The Farm to Family Festival returns to Dalton this Saturday for the fourth year to celebrate local agriculture.
The event brings a day of educational cooking and gardening demonstrations, more than 20 vendors and family fun to Streamside Park.
The annual event was started in 2023 with the goal of establishing a mutually-supportive relationship between farmers and community members.
“They support us with good and local food and nutrition, and we can support them by making sure that they get to sustain themselves,” said Terra McAuliffe, festival chair and president of the Dalton Community and Commerce Association, the organization presenting the event.
McAuliffe said the festival continues to grow. This year, it expands into town with a sidewalk sale, touch-a-truck and fundraising event at the Dalton Fire Company and free music at Platt Park.
“We want to bring attention to our local agriculture, but also our beautiful town of Dalton,” she said.
American Sign Language interpreters will be available throughout the day during educational demonstrations and throughout the festival to aid in interactions with vendors. The event attracts several members of the deaf community each year, and it creates a connection vendors look forward to, McAuliffe said.
“It’s one of the things that makes this event really unique and special, and also brings the community together in a different way,” she said.
All proceeds benefit the community-supportive programs and projects of the Dalton Community and Commerce Association, a volunteer-run organization of individuals and businesses dedicated to the improvement and growth of the Dalton area.
If you go
Vendors will offer a wide variety of goods, food, services and information. There will be a children’s tent with activities involving bees, monarchs, crafts and music.
Presenters will teach about garlic growing, regenerative farming and more on cooking, gardening and nutrition all day. Jeremy Lewan, a meteorologist at WNEP-16, will be the keynote speaker and host a clouds in a jar workshop.
Click here for the activity and presentation schedule and a list of vendors.
Volunteers with blue shirts will direct attendees to available parking throughout the town.
MORE EVENTS
For a comprehensive list of events and attractions throughout Northeast Pennsylvania, visit DiscoverNEPA.
McAuliffe advised first-time visitors to be prepared to stay awhile.
“That way, you can maybe catch a presentation that you like, wander and speak to our vendors, enjoy some food from the food trucks and just allow yourself to even wander throughout town,” she said.
The Farm to Family Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Find more information on the Dalton Community and Commerce Association on Facebook.
