May 24, 2026
9am - 5pm
Crestone, CO
Join us for a hands-on, one-day workshop on brain tanning a rabbit hide. This workshop will give participants the opportunity to learn the ancient method of brain tanning. Each participant will work start to finish with their own rabbit hide to take home with them. This is a great way to get a feel for the basics of tanning with a hide that is manageable in size.
Email OESDirector@CrestoneEnergyFair.Org or call Goldie at 303-903-0968 with any questions.
Community Price: $125
For low-income participants
Supporter Price: $195
Pay for yourself
Sustainer Price: $250
Support low-income participants & pay it forward
Price includes one day of instruction, lunch, and a rabbit hide to take home. Lodging is not included in the price, but onsite tent camping is available for $20/site per nights or Tee Pee camping available for $25/person per night. Tent and tee pee camping include use of stocked outdoor kitchen and toilets.
May 24, 2026
9am - 5pm
Crestone, CO
Join us for a hands-on, one-day workshop on brain tanning a rabbit hide. This workshop will give participants the opportunity to learn the ancient method of brain tanning. Each participant will work start to finish with their own rabbit hide to take home with them. This is a great way to get a feel for the basics of tanning with a hide that is manageable in size.
Email OESDirector@CrestoneEnergyFair.Org or call Goldie at 303-903-0968 with any questions.
Community Price: $125
For low-income participants
Supporter Price: $195
Pay for yourself
Sustainer Price: $250
Support low-income participants & pay it forward
Price includes one day of instruction, lunch, and a rabbit hide to take home. Lodging is not included in the price, but onsite tent camping is available for $20/site per nights or Tee Pee camping available for $25/person per night. Tent and tee pee camping include use of stocked outdoor kitchen and toilets.
Nick Parker, Teacher
Nick Parker’s interest in tanning began during childhood hunting trips, where he questioned the point of killing an animal without using every part of it. At 25, after attending his first earthskills gathering, he quit his job, left his lease, and moved in with someone living a primal lifestyle. There he was introduced to tanning—learning buckskin methods as well as working with fur-on hides of coyote, fox, and others.
Since then, Parker has processed hides from around 20 species, totaling between 100 and 200 pieces. He especially enjoys tanning sheep hides and using bark tanning on deer hides to make soft, durable leather for clothing.
For Parker, tanning is more than a skill—it is an ancient art that has shaped civilizations for millennia. Though he has worn many hats over the years—climber, runner, spearfisher, farmer—tanning remains a practice that connects him to human tradition. Open and approachable, he welcomes questions from anyone curious to learn while working alongside him.