Contributed by Mike Feazel
The first annual Fluvanna Family Fall Festival will celebrate families, local arts & crafts, music and food trucks, plus a beer garden, organizers said. The event is at Pleasant Grove Park will be held Sept. 28 from noon to 5 p.m.
The Family Fall Festival will feature more than 50 vendors including a farmers’ market, a half dozen food trucks, master gardeners, local farmers, artists, a native plants sale, first responders, local foods, handmade crafts and jewelry. Exhibits will include an early 1900s grist mill, a farrier/blacksmith, quilt makers and a wool spinner in traditional colonial clothing
Local on-stage bands will include Jefferson Speedboat, which plays a rock, folk and blues, and Wrong Way Johnny, a blues, soul and rock band. The Fluvanna library will provide fun activities for kids.
Among the exhibitors will be John and Olivia’s Bed and Breakfast from Walton’s Mountain in Schuyler, in Nelson County., home of “The Waltons” creator Earl Hamner Jr., plus Fluvanna SPCA, ARTS of Fluvanna Studio Tour and the Fluvanna Historical Society. The Sacred Acres Alpaca Farm will have alpacas in the animal area, and the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Department, Fluvanna Emergency Management, and fire and rescue staff and equipment will be on display.
Festival food trucks include Sabor Latino, Hi-D Pops, Freedom Drip, Simply Trending Foods and Valentine’s Kettle Corn.
Admission is $2 or donation of a non-perishable food item for adults, free for children.
The Fluvanna Family Fall Festival is being organized by a group of unaffiliated county residents who were inspired by the lamented Old Farm Day. The group met through a Fluvanna Leadership Development Program project, began the planning there, and continued working for a year after completing the class to bring it to fruition. The group includes Carol Sorber, Steve Lindauer, Sean Brennan, Amanda Galloway and Jeff Cook.
“Vendor spots are filling up, but we are still accepting applications until Sept. 14,” Galloway said. “We are especially looking for Fluvanna farmers and agriculture folks to get involved.”
The festival is being sponsored the by Fluvanna Leadership Alumni Group (FLAG), Fluvanna Rotary, Pleasant Grove, “Find Fluvanna” and the county government. More information is on the Fluvanna Family Fall Festival Facebook page.
“The festival will celebrate a variety of the things that make Fluvanna such a special place,” said Galloway. “This festival is the result of almost a year of hard work and planning, after completing the leadership class,” said Brennan. Lindauer said “the time and effort to coordinate and develop an event like this is extraordinary, but we think it will be worth every bit of it.”
