The Fifteenth Annual Margaretville Cauliflower Festival will be held rain or shine Saturday, Sept. 22 from 10 to 4 in the Village Park, Margaretville.
This free festival, sponsored by the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, is focused on the agricultural heritage of the region, once known for its outstanding cauliflower. The festival is a Catskill Mountain Scenic Byway annual event and is presided over by Callie, the Cauliflower Spirit.
The tractor parade will roll out of the Margaretville Central School parking lot at 11:30 a.m., headed for the festival grounds. Tractor owners who would like to participate are asked to call Lauren Davis, 586-4661 or Sally Fairbairn, 586-2813 to register and meet at the school at 11.
Local restaurants and organizations, like the Masons who will serve up barbecue chicken and the Fleischmanns-Pine Hill Rotary Club with their ice cream stand, will sell a variety of treats, with lots of dishes featuring cauliflower.
On overflowing Pure Catskills tent will tempt festival goers with seasonal produce and local products, including fresh cauliflower, offered by area farmers and makers.
Blues musician Mike Herman and folk singer Jason Starr, perennial crowd favorites, will perform alternate sets on the hour from Noon until 3:30 p.m.
Children will enjoy games like a cauliflower bean bag toss, crafts assisted by MCS art students, a petting zoo and pony rides and other fun activities.
Participants in the second annual Catskill Conquest, vintage cars traveling part of the rouet of the 1903 Endurance Run along the Byway, will stop at the festival to show off their vehicles.
The history of the cauliflower growing industry in the region will be featured in the History Tent. A scavenger hunt will occupy the kids while grownups peruse a new exhibit by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, “Guns and Butter,” on the impact of World War I on local farms and foodways.
The artisan’s tent will feature pottery, jewelry, sewn goods, knit items, hand-made dolls, wood bowls, art prints and cards, outdoor driftwood furniture and more. More than 60 vendors will be on hand, including non-profit organizations and agencies like Soil & Water Conservation District whose staff will use a stream table to demonstrate how water, and human intervention, help shape the land.
The festival is supported by Adams Fairacre Farms, WIOX Community Radio; HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley; Directive, Inc.; the Watershed Agricultural Council and Pure Catskills.
For regular updates on the festival, visit facebook.com/margaretvillecauliflowerfestival.