WARDSBORO — When the autumn leaves are done falling and the nights get frosty, local farmers start harvesting Gilfeather Turnips for the annual Gilfeather Turnip Festival.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., people will come from all over New England to celebrate Vermont's state vegetable.
Tents big and small set up on Main Street will be filled with craft and farmers' market vendors, and the turnip cart will be filled with multiple bushels of freshly dug turnips. Turnips are sold by the pound, along with Gilfeather seed packets.
The festival, now in its 17th year, raises funds for the Friends of the Wardsboro Library to support the Gloria Danforth Memorial Building. It is the organization's largest community fundraising event. This free event takes place rain, snow, or shine. A donation is suggested for parking.
A featured part of the festival is the annual turnip contest, free for all to enter. Contestants may register Gilfeather turnips in one or more categories from 10 a.m. to noon upstairs in the Town Hall.
Contest categories are: largest grown in Wardsboro; largest grown outside Wardsboro; best turnip name; and best strange and funny turnip.
The largest turnip, measured by total weight with greens, will be awarded grand champion of the festival.
Winners are announced and ribbons awarded immediately after the judging. All children age 12 and younger who enter a turnip will receive an honorable-mention award ribbon.
The Turnip Soup Cart outside Town Hall serves homemade turnip donuts and coffee beginning at 10 a.m., followed by Gilfeather Turnip Soup for takeout beginning at 11 a.m.
Inside Town Hall, The Turnip Café opens for turnip lunch samplings at 11 a.m. Local cooks peel, slice, and shred the tubers to make the creamy Gilfeather turnip soup, served until the food runs out.
Jimmy Knapp, described by festival organizers as “Wardsboro's own strolling troubadour,” loves to serenade visitors throughout the festival with his original Gilfeather turnip ballads and many more of his original guitar compositions. Marvin Bentley will perform outside the entrance to the Town Office on Main Street.
The Wardsboro School Club is sponsoring face painting and games throughout the day to entertain the younger set.
At 2 p.m., the drawing for the Friends of the Wardsboro Library's annual “Best Raffle Ever” takes place at Town Hall. This year's prize is a one-of-a-kind, hand-quilted Vermont-themed wall hanging, custom made and donated by Christy Foote-Smith. Details are available at the library's website or at the festival until the drawing. The winner need not be present.
The Gilfeather turnip, designated the Vermont state vegetable in 2016, has the added distinction of being the only turnip included in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalog comprised of only the best-tasting endangered foods.
“Wardsboro farmer John Gilfeather could never have imagined that one day his town and the state of Vermont would celebrate and honor his humble tuber that he first propagated in the early 1900s,” event organizers write.
A complete vendor list and more information is available at friendsofwardsborolibrary.org.