Greenfield Harvest Festival celebrates local traditions and community.

Vendors, music and community activities will be brought to downtown Greenfield for the annual Harvest Festival in an afternoon celebrating the region’s agricultural heritage on Sunday, Oct. 18. 

The event takes place along Walnut Avenue to Apple Avenue and typically features about 70 to 100 vendors, stages and performers, folklórico dancers, and a cornhole competition between the police and fire departments, according to Administrative Assistant to City Manager, Aaron Chavez. 

The event traces its roots to the Broccoli Festival, which began in the 1980s and grew from a local Swiss picnic. It was held at Oak Park, where vendors experimented with broccoli dishes — including tacos and tamales.

In the early 2000s, organizers shifted to the Harvest Festival name to recognize the wider variety of crops grown in the valley.

The event has also become an opportunity for students to serve their community and seek scholarship support. High school seniors can volunteer at the festival and submit an essay responding to a prompt to possibly receive $500. This year's prompt is a hardship they encountered growing up in the City. 

Currently there are 72 volunteers and 38 essays submitted, according to Chavez. Winners will be announced at the event.

The festival has previously drawn large crowds. Chavez added that the most attendees were almost 20,000 people.

“It’s more than just your average farmers market or food festival,” he said. With entertainment, local vendors and a renewed focus on the harvest, the festival aims to bring residents, businesses and visitors together in Greenfield.

The festival will run on Sunday, from noon to 6:30 pm.  

For more information visit; www.greenfieldca.gov/Calendar