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Garden Park’s harvest festival is Saturday

Sonoma Ecology Center is celebrating the fall harvest season with Harvest Festival 2012 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at Sonoma Garden Park.

Hundreds of Sonoma residents and their families gather for this annual celebration, and all proceeds support the work of Sonoma Ecology Center and its operation of Sonoma Garden Park, a publicly accessible model of sustainable agriculture and a hub of learning for children and adults.

The festival boasts live music, hands-on children’s activities (including scarecrow building, arts-and-crafts projects, pumpkin carving and decorating), a pie competition, tractor rides, a pumpkin patch, a raffle, food and beverage sales, a harvest market and plant sale, and the Garden’s ever-popular straw bale fort.

Kicking off the day, acoustic guitarists Connor Ross and Werner Hofmarcher – also known as the Bare Necessities – will entertain guests with a mix of folk and rock songs.

Headlining the event, local acoustic quartet the Cork Pullers (featuring El Verano school teacher Tim Curley) will entertain guests with both original and cover songs, highlighted by their signature Sonoma-style country twang.

The pie contest is an event highlight. Members of the community are invited to enter their homemade pies and vie for top honors. A panel of local celebrities will judge the pies and awards will be given.

After the contest, festival-goers can buy a sample of the entered pies. Entry is $5 a pie, and pie contest registrants enjoy free admission to the festival.

For additional information or to register, contact Marcia Duval at 996-0712, ext. 111 or piecontest@sonomaecologycenter.org.

The event sponsors, include Benziger Family Winery, Bi-Rite Market, Exchange Bank and SolarCraft, Inc. 

Advance tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for children 6-years-old and up, and are available at sonomaharvestfestival.brownpapertickets.com.

Tickets purchased at the door are $15 for adults, $7 for children, while children 5 and under are free.

Sonoma Garden Park is located at 19996 Seventh St. E., Sonoma, between Denmark and MacArthur streets.