Harvest Festival Returns to The Farmers’ Museum on September 14 & 15

Each fall, this regional favorite brings together a wide variety of performers, artisans, and vendors.

Saturday and Sunday, September 14 & 15, 2024 • 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, NY

$17.50 adults (13-64), $12.50 seniors (65+), $10 juniors (7-12), and FREE for museum members and kids 6 and under. (Go to farmersmuseum.org/free to see all free admission options.) Tickets available at the door on the day of the event.

COOPERSTOWN, NY —  Celebrate the bounty of fall as Harvest Festival returns to The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, taking place Saturday and Sunday, September 14 and 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Since 1978, this family-friendly event has grown to become a regional favorite, bringing together a wide variety of performers, artisans, and vendors.  Situated on the museum’s picturesque grounds near Otsego Lake, it offers the perfect blend of new attractions and trusted favorites. Visit FarmersMuseum.org for a complete schedule.

One-day entry to Harvest Festival: $17.50 adults (13-64), $12.50 seniors (65+), $10 juniors (7-12), children 6 and younger and museum members are free. Purchase tickets at the museum on the day of the event. Free museum admission is also available for those receiving SNAP benefits (up to 4 people) with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.

Find two days of live performances.

The Stoddard Hollow String Band performs its mix of Appalachian old-time tunes, traditional and original music on Saturday. Bill Ackerbauer, an acoustic guitarist who dabbles in harmonica, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and other instruments, will perform acoustic roots music Sunday. Musicians Jim Kimball and Karen Canning perform nineteenth-century tunes on the porch at Bump Tavern. Mr. Kimball has added to the festival’s ambiance since the late 1970s. The Catskill Puppet Theater will hold a delightful musical adaptation of a traditional Ethiopian folktale on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Gerald Fierst, storyteller and actor who appeared in the first two seasons of the HULU series Only Murders in the Building and is the recipient of two Parents Choice Awards for his CDs of world folktale, will give performances on Saturday and Sunday. (See website for a complete schedule of performances.)

There is an abundance of activities for families and kids at Harvest Fest.

At the Crafts Table, kids can make corn husk dolls, paper strip pumpkins, and autumn greeting cards. There will also be face painting, scavenger hunts, and a children’s hay bale maze. Outdoor games include cornhole, nine pins, and some traditional 19th-century games. Ride the Empire State Carousel. The Girl Scouts will be onsite, as well as the Cornell Cooperative Extension and 4-H.

At the Farmstead, find cider pressing, corn shelling and grinding, and as well as horse-drawn wagon rides. In the blacksmith shop, kids can discover how metal is shaped by hammering molding clay which has the feel of hammering hot steel. Have the family sit for an authentic tintype photograph on both Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (weather permitting).

Animals always take the spotlight at Harvest Festival.

Aside from our beautiful farm animals, Hinman Hollow Sport Training will dazzle you with their canine agility and obedience demonstrations.

In the Main Barn, view The Buzz About Pollinators, an interactive exhibit all about bees and the many other insects and organisms like them that help make farming possible.

If you like historical trades, you won’t be disappointed.

Many artisans show off their skills each year.  You’ll also find, quilters, a jeweler, woodworkers, a porcelain painter, bakers, maple producers, and artists, featuring many unique items from the region.

Harvest Festival gives visitors the opportunity to join in and assist our interpreters with common activities from the 19th century such as the harvesting of potatoes. There are interesting happenings in each building in the Country Village including the Blacksmith Shop, the Print Shop, and the Farmhouse.

An abundance of delicious foods from the season’s harvest awaits festival-goers, these include the mouthwatering roasted corn from Our Green Acres, sausage from Beckmann’s, and Tickled Pink BBQ.

Get a head start on your holiday shopping with some new and unique gifts for everyone in the family at Todd’s General Store and The Farmers’ Museum Store.

Visit Fenimore Art Museum on the same day–located just across the street. Get two great museums for one low price when you purchase a two-way ticket for $30 or $22.50 seniors. Two-way tickets can be purchased at the admissions desk of either museum during Harvest Festival. See Fenimore’s exhibitions featuring Bob Dylan Remastered: Drawings from the Road (closing September 15) and Young at Art: A Selection of Caldecott Book Illustrations. The museum and Fenimore Gift Shop are open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For an up-to-date schedule and other information, please visit FarmersMuseum.org. The Farmers’ Museum is located at 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown, N.Y.

About The Farmers’ Museum

As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life first-hand through authentic demonstrations and interpretative exhibits. The museum, founded in 1943, comprises a Colonial Revival stone barn listed on the National Register for Historic Places, a recreated historic village circa 1845, the Empire State Carousel, and a working farmstead. Through its 19th-century village and farm, the museum preserves important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. The Farmers’ Museum’s outstanding collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages, and hand planes to plows. The museum also presents a broad range of interactive educational programs for school groups, families, and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history of the region. Visit FarmersMuseum.org.