Taste Makers Invited to Farm Fest

Hudson, NY — Food entrepreneurs are invited to delight the palates of those attending Farm Fest '05 Saturday, October 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. There are remaining spaces available for caterers, church groups, restaurateurs and others with tasty offerings to sell. The sign up deadline is September 9th.  Please click here for a vendor application.

Produced by the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and now in its third year, Farm Fest '05 is a family-oriented celebration of local agriculture featuring food, music, exhibits, children's activities, and farm animals. Designed to showcase the exceptional agricultural diversity in the county, the festival has proven to be a unique opportunity for farmers and foresters to sell their product as well as tell their story.

Dozens of farms and related businesses will provide information that builds a better understanding of the county's agricultural and forest products and showcases their wares.  The farmer exhibits and food vendors will give festival-goers the choice of eating in or

taking home delicious, farm-fresh foods.

Food vendors are invited to cook up their best using locally grown ingredients wherever possible. If the chicken in a chicken barbecue cannot be obtained locally, then the potato salad or other side dishes should be Columbia County produce. Those selling cheeseburgers, as another example, should obtain their cheese from milk produced in Columbia County. (Cabot and MaCadam Cheeses are made from Columbia County milk.) Vendors selling local products will be noted as such in the Farm Fest program.

Vendor space is available both indoors and out, ranging in size from 10' x 10' to 10' x 20'.  Electricity is available, if needed. The fee for food vendors and any other exhibitors who sells products is $35. (There is no fee for those putting up an educational display, workshop or program where no items are sold.) All vendors are entitled to free passes based on booth space. Vendors can set-up on Friday afternoon.

Among the many featured attractions is the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, meet and greet with animals, walk about musicians and entertainers, storytellers, a hay maze and hay jump, farm equipment displays, hands-on activities for children, and much more.

Admission, which includes parking and raffle tickets, is $5 per person. Children 12 and under enter for free. The fairgrounds on Route 66 provides ample parking.

Farm Fest ‘05 is produced by the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce with overwhelming support from The Columbia Land Conservancy. Additional supporters include the Columbia County Agricultural Society, Columbia County Farm Bureau, Community Supported Agriculture of Columbia County , First Pioneer Farm Credit ACA, Assemblyman Patrick Manning, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia County , the Columbia Hudson Partnership, Hudson River Bank & Trust Company Foundation, and the Green Pastures Grant awarded by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

Sponsors include: American Farmland Trust, The Berry Farm, Beckenrah Farm, Coach Dairy Goat Farm and Trustco Bank. Media Sponsors include: The Independent Newspaper, The Register Star and Clear Channel Radio of the Hudson Valley . Hudson River Bank & Trust Company Foundation is the lead sponsor of the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show. Additional sponsors include: Dunn Builders Supply, Davis Tractor & Turf, Inc. and Meltz Lumber.

For vendor or sponsorship information call the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce at 828-4417.