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With temperatures getting cooler and the leaves changing, it must mean the 30th annual Harvest Moon Festival is approaching.
This year’s festival features 100 booths filled with artists, crafters and makers, along with the forging community doing live blacksmithing demos.
The festival features many long-time favorites, including Burly Babe, Smokey Photo, Waters Edge Art and Leather Eagle Customs. Some new vendors are Anja Parenteau Pottery, White Pine Artworks, B Friendly and Rabuck Handmade Knives & Leather. These are just a few of the new and returning vendors.
The food court features Curbside Crepes, Becky’s Oriental, SB Concessions and many other favorites. There are two new area trucks: Rose Cottage Baking from Cook, with its baked goods, and Grilled Cheese Galore from Gilbert, with grilled cheese everyone will love. Of course, the Ely Kiwanis are in the Pavilion, dishing out delicious pie, coffee, ice cream and other treats.
“Ely’s Harvest Moon Festival has been selected as one of the top 20 fall festivals. The public can help by scanning the QR Codes around the park and voting. In addition, we have an option for the public to select their favorite food vendor using QR code voting. Food vendor voting closes on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 5 p.m., and awards are announced on Sunday morning,” said Kristen Switajewski, festival coordinator.
Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Vendor setup is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5; vehicles are allowed in Whiteside Park during setup and again during the post-festival breakdown on Sunday. The festival map and vendor list will be available online at Ely.org on the events page after Aug. 30.
Harvest Days starts on Thursday, Sept. 5, and runs through Sunday, Sept. 8, in the storefront businesses. It begins a day ahead of the festival, so visiting vendors can have time to shop. There are sales, special events and featured products as part of Harvest Days. A map with participating stores available starting on Aug. 30, at Ely. org/events.
