A month-long gathering for people building a brighter future
A month-long village for people reimagining how we live, learn, and create.

This popup is a prototype for something bigger: a permanent town called Esmeralda.

Join us in building a brighter future.

Programs & Tracks

Each theme will have planned talks & self-organized sessions throughout the month

Programs & Tracks

Each theme will have planned talks & self-organized sessions throughout the month

Week 1: May 24th - June 1st

Protocols for Flourishing

Health • Longevity • Biotech • Neurotech • Consciousness • Protocols Research • Stablecoins

Protocol Worlds →

May 24th - May 31st, 2025

A week bringing together 30 fellows from the Summer of Protocols fellowship to focus on rapid development of protocol course concepts that help better understand our protocols in the world and how we think more critically about improving them from first principles. This week will include mock classes for Edge Esmeralda participants to test and provide feedback.

Timber Schroff
Protocol Worlds
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode

Health & Biotech Week →

May 25th - May 30th, 2025

A week long program focused on living healthier, living longer. The week will bring together both experts and experimential components for everyone at Edge Esmeralda to kick off their month being mindful about their health to carry throughout their time with us.

Justin Mares
TrueMed

Consciousness Week →

May 24th - May 30th

A week-long expedition into the depths of consciousness, guided by the rich insights of contemplative and somatic traditions. Together, we’ll explore the multifaceted concept of “Enlightenment”—examining its authenticity and diverse interpretations across cultures and disciplines.

Mike Johnson
Symmetry Institute
Ryan Pripstein
Anagram

Truth-Seeking AI →

May 26th - May 29th, 2025

Cosmos Institute will host a four-day intensive program at Edge Esmeralda (May 26-29, 2025) bringing together philosophers, technologists, and researchers to translate key philosophical frameworks into practical AI systems that support human flourishing.

Brendan McCord
Cosmos Institute

Week 2: June 1st - June 8th

Reality Reinvented

Augmented & Artificial Intelligence • Virtual & Mixed Reality • Hard Tech • D/ACC • Community & Experiential Design • Adventure Weekend

Making Crypto Real in the World →

May 30th - June 1st

A focused weekend bringing together leaders from technology and policy sectors to drive meaningful outcomes for how legislation can affect new technology like stablecoins, AI, energy, and robotics.

Jacob Hirshman
Circle
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode

Roots of Progress →

June 1st - June 6th, 2025

This program will gather people to explore and share ideas on Techno-Humanism and the future of progress.

Jason Crawford
Roots of Progress

DACC / NODES →

June 2nd - June 6th

D/ACC is a more principled approach to tech acceleration—focused on decentralization, defense, and democracy. This week will brings together people from fields like Biodefense, Epistemics, Privacy, AI, Neurotech, and Robotics who tackle different problems with similar tools, but rarely cross paths.

NODES
Future-oriented rhyzome

Week 3: June 8th - June 15th

Environments of Tomorrow

Education • Space • Cities • Agritech • Climate • Culture

Edgeucation →

June 9th - June 13th

Bringing together alternative and innovative school and education projects to help reimagine the future of education for kids.

Amaan Ahmad
Pathfinder
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode

Cities of Tomorrow →

June 9th - June 13th

A week for city and ecosystem builders reimagining what’s possible through environments that support a better future. We’ll explore spaces designed for health, sustainability, and long-term impact.

Devon Zuegel
Esmeralda
Timour Kosters
Edge City
Janine Leger
Edge City

Week 4: June 15th - June 21st

Decentralized Technologies

Real-World Crypto • Governance • Programmable Cryptography

Crypto Academic Camp →

June 16th - June 19th

A week with the top researchers and academics in cryptography and DeFi for key discussions, debates and collaboration around core topics in the field.

Uniswap Foundation
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode

Month-long

Residencies

A residency is a month-long, topic-focused gathering of 15–40 people with shared expertise, embedded within the broader Edge City popup village.

Long Journey Residency →

A residency bringing together 11 of the top builders who are pushing the frontier of being magically weird. These will be the builders that are reinventing the future with projects that are driving toward building a world we all want to live in.

