Sturgeon County Bounty and Haunted Pumpkin Fest this weekend

By Étienne Thevou

Bon Accord – Local cuisine will be the flavour of the day this Saturday at Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm where residents and visitors will get their third taste of the Sturgeon County Bounty since it was introduced last fall.

The four-hour local food event takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 1 and is an initiative of Sturgeon County’s Economic Development Department. The agriculture initiative is aimed at providing local producers, chefs, and food processors with an opportunity to promote value-added agriculture in Sturgeon County, developing strong connections between producer and consumer in the process.

For the attendee, the Sturgeon County Bounty is an event where people have the opportunity to sample farm-fresh produce and meats grown and raised in Sturgeon County. In total, 23 local producers, chefs and artisans will showcase their foods, meats and handicraft items. The tickets for the taste event sell for $1 each and taste dishes are sold for 1-4 tickets each.

Included in this year’s menu are spiced pumpkin soup, fresh pumpkin pie, pumpkin chile, lamb sausage with minted sweet pea puree and pea-butter. Each dish offered at the Sturgeon County Bounty consists of some or all ingredients from a local source.

The event takes place at Prairie Gardens and Adventure Farm (56311 Lily Lake Road, near Bon Accord)
Admission is $15 and includes five food sample tickets. Additional food tickets are available for $1 each and debit is available on site.

For more information, visit www.SturgeonCountyBounty.ca.

Haunted Pumpkin Festival

Admission to the Sturgeon County Bounty also includes adult entrance to the Haunted Pumpkin Festival, Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm’s annual festival of Halloween and harvest goodness. Although this weekend is the official kick-off, the Haunted Pumpkin Festival, now in its 16th year, runs through the month of October on weekends.

The festival boasts more than 20,000 pumpkins, wagon rides, a haunted house, the Great Prairie corn Maze, scarecrow building, a trick or treat cabin, and the not-to-be-missed pumpkin canon. The latter is an opportunity to assist the resident pirate in firing some produce across the field at a pirate ship.

Admission to the Haunted Pumpkin Festival is $9.95 per person ages 2 and up. Family rate is $9.25 per person and the group rate (15 or more) is $8.50. for more information visit www.prairiegardens.org.