He said to dwell in booths.

"You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." — Leviticus 23:42-43

When you sleep in a tent, you feel the wind. You hear the rain on the canvas. You wake with the sunrise and fall asleep to crickets. You are not insulated from creation; you are immersed in it. That vulnerability is the point. It teaches dependence on YHWH. It strips away the comfort and control we normally surround ourselves with and reminds us that He is our true shelter.

Campfire Fellowship vs Lobby Small-Talk

In a hotel conference, fellowship happens in lobbies, hallways, and restaurant booths. It is polite, brief, and often surface-level. People retreat to their private rooms at the end of the night.

At a campout, fellowship happens around fire pits, on blankets under the stars, and in camp chairs arranged in circles. There is no retreat to a private room. Your neighbors are ten feet away. You share meals outdoors, help each other with tent stakes, watch each other's kids, and sit together until the embers die down. The bonds formed around a campfire at midnight go deeper than anything a hotel lobby can produce.

River Activities vs Indoor Sessions

YHWH told us to rejoice at the Feast, and joy is not confined to a chair in a conference room. At our campout, families rejoice on the river: tubing, kayaking, fishing, splashing, and being baptized in living water. They rejoice on the sports field, on the trampoline, around the campfire, and on the dance floor under the stars.

A conference may have excellent teaching, but it lacks the physical, full-body engagement that an outdoor Feast provides. The Feast of Tabernacles is meant to be experienced with all five senses, not just your ears.

Experience	Conference	Campout
Dwelling in booths	Symbolic only	Literal fulfillment
Fellowship depth	Scheduled breaks	24/7 community life
Kids experience	Childcare room	Creek, field, campfire
Connection to creation	Window views	Stars, river, fire, trees
Evening activity	Return to hotel room	Campfire karaoke, s'mores, testimonies
Baptisms	Pool or tub	Flowing river
Morning routine	Room service, elevator	Sunrise, birdsong, campfire coffee

Stargazing: YHWH's Gallery

One of the most underrated gifts of the campout is the night sky. Away from city lights, the stars come alive. Families lie on blankets and look up at the Milky Way. Children see shooting stars for the first time. The heavens declare the glory of Elohim (Psalm 19:1), and at a campout, you actually get to see them.

There is no skylight in a conference center that compares to looking up through the open roof of a sukkah at a sky full of stars.

The Biblical Model

When the Israelites kept the Feast of Tabernacles in Scripture, they did not check into hotels. They built sukkahs from branches and lived in them for seven days. They gathered in open fields, ate communal meals, and worshipped together under the sky. The campout model is the closest we can come to that original experience in modern times.

That does not mean the campout is for everyone. We understand that some families have physical limitations, health concerns, or young infants that make hotel stays more practical. That is why our 2026 venue offers bunkhouse lodging alongside tent and RV camping. You can have the comfort of a room and still participate fully in the campout culture.

What You Gain by Choosing the Campout

• Deeper relationships from living in community 24 hours a day for 10 days
• Spiritual renewal from unplugging and living simply in nature
• Childhood memories your kids will carry for a lifetime
• Biblical obedience in the literal sense of dwelling in temporary shelters
• Physical joy from river activities, sports, and dancing under the stars
• Campfire moments that become the most treasured part of the Feast

We have hosted both styles over the years, and the campout wins every time. Not because it is more comfortable — it is not. It wins because it is more real. More human. More biblical. And far more joyful.