Long Journey Ventures
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode

Art on the Edge Residency →

A residency bringing together 11 of the top builders who are pushing the frontier of being magically weird. These will be the builders that are reinventing the future with projects that are driving toward building a world we all want to live in.

Justin Melillo
MONA
Mel Habibian
Manifold.xyz
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode

Themes

Each theme will have planned talks & self-organized sessions throughout the month

Protocols for Flourishing

Week 1: May 24th - June 1st

Health • Longevity • Biotech • Neurotech • Consciousness • Protocols Research • Stablecoins

Reality Reinvented

Week 2: June 1st - June 8th

Augmented & Artificial Intelligence • Virtual & Mixed Reality • Hard Tech • D/ACC • Community & Experiential Design • Adventure Weekend

Environments of Tomorrow

Week 3: June 8th - June 15th

Education • Cities • Agritech • Climate • Culture

Decentralized Technologies

Week 4: June 15th - June 21st

Real-World Crypto • Governance • Programmable Cryptography

Speakers & Attendees


This is an initial list of some attendees and speakers that will continue to get updated closer to the event!

Audrey Tang
Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Juan Benet
Protocol Labs
Devon Zuegel
Esmeralda
Laura Deming
Cradle
Tom Conerly
Anthropic
Lee Jacobs
Long Journey Ventures
Wynne
Allison and Ryan's daughter
Tim Beiko
Summer of Protocols
Venkatesh Rao
Summer of Protocols
Justin Mares
TrueMed
Andy Matuschak
Applied Researcher
Vaughn McKenzie-Landell
Butter
Molly Mackinlay
Protocol Labs
Mike Johnson
Symmetry Institute
Cyan Banister
Long Journey Ventures
Milan Cvitkovic
Integral Neurotechnologies
Kenneth Ng
Uniswap Foundation
Janine Leger
Edge City
Sina Habibian
Into the Bytecode
Brendan Mccord
Cosmos Institute
Jacob Hirshman
Circle
Timour Kosters
Edge City
Ryan Pripstein
Anagram
Misha Glouberman
Trampoline Hall
Brian Gu
0xPARC
Aleksandra Smilek
NODES
Lou de Kerhuelvez
NODES
Jason Crawford
Roots of Progress
Justin Melillo
MONA
Porter Geer
Uniswap
Jonny Miller
Curious Humans Podcast
Amaan Ahmad
Pathfinder
Matt Prewitt
RadicalxChange
Timber Schroff
Protocol Worlds
And many more!
Regularly updated as we get closer to the event

Principles

Creation

Emphasis on Building

At Edge Esmeralda, we’re focused on building, moving beyond mere consumption of knowledge. The emphasis is on hands-on applications and experiments, with the goal of fostering new technologies, cultures, ideas, and organizations during our month together.

Multidisciplinary

We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise—scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.

Healthy by Default

Healthy Living as the Norm

Our village promotes health and longevity as a default. This includes organized community workouts, nutritious meals made from local organic ingredients, weekly farmers markets, and partnerships with local restaurants to minimize seed oil use. We aim for all participants to leave healthier than they arrived.

Multigenerational

Building a Multigenerational Community

Our community will include everyone from toddlers to centenarians, fostering an environment where different life stages interact and learn from each other, breaking away from the typical age-segregated settings.

Multidisciplinary

Multidisciplinary

We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise—scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.

Social Technology

Importance of Social Technology

We value innovation in social technology as much as in hardware and software. This means the norms, values, and practices of living well together as a community. This is critical for us to discover together for a flourishing future.

Principles

Focus on Creation

At Edge Esmeralda, we’re focused on building, moving beyond mere consumption of knowledge. The emphasis is on hands-on applications and experiments, with the goal of fostering new technologies, cultures, ideas, and organizations during our month together.

Our village promotes health and longevity as a default. This includes organized community workouts, nutritious meals made from local organic ingredients, weekly farmers markets, and partnerships with local restaurants to minimize seed oil use. We aim for all participants to leave healthier than they arrived.

Our community will include everyone from toddlers to centenarians, fostering an environment where different life stages interact and learn from each other, breaking away from the typical age-segregated settings.

