11th Annual Harvest Festival brought together families for fall fun, free pumpkins
Families came together at Kehaka Neighborhood Park on Saturday for fun at the 11th Annual Harvest Festival on Kauaʻi.
The event featured free keiki rides, inflatables and activities, food and beverages sold by local nonprofit organizations and free pumpkins. Kaua‘i Kollab and Ku‘uipo Kumukahi provided the music.
The festival began in 2014 with about 1,500 attendees and has grown into an annual event that on Saturday attracted approximately 8,000 people.
Corteva Agriscience, Hartung Brothers, Bayer Crop Science, Kekaha Ag Association and Hawai‘i Crop Improvement Association founded the festival.
Local nonprofits managed food booths at the Harvest Festival to raise money for their organizations by selling a variety of ‘ono food, including: Hawaiian plate (Lihue Pop Warner), teri chicken sandwich and chicken salad (Westside Christian), chicken hekka (Ruff Ryderz softball team), flying saucers (Hanapēpē Pop Warner), shave ice (Rotary Club of West Kaua‘i), ice cream, popcorn & floats (Purple Palooza – Corteva’s Relay For Life team benefitting the American Cancer Society), beverages (WesCon), spam musubi, malasadas and pronto pups (West Kaua‘i Methodist Church) and refreshers (Ke Kula O Ni‘ihau).
The education tent included: Osborne Books, Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation Kaua‘i Region, Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i, Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project, Garden Island Junior Dragsters, Kaua‘i Fire Department, Boys & Girls Club, Headstart and Kaua‘i United Way.
Kamehameha Schools also had a tent, and Alaska Airlines ran a drawing for a trip for two to anywhere it flies.
Legacy partners that allowed nonprofit organizations to raise funds included: Alexander & Baldwin, the County of Kaua‘i, Garden Isle Disposal, Inc., Global Ag, Grove Farm Company, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, HCIA, Kani Wildlife, Kaua‘i Shrimp, Kekaha Agricultural Association, KIUC, and PepsiCo. Premier sponsors included AES, Aloun Farms, Enterprise Rent A Car, Hawai‘i Foodservice Alliance, HHSC Kauai Region, Matson Navigation, McBryde Resources, Meridian Pacific, PepsiCo and Somers West.