A festival celebrating local produce is taking place this weekend.
The Fort Saskatchewan Harvest Festival will be back at Legacy Park on Saturday after a two-year hiatus (Aug. 27). Everything is ready to go, according to organiser Dennis Stelmack who noted the community's support and sponsorship of the event have been "overwhelming."
"With school starting right now, we feel that we're going to get a crazy turnout, which is fantastic," said Stelmack.
Starting at 11:30 a.m., families can enjoy various activities, from bouncy castles to games, a raffle, and live music in the park. At the end of the day, everyone will gather for a "space balloon launch," where a balloon will take off into space and photograph the earth for festival goers.
"That's when the day kind of winds up," said Stelmack. "It's what sets us apart from every other festival; so, Smokey Lake has a pumpkin smash, we have a space balloon launch."
You can also find vendors at the harvest festival, but the main attraction is the vegetable market, where you can fill a bag with produce grown by community kids for $5 as part of the "Grow Your Own" project.
The project offers kids an opportunity to spend time unplugged while learning how to grow their own food and where it comes from while also giving back to the community. Produce that is not consumed during the project is donated to the Food Bank.
"I look at it as a pay it forward project – more and more people are looking to the food bank to help out, and we support the food bank."
At the market, you'll find potatoes, carrots, beets, lettuce, horseradish, apples, zucchini, green beans, yellow beans, purple beans, and squash.
There is no admission fee for the festival, but non-perishable food donations for the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank are welcome.
Harvest Festival runs from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Legacy Park in Fort Saskatchewan.