We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise—scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.

Healthy by Default

Our village promotes health and longevity as a default. This includes organized community workouts, nutritious meals made from local organic ingredients, weekly farmers markets, and partnerships with local restaurants to minimize seed oil use. We aim for all participants to leave healthier than they arrived.

Multigenerational

Our community will include everyone from toddlers to centenarians, fostering an environment where different life stages interact and learn from each other, breaking away from the typical age-segregated settings.

Multidisciplinary

We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise—scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.

From the community

On what it feels like to be a part of Edge City

Vitalik Buterin
Ethereum Founder

Edge City did an excellent job integrating diverse participants from all kinds of background: technical and non-technical, crypto, biotech and culture, young and old. I learned a lot from my time there.

Liam Horne
World, ETHGlobal Co-Founder

It's an eclectic group of optimists that push each other to learn and grow in their careers and live healthy and more meaningful lives. I love spending time with the people in the Edge City community.

Laura Deming
Cradle CEO

We could not have done this Longevity workshop with top researchers without Edge City. This is going to be one of those moments that people talk about in the future where so many impactful things were conceptualized.

Xochi Cazador
COS Optimism Foundation

I was so inspired by the caliber of people, different projects and ambitious concept. It shifted my perspective and reminded me of how important this industry is in helping make a positive change in the world.

Mark Tyneway
OP Labs Co-Founder

I never realized the possibility of social innovation until being part of the Edge community. There is no way that the way we organize our communities today is the best that civilization has to offer. We can dramatically improve our communities and quality of life through some space for experimentation and first principles thinking

Principles

Co-Create and Build

At Edge Esmeralda, we’re focused on building, moving beyond mere consumption of knowledge. The emphasis is on hands-on applications and experiments, with the goal of fostering new technologies, cultures, ideas, and organizations during our month together.

Healthy by Default

Our village promotes health and longevity as a default. This includes organized community workouts, nutritious meals made from local organic ingredients, weekly farmers markets, and partnerships with local restaurants to minimize seed oil use. We aim for all participants to leave healthier than they arrived.

Multigenerational

Our community will include everyone from toddlers to centenarians, fostering an environment where different life stages interact and learn from each other, breaking away from the typical age-segregated settings.

Multidisciplinary

We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise—scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.

Focus on Creation

At Edge Esmeralda, we’re focused on building, moving beyond mere consumption of knowledge. The emphasis is on hands-on applications and experiments, with the goal of fostering new technologies, cultures, ideas, and organizations during our month together.

Healthy by Default

Our village promotes health and longevity as a default. This includes organized community workouts, nutritious meals made from local organic ingredients, weekly farmers markets, and partnerships with local restaurants to minimize seed oil use. We aim for all participants to leave healthier than they arrived.

Multigenerational

Our community will include everyone from toddlers to centenarians, fostering an environment where different life stages interact and learn from each other, breaking away from the typical age-segregated settings.

Multidisciplinary

We believe that there is huge potential for breakthroughs at the intersections of disciplines. Edge Esmeralda is designed to foster collaboration between people with diverse expertise—scientists, artists, engineers, urban planners, philosophers, mechanics, and beyond.

FAQ

Where can I access the latest information for attendees? 

The best place is our blog, which we will update regularly!

What is Edge Esmeralda?

Edge Esmeralda is a "popup village" for people who believe the future can be better and are actively working to make it happen. It is taking place in Healdsburg, California, May 24 - June 21. ‍

We aim for this to be the healthiest and most productive time of your year — a place to go deep in your work and learn from fellow experts in other fields while incubating novel technology and ways of living. ‍

This gathering is also a prototype for a permanent new town, Esmeralda. The lessons we learn will be carried forward to build this long-term vision.

Who is Edge Esmeralda for?

The village will be filled with people who are building towards a brighter future: founders, scientists, urban planners, researchers, engineers, philosophers, storytellers, and beyond. We look for thoughtful people who are curious, kind, and high-agency.

Families with kids are welcome. We will have childcare and fun activities for the whole family throughout the month. One of our major goals is to integrate family life with creative life.

Do I need to come for the whole month?

