Often, migrants relocate because of acute disruption: war, disaster, or persecution. Slower forms of violence, however, can lead to lifestyle migration, at once a response to nostalgia and an unsatisfying present. Some young urbanites in Bulgaria seek new possibilities in heavily depopulated rural settings. While rural revitalization is generally viewed across the country as desirable, most rural communities are ill-equipped to receive new arrivals. As a result, urban-rural migrants turn to local and foreign models to remake village life in accordance with their needs, drawing on a mix of traditional lifeways, New Age spirituality, and Western project models to facilitate educational opportunities nearly from scratch. This article investigates village revitalization efforts in Oslen Krivodol, Bulgaria, a village of fewer than 150 residents. The authors seek to understand how young newcomers use cultural exchange, heritage, and alternative educational programming to initiate change in rural spaces, and with what impacts. In this article, two events are described in Oslen--"Oslen Fest" and "Oslen Weekend -- Education in Nature"--whose focus on culture and education are exemplary of broader ideological threads present in revitalization initiatives. Through these prisms, the authors explore the role of immersive participatory events alongside the slower efforts of young families who make homes in this heavily depopulated community.