BALDWINSVILLE — With recent temperatures in the 70s and 80s, it might not feel like autumn is just around the corner, but perhaps the Golden Harvest Festival will put you in a fall frame of mind.
The annual festival, which takes place Sept. 10 and 11 at Beaver Lake Nature Center, features horse-drawn hayrides, free canoeing lessons, contests, artisan vendors and, of course, Beaver Lake’s freshly made cider doughnuts.
“All I’ve heard about for the last three months is these doughnuts, so I cannot wait to try them,” said Amanda Accamando, who was named director of BLNC earlier this summer.
In addition to ringing in the beginning of a new season, Golden Harvest marks the community’s return to gatherings as the summer wave of the COVID pandemic subsides.
“We’ve seen that people are ready to return to large outdoor events like festivals,” Accamando said.
Festival organizers are dedicated to “making sure everybody feels safe and has a great experience,” Accamando said. If the festival becomes too crowded, admission will be temporarily closed. Once some attendees head home, others can enter the festival once again.
Accamando said Golden Harvest has “a little something for everybody.”
“We have an eclectic mix of live music and performances — everything from comic juggling to a magician to animal demonstrations, classic rock bands, roots and blues music,” she said.
The festival has more than 75 arts and crafts vendors registered to participate.
“We recommend that people bring their reusable bags so they can load up,” Accamando said.
Festivalgoers can enter a number of competitions: the Living Scarecrow Contest, Wild Critter Call and Pie Eating Contest. The “Super Natural Midway” ($1 to play) features games such as Beaver Tail Toss and Leapin’ Lily Pads. Hayrides ($3) and balloon art ($2) are fan favorites as well.
There are plenty of free activities at the festival too, including a nature trail scavenger hunt, canoeing and the Nature’s Niche hands-on craft station near the Arboretum.
Visitors also can admire the festive displays put together by Beaver Lake volunteers.
“Our volunteers here at Beaver Lake Nature Center take a lot of pride in creating life-size scarecrow scenes,” Accamando said. “Our volunteers are a big part of what makes this event run. We have over 200 volunteers who participate on event day and we have hundreds more behind the scenes working in the months and weeks leading up to the event. The community really supports us in finding volunteers to help with this event.”
The 44th annual Golden Harvest Festival takes place 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at Beaver Lake Nature Center, located at 8477 East Mud Lake Road in Lysander. Admission is $5 for adults, $1 for children ages 6 to 17, and free for children 5 and under. The ticket booth only accepts cash.
For parking information, event schedule and festival map, visit onondagacountyparks.com/parks/beaver-lake-nature-center/golden-harvest-festival/.
