How to Fill a Farm Event 48 Hours Out

Published on

May 8, 2026

Farmer Curtis at Millsap Farms (Springfield, MO) hosts pizza nights every Thursday from May through October — wood-fired, BYOB, live music, kids running around the field.

The first one of the season was this week, and up until then, he hadn't done much marketing for it aside from CSA members and the weekly emails he sends to his community.

Two days before the season's first pizza night, he sent one short email and one text.

15 signups went to 45. Over 60% of tickets booked in minutes.

Three things made it work — and they're worth studying if you're running any farm event this season.

1. It sold the experience, not the event.

The first move isn't even the email — it's the landing page. Curtis has a dedicated Pizza Night landing page that holds everything: dates, price, photos, FAQ, ticket button. One URL — easy to share in an email, a text, an Instagram caption, a flyer at the farmstand. Anywhere.

That's why his email could skip the logistics and focus on one thing: making people want to be there. One image and a few present-tense lines: "the oven roaring back to life, kids running around the field, neighbors catching up over a slice as the sun goes down."

Notice the verbs — roaring, running, catching up. He's not telling you about tomorrow night. He's putting you inside it. By the time you click the link, you've already been there.

💡 What Works: build a strong-converting landing page and shop that carry the logistics, then let the email do the real selling.

2. It sounded like Curtis, not like marketing.

Event emails tend to follow the same pattern — here's the deal, the price, the schedule, the FAQ, click to buy. That works, in a literal sense. But members get emails like that all day — from other farms, restaurants, yoga studios. Same template, different sender.

Curtis's didn't sound like that. He mentioned the weather ("68 and sunshine"). He admitted what the night meant to him ("one of my favorite traditions, and I'm glad it's back"). He signed –the Millsap Pizza Farmers — the way you'd sign a text. And sent it by SMS, too.

💡 What Works: write your message the way you'd text a friend. Mention what you can see out the window. Sign it as you, not as the farm. Send it by text, too.

A few seats left — Millsap Pizza Farmers email closing

3. The urgency was real, specific, and low-pressure.

Curtis sent the message to his list 48 hours out — close enough that the night felt real, far enough that people could still plan around it. Send earlier and it gets archived. Send later and the tickets are gone.

The deadline was just true: Tomorrow night. 68 and sunshine. First pizza night of the season. A few seats left. The weather was going to be perfect. The oven was firing tomorrow whether you came or not. That's not pressure or FOMO — that's the calendar.

The other move was permission, not pressure: "bring the family, bring a friend, bring whoever needs a reason to be outside." One ticket quietly becomes three.

💡 What Works: send 48 hours out, write the urgency that's actually there — tomorrow's weather, what's coming out of the field this week, how many spots are left — and invite people to bring someone.

You can read Curtis's full email here.

Pizza night at Millsap Farms — community gathered under string lights making wood-fired pizzas together

The model works for any event

A pop-up dinner. A creamery tour. A u-pick weekend. A herdshare open house. The model works for any of them — especially when your community already trusts you and the event is 48 hours out. When those two things work in your favor, you don't need a fancy campaign or a big ad budget. You just need to make the picture vivid enough that “yeah, let's do tomorrow” becomes the obvious answer.

Events on Farmhand handle all of it — ticketing, RSVPs, member pricing, the email, and the text. If you've got an event coming up and want help running the 48-hour nudge — or setting up event sales — text us. We'll wire up the ticketing, draft the email in your voice, and time the send. You stay in the field.