Strawbale Harvest Festival will offer local food, music, art – and, of course, wine

This paid event listing is sponsored by Strawbale Winery.

Talk about a tasty way to celebrate the end of harvest.

Strawbale Winery’s annual Harvest Festival will be held this year from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 9 and offer more activities than ever.

“We take time to celebrate the end of harvest and celebrate our customers on the second Saturday in October,” said events coordinator Elizabeth Schumacher. “So not only is it a free event, but you’ll find special discounts for our wines and ciders that day to make this an event you don’t want to miss.”

This year’s festival, which is being co-organized with Illuminate Real Estate, is expected to draw at least 1,200 people and will offer something for all ages.

There will be three food trucks, artists selling their work and vendors selling locally made jams, jellies, pickles and honey, along with a dessert vendor.

Kids can paint a pumpkin for $2, feed the chickens, get their face painted, play a game of corn bag toss and visit a petting zoo.

“And ,of course, there are lots of beverages,” Schumacher said. “We’ll have a wine tasting tent, wines by the glass, wine-based slushies, craft and domestic beers, and wines by the bottle. For the kids, we’ve got our popular blue raspberry slushies, pop and juice boxes.”

One piece of advice: Try the hot apple raspberry mulled wine. ‘Tis the season!

“Our harvest went well – grapes enjoy the warm, dry days we had this year,” Schumacher said.

“It was a solid day of picking, fighting off wasps and chatting with those picking with you. We have Frontenac Gris and La Crescent grapes here at Strawbale. Our grower, who also is in Minnehaha County, brought us amazing grapes as well. They are all destemmed, crushed and processed and transitioning from juice to wine.”

The whole visitor season has gone well, Schumacher added.

“We are fortunate to be able to be outside. It’s always fun to hear the stories people have as we visit. From travelers to folks out for the day, when people come to the winery, they are looking to relax and chat.”

Click here for information and to set your reminder for this year’s Harvest Festival.