Vendors, food, games, music at Harvest Fest

BENNINGTON - Harvest Fest is coming to downtown on Saturday, October 15, from 10 am to 5 pm. The festival will close down Main Street, School Street, and Pleasant Street as well as filling up Merchants Park with activities, vendors, food, music, and more. Bring the entire family downtown for a fun-filled day to celebrate the season. This event is free and open to the public with plenty of parking downtown.
There will be over 50 vendors, 25 activities, four stages with 13 performances, wandering characters, and a demonstration by the Medieval Jousters. Several downtown restaurants will be serving on the street with food trucks rounding out the culinary options, including Filipino, Mexican, and Jamaican.
School Street will house a cornhole competition and the sign-up sheets will be available ahead of time at https://www.betterbennington.com/event-details/harvest-festival. This will also be linked from the Facebook page.
There will be a pumpkin carving and painting station where kids of all ages can purchase a pumpkin and have access to all the materials needed to create their masterpieces with adult guidance. Tickets for pumpkin purchase and a few of the activities will be available at two Better Bennington Corporation info booths, where there will also be guessing games, an option to participate in judging the windows of the downtown shops, and downtown merchant gift baskets that will be raffled. Watch the website and Facebook for details.
Adults will have the option to enjoy adult beverages outside at Farm Road Brewing, The Angry Egg II, Madison’s Brewery, and Your Belly’s Deli. Bennington Pizza plans outdoor seating as well. Several of the downtown merchants will offer specials and sales and the full list of these will be available on the website, the Facebook event page, and the info booths.
Downtown business couch+cork is hosting a create-your-own charcuterie in both adult and kid versions and there will be face painters and a local hair-braiding star. Kids will find a large bouncy house in Merchants Park along with vendors and music for everyone to enjoy. There will also be painting lessons, a photo booth, free activities, and games throughout, including an escape room hosted by Mission City Church.