It's not required, though we encourage you to stay as long as you can. ‍

Those who come for at least several weeks will have the most immersive experience, because a large part of what we are testing is different ways of living and working together. However you'll still have a great experience if you come for a shorter period of time!

Can I bring my kids?

Absolutely! We meant it when we said that we intend for this to be multigenerational. One of our major goals is to integrate family life with creative life.‍

We are offering a kids's camp daily from 9am-4pm. We've created flexible options to accommodate different family needs:

  • Weekly Camp: $450 per week
  • Two-Week Camp: $640
  • Full Month Camp: $1,200

Please note: Parents are asked to contribute at least 4 hours/week, with those of kids under 7 volunteering one full day (or two half days). Scheduling is flexible.

Kids under 2 years old and kids ages 2-12 not participating in camp do not need a ticket to Edge Esmeralda. Kids ages 13-18 can purchase teen tickets for full access.


Read more about our philosophy for kids and families at Edge Esmeralda here!

What will the programming be like? 

We approach programming differently to most events. ‍

  • We are focusing on emergence instead of centrally planning everything. We will create the minimum necessary structure for this to be an excellent event, and then we'll encourage the attendees to participate, engage, and build awesome things on top of the structure we provide.
  • The fact that the event is a month long means that you'll have plenty of opportunity to go deep on various topics of your choice, and to meaningfully connect with other attendees.

If you can't make it for the whole time and you aren't sure when to come, the short answer is: come when you can! You'll be certain to have an engaging time. ‍

We will also publish a live calendar of major programming events by mid-April.

How much will it cost?

We are not making a profit on this event, and we are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Therefore we do charge ticket prices to cover the costs of organizing the event, since it takes resources to create a memorable experience, and it is important that this gathering is self-sustaining.

Ticket prices for Edge Esmeralda 2025 vary based on length of stay and eligibility for discounts:

  • Standard: $2,740/month or $1,008/week
  • Partner/Spouse: $2,058/month or $756/week
  • Ecosystem (builders/scholars): $1,440/month or $529/week
  • Supporter/VC: $7,500/month

Prices will increase closer to the event. Accommodation and meals are not included but available at subsidized rates. Scholarships and local resident tickets will be announced in February 2025. For more details, read our ticketing blog post.

Who are the organizers?
  • Edge City: We convene people working at the frontier of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe. We aspire to be a ‘society incubator’— a lab of experimentation for new ideas, tech, culture, and organizations, all dedicated to accelerating human flourishing.

  • Esmeralda Institute: We are building a new town for multigenerational families who are looking for lifelong learning, a car-light lifestyle, neighborly connections, and a healthy lifestyle in touch with nature. Esmeralda will be a cross between Chautauqua, Las Catalinas, and a college campus.


Why locate this in Healdsburg?

Healdsburg is a beautiful town in Northern California with a rich history and reputation as a center of healthy living. It has a number of great characteristics that make it the perfect place to host Edge Esmeralda: ‍

  • Infectious enthusiasm from local leaders, including the mayor & small businesses
  • Proximity to SF, the tech capital of the world
  • Walkable streets centered around a charming town square
  • Embedded in nature, surrounded by the Russian River & the Mayacama Mountains
  • Sonoma County is a hub for agriculture, healthy living, & sustainability

Where should I stay?

Accommodation isn't included with ticket purchase, so you are responsible for finding your own stay. For full details refer to our housing post.

Once you are accepted, you will be added into a group to coordinate housing with other participants!

We recommend booking early using our negotiated rates:

  • Hotel Trio (weekly or monthly stays; home of our sauna and cold plunge)

We've also partnered with Stay Healdsburg and The Healdsburg Chamber, who are sponsoring Edge Esmeralda through their District Development Program. Visit www.StayHealdsburg.com to book your stay.

Thank you to our Patrons

Hiroshi Nakamura
Fatima Al-Hussaini
Rajesh Patel
Xiuying Chen
Hiroshi Nakamura
Fatima Al-Hussaini
Rajesh Patel
Xiuying Chen
Hiroshi Nakamura
Fatima Al-Hussaini
Rajesh Patel
Xiuying Chen