I was daydreaming today about a time in the future when Arcadians use a calendar based on the number of Porcupine Freedom Festivals that have occurred. When we planned PorcFest X, this thought would occasionally pop into my mind.
The history of the Free State Project in New Hampshire is intimately linked with the history of PorcFest. In 2003, an event by the name of “Escape to New Hampshire” was held to lobby the FSP to choose New Hampshire as the destination for American liberty activists. That event may have been responsible for New Hampshire winning the vote, and now that initial gathering is referred to as “PorcFest Zero.” The next year, the First Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival was organized by Tim Condon and other FSP participants as the flagship event for the FSP in New Hampshire.
While PorcFests were traditionally known by their common calendar year, e.g. “PorcFest 2010,” that tradition was changed for PorcFest X. Many festival-goers are already referring to next year as PorcFest XI (read: eleven). While this may cause some confusion between years (2011 vs Year 11), I’m all in favor of it. And it brings us back to our point of the post… in time, could you imagine future generations of Arcadians counting the years in the PorcFest Epoch? “I moved to the Seacoast in PF 8.” Conveniently, PorcFest lands right around the summer solstice, a wonderful day to celebrate a new year!
Okay, I don’t really expect all of this to happen, but it’s fun to imagine. We voluntarists should not be beholden to a calendar system that is centered around Roman Catholicism. We should feel free to develop our own traditions, based on our history or our common humanity. For something more universal (and likely to gain widespread acceptance), I highly recommend the Human Era mod to the existing Christian calendar.
Forward Vision 
I think the better reason for calling it PorcFest XI rather than PorcFest 2014 is that those who hear of it the first time will realize that it is an event that has been around for a while. (For all they know, “PorcFest 2014” could be only the second or third PorcFest, but the “XI” signals to them that it’s been around for over a decade.) This is important information to convey.
Good point, PRA. PorcFest is an institution!