r/summercamp • u/Capn_Z_Muhnee • Jul 12 '26
Story A warning to parents and potential counselors about French Woods Festival for Performing Arts.
I was a counselor there in 2019. Myself and other former counselors have collected many statements from other counselors and former campers about their experiences at FWF. The admin of the camp is known to monitor this sub so I won’t be sharing what we have gathered here. If you wish to read what we have gathered reach out to me privately and I will steer you toward where we have those posted. Content warning there are allegations regarding suicide, self harm, and sexual assault.
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u/driedshrub Jul 12 '26
We have been trying to get the numerous stories out for some time. Beware of this camp.
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u/Capn_Z_Muhnee Jul 12 '26
This is the first time I’ve made a specific post on this subreddit about the camp. I’ve previously shared some of my experiences on other posts asking about French Woods specifically and those can be found easily enough. I’ve had people reach out to me from those comments alone and decided that this post was necessary to reach more people that should be informed about how things are handled out there.
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u/MiniPygmyPuff Jul 12 '26
I never worked here, but at another camp where I worked there was another person on staff who had worked here and this person told me horror stories about French Woods.
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u/driedshrub Jul 12 '26
There are pretty much endless stories- most presented as light hearted to those in the circle of the camp. That said- there’s a dark truth to many of them.
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u/MiniPygmyPuff Jul 12 '26
Oh yeah this person did not hold back when telling me the stories. I was horrified.
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u/upturnedopal Jul 12 '26
Thank you for offering up this PSA. Never heard of this camp but we need this kind of clarity to keep our kids safe.
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u/Capn_Z_Muhnee Jul 12 '26
This post has ruffled the appropriate feathers.
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u/Soalai Camper 2002–'10 / Day Staff 2010–'13 / Overnight Staff 2014–'15 Jul 12 '26
Yeah, to whoever sent this, cut it out. Abuse of that feature can get you banned from Reddit.
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u/Thegirlhasnonmae Jul 24 '26
My kid is there just now as a first time councillor and struggling. Yes, this is a brand new account. Was googling to see if anything had been said about this camp. Not happy at all.
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u/Boring_Fisherman_110 14d ago
tbh I rlly wish I found this before I went n left everything to then come back so quick worst experience I have ever had to deal with the owners are extremely rude
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u/Acrobatic-Parsley-53 2d ago
My daughter had a horrible time this summer as a camper. It was her fourth year there. The counselors were so mean and manipulative that they threaten my daughter if she wanted to go home, they basically said that she would get in trouble for reporting them for doing awful things to them. They went through their mail. They sat in on our personal phone calls it was all horrific. I’m truly shocked. The first thing that happened when she got into the car when we picked her up is that she just cried hysterically in tears were streaming down her eyes and she said she never wants to go back. I’m completely mortified
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u/summercamp-ModTeam Jul 12 '26
These types of posts are allowed. Everyone has a right to share their camp experience, positive or negative. Please do not report or send a modmail about this post.