Celebrating the new season: YGP Harvest Festival will take place Saturday, Sept. 23

The Youth Garden Project’s 5th annual Harvest Festival will take place on Saturday, Sept. 23, from 3 to 7 p.m. at YGP (530 S. 400 E.). The free event is open to the public and provides the community with a fun night out, while also bringing awareness to the YGP mission to “cultivate healthy children, families, and community through educational programs and connecting people with food from seed to table.”

“It’s a celebration of community and being in a garden space that time of year in the fall,” said Jessie Shalvey, YGP’s outreach and development coordinator. “Moab doesn’t always feel like fall, and this unique event creates that atmosphere. It’s for all ages, and it’s a fun way to meet your neighbors and learn more about the garden.” 

YGP grows approximately 3,000 pounds of food each year, with 20% of that being donated to the community. Food plays a significant role in the day-to-day operations at the garden, as well as the festival, which has no shortage of exhibitions and contests that celebrate the harvest season. 

The Blue Ribbon Produce contest, a staple of the event, will return with a variety of categories. Local gardeners can enter homegrown produce in categories including best classic fruit or vegetable, best floral arrangement, rarest fruit or vegetable, and largest melon or squash. Gardeners and non-gardeners alike are encouraged to enter their “best veggie creature”, a category where participants can create a crafty creature from produce they have grown or sourced from the grocery store.

Local makers can participate in the jam, hot sauce, and pie competitions, as well as enter homemade pickles, a new category. Harvest Festival attendees will have a chance to sample each submission and will vote on winners. 

This year’s festival will also be full of interactive activities for all ages that demonstrate what the garden is all about. The garden scavenger hunt gives participants an opportunity to take in all the garden has to offer while searching for clues and items for the chance at winning a prize. The fan-favorite donut on a string will return, along with last year’s newcomer: carrot on a string, a fun challenge that brings a lot of laughs, along with sweet and crunchy snacks. For $5 per ticket, the Pie Walk will award a top three, with YGP pies as the take home prize. There will also be a ‘Gaga-pit’, a newly built addition that will introduce the high-energy game, Gaga, to the festivities.

Live music will set the tone for the afternoon and evening with performances from The Prairie Dogs, a local youth band, and Brian Laidlaw, a local singer-songwriter. 

There will be a plethora of food, including popcorn, Wild Bloom kombucha, and vegetable snacks, plus YGP-made pies, quesadillas, and corn on the cob. 

If you plan on entering the Blue Ribbon Produce Contest, you can submit your entry a week before the event. If you’re interested in volunteering for the Harvest Festival, contact Jessie Shalvey at jessie@youthgardenproject.org or 435-259-2326.