Bath Harvest Moon fest this Saturday

Hot Springs, Va. –

The second annual Harvest Moon Festival in Bath County is Saturday. A photo contest is a new addition to the festival this year. Ninety photos were submitted for judging. The winners will be announced Saturday at 3 o’clock at the Farmer’s Market in downtown Hot Springs. Maggie Anderson is the Director of Tourism for Bath County.

“I was so pleased with the entries for the photo contest, the creativity, the imagination,” says Anderson. “And what was great is that we not only got submissions from local community folks and some kids which was really wonderful, it’s always wonderful to see things through a kids’ eyes view, but we got some from our guests as well. This is exactly what we were looking for. We want people in our community to go out and look and see Bath County in a different way and help us sell it through their eyes. And they did a great job with that, as did our guests.”

Unique hay bales are springing up around Bath for the Harvest Moon hay bale decorating contest. Maps showing all entries should be ready by mid week. They will be available on the County of Bath Facebook page, at the Chamber or you can call the Tourism Office to have one sent to you. The Tourism Office’s hay bale is at the gazebo in Warm Springs, at the intersection of Route 220 and Route 39.

“I want everybody to know that love has come to Bath County,” says Anderson. “We have a terrific hay bale. Mark Nelson from Parks and Recreation created it for us. As you all know, Virginia is for Lovers and the icon for Virginia is for Lovers is this gigantic love sign. We really want people to come support love in Bath County, so if you happen to be driving by stop and take your picture by the love sign. And then send it to us at Facebook. We will post it and we will post it to Virginia.org. This will really help put Bath County on the map. And while you’re at it if you tell us what you love or who you love, when you send your picture, we’ll post that too.”

The Harvest Moon Festival is Saturday from 9 to 4. Activities in downtown Hot Springs include an expanded Farmers Market and a silent auction at the Fire Department to benefit Bath Animal Welfare. Farm tours and kids activities will be available at Hidden Valley Bed and Breakfast from noon to four, with shuttle bus transportation available. At Garth Newel Music Center beginning at 6, Bath Relay for Life is offering a BBQ dinner. The cost is $10 and tickets should be purchased in advance. Tickets are available at the Chamber office or by calling Trudy Woodzell at 540-969-7194. Following the dinner, country artist Linda Lay and Springfield Exit will provide a free concert beginning at 8pm.

“I do want to let people know that we had to cancel the Harvest Moon bike ride that we have as a part of this event,” says Anderson. “We did not have enough advance registration to make the effort worthwhile for our volunteers and all the people that have to come out and help. We are not abandoning the idea of the ride. We are finding that rides are very popular and because of the colors and the leaves changing they’re very popular in September. So we’re going to be talking to some professional cyclists and some organizers and see if we can’t bring this ride back, but at a time that’s more accessible to our cyclists.”

For more information on Saturday’s Harvest Moon Festival, contact Maggie Anderson at 540-839-7202.