To celebrate the fall harvest and the bounty of crops available in North Carolina, the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market will host its first Harvest Festival Oct. 1 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visitors will find fun activities for the family, plus can shop N.C. sweet potatoes, grapes, apples, grains and pumpkins. N.C. breweries and wineries will be offering local beers and wines. There will be a pumpkin decorating contest for all ages, kid’s games, face painting, and a sweet potato dessert recipe contest to highlight the state vegetable. Guests can sample N.C. mountain grown apples to pick which variety they like best. Local food trucks from the Charlotte area will also be onsite serving their best local dishes.
A total of $250 in prize money is up for grabs in the sweet potato dessert recipe contest. Sweet potatoes should be the main ingredient and each recipe must contain at least two North Carolina grown sweet potatoes. Entries should be submitted in a disposable container and dropped off at the office or the Got to Be NC Building (with red doors) between 9 and 11 a.m. Judging takes place at noon, with the winners announced at 2 p.m.
The Charlotte Regional Farmers Market is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. offering shoppers locally grown fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, wines and specialty foods, plus seasonal products from N.C. nurseries, greenhouses and Christmas tree farms. The market is located at 1801 Yorkmont Road, easily accessible from South Tryon Street, Tyvola Road, Interstate 77 and I-85.
-30-1