With two days of entertainment, activities, local foods and education, the 5th Annual FarmFest will take over the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall on Friday and Saturday.
Presented by the Spring Mills-based Pennsylvania Certified Organic, the event will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free and all-day parking is $5.
FarmFest is a community event designed to educate on organic agriculture and sustainability through fun and informative activities in a festival setting.
The Organic Valley Family Arena will be a hub for family fun both days, with live music, hands-on activities, a kids’ parade and animal stations. Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center will have a raptors station from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, while Ashburn Animals will share farm animal fun from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days and Reptiland will present biodiversity shows at 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Friday
The arena also will have face painting on both days, interactive music performances, environmental activities and crafts, and more.
The main stage will feature live music on both days. On Friday, Dilly Beans performs from 3:30-4:15 p.m. followed by a live at 5 broadcast by 98.7FM The FREQ with Sean Farley, and Eric Ian Farmer at 6 p.m. Saturday’s performances will include Harold Taddy at 1:30 p.m., The Tommy Roberts at 3 p.m., The One-Man Psychic Beat at 4 p.m., and Black Cat Belly Dance & Friends at 5:15 p.m.
An organic barbecue dinner ($10) will be served from 7-9 p.m. Friday while The Rounders provide the music for a barn dance from 8-10:30 p.m. in Rodale Education Hall.
On Saturday, the Education Hall will host educational seminars from Spring Creek Homesteading on food fermentation (10 a.m.), home canning (11 a.m.), fresh eggs and backyard chickens (1 p.m.) and using local, in-season harvests for cooking (2 p.m.). Throughout the morning and afternoon on both days, the Wool Village will feature knitting demonstrations, kids activities and vendors.
Saturday morning gets started with a Family Fun Run, Walk and Stampede, with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m and the run getting under way at 9 a.m. With a one-mile shaded course through the fairgrounds, the run puts the emphasis on fun and pets, costumes and any mode of travel that doesn’t have a motor are welcomed.
The Friends & Farmers Cooperative sponsors a People’s Choice Pie Contest on Saturday, with an amateur and professional category for people who either bake professionally or sell their own pies, categories for children ages 8-17 and adults, and sweet, savory or gluten-free categories. Pies will be collected from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and samples will be available in the Organic Food Court for visitors to taste and judge from 1-3 p.m.
The food court will feature a range of regional vendors throughout the weekend and a homemade and homegrown market will give attendees the opportunity to meet and buy from more than a dozen local businesses.
Several speakers will talk on a variety of issues. Miles McEvoy, National Organic Program Deputy Administrator, will give Friday’s keynote on organic labeling and certification at 11:30 a.m., while University of Vermont environmental studies lecturer Brian Tokar will deliver Saturday’s keynote on federal regulations and genetically-engineered crops. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Penn State Professor Edward Jaenicke are among other speakers on the festival schedule.
For more on FarmFest 2016, visit farmfest.paorganic.org/.
