BRATTLEBORO- Celebrate the season of bounty with the second annual Harvest Festival at Fair Winds Farm on Friday, September 19. Enjoy a leisurely stroll or ride the wagon out to the field for a dinner of locally grown food. A horse-drawn hayride, camp fire, and local harvest music will fill the mind with memories and the heart with good cheer for the months to come.

This local meal will be prepared by Tristan Toleno, of the Riverview Cafe, and will feature organic chicken, free-range ham or grass-fed lamb, all grown at Fair Winds Farm. Winter squash, potatoes, slabs of fresh tomato, and more come from Fair Winds, Picadilly, and other local farms. For dessert try fruit salad, a slice of melon, or baked apples. The festival will be held under a tent in the midst of meadows, trees, and hills just showing the beginning of their fall colors.

Good food is just the start of the evening’s festivities. Climb into the hay-filled wagon for a peaceful ride through fields and woods behind a team of Suffolk draft horses. Gather around a campfire to hear local musicians Megan and Dan MacArthur, Jason Breen, and Jay Bailey as they play a wide range of harvest music.

Dinner will be served from 5 to 7 pm; music and hayrides will continue into the evening. Advance tickets are $18 for adults, $10 for kids with half-sized appetites, with a family maximum of $50 (2 adults plus their kids) available at the Fair Winds Farm Store on Upper Dummerston Road (open daylight hours every day). At the door tickets cost $22 for adults, $12 for kids, with a $60 family maximum (two adults plus their kids). The farm is located across from the Brattleboro Country Club off Route 30. For more information call (802) 254-7128.