Bath Farmers Market expanded for Harvest Moon

Hot Springs, Va. –

The Bath County Farmer’s Market is wrapping up its season on Saturday September 22, in conjunction with the Harvest Moon Festival. The Market will have expanded hours that day from 9 until 4.

Mary Hodges is one of the Market Managers of the Bath County Farmer’s Market.

“The Farmer’s Market is going to be bigger and better than ever,” says Hodges. “We on average usually have around fifteen to twenty vendors on any given Saturday. We are hoping to have at least thirty or more on that Saturday. So I’m getting applications in the mail daily from interested vendors outside of our area. And still welcome others if there are folks out there that think you might want to participate and have a craft or a skill that you could bring to the market, we certainly would like to hear from you.”

In addition to the expanded Farmer’s Market, other Harvest Moon activities throughout the day include a silent auction at the Hot Springs Fire Department to benefit Bath Animal Welfare, a farm tour and activities at Hidden Valley Bed and Breakfast, a dinner to benefit Relay for Life and a free concert at Garth Newel Music Center. The Harvest Moon Festival is also featuring a photography contest and a hay bale decorating contest. The winners will be announced at the Farmers’ Market that day at 3pm.

“In addition to all the wonderful food vendors that we normally have, we may have a couple new ones as well,” says Hodges. “Mr. Puffenbarger will be there with his barbequed ribs and chicken and pies and so forth. The VFW is going to be there with their popcorn. There will be a cartoonist who comes occasionally and is always a big hit. And we’re also having live music for the entire day from 9 until 4. So there’s going to be a lot of activities, a lot of activities for children will be available throughout the day as well.”

Hodges is happy with the success of this year’s Bath County Farmers Market.

“One of the highlights has certainly been the alpacas,” says Hodges. “They have been producing babies all summer long and Vanessa has brought these little baby alpacas that are just weeks old. That’s always a big hit. The residents in the area that have grandchildren that come to visit throughout the summer, they always bring their grandchildren to go over and pet these alpacas. So that’s always been a highlight. The kid’s activities have really grown this summer and Leslie Brunner and Debbie Chaplin have done a tremendous job with all kinds of planned children’s activities. We’ve had a really good turnout with that. So seeing a lot of children and seeing a lot of families there and then this year we had music most weekends. We featured a lot of local artists that were just terrific and added so much to the atmosphere of the market.”

The Bath County Farmer’s Market is open Saturdays from 9 until 1 in the gravel parking lot in downtown Hot Springs. The expanded Market is Saturday September 22 during the Harvest Moon Festival.

For more information contact Mary Hodges at 540-839-2407 or email her at mary@homesteadpreserve.com