The communities that make up the Dan River Basin were long renowned for their tobacco-growing prowess. So it shouldn’t be a surprise you can find delicious, farm-fresh food in the region too.
For evidence, look no farther than this weekend’s Virginia State Peach Festival in Stuart, Virginia. The 31st annual festival goes down at Dehart Park, located at 212 Wood Brothers Drive in Stuart, from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Friday, August 17.
Festivities will include live musical performances by Big Daddy Love and Sunset Drive. Peach themed food, ice cream, drinks, peach cobbler, and ripe peaches will be vended as well as other great festival food and beer. Art and craft vendors will be on site as well. The Pool will be open for swimming with an additional fee.
Bring those homemade peach cobblers to enter the Cobbler Contest. You will not want to miss the new event of the Peach Pit Spit Contest.
If you happen to be reading this after the festival, though, or if you just want to explore and make a weekend of it, there are plenty of other options around Piedmont North Carolina and Southside Virginia.
Here are just a few ways to explore the Dan River Basin’s rich agricultural heritage, by county:
Caswell County, NC
September 22, 2018
This one-day outdoor festival is held the 4th weekend of September on the Court Square in downtown Yanceyville. It features a multitude of local food vendors, live entertainment, crafters and nonprofit organizations, and more than 5,000 guests. Rain date is September 23.
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Feast on slowly cooked and locally raised steer, chicken, and goat while enjoying regional beverages and delicious sides with a local flair.
Farms to visit:
Farmers market:
Danville, VA
September 5, 2018
Join the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Danville Harvest Jubilee for the 2018 Shrimp Fest. Your ticket will include all-you-can-eat shrimp (on premises), baked beans, cole slaw, beverages, and live entertainment.
Farmers market:
Eden, NC
August 23, 2018
With each ticket you will go home with a handmade pottery plate made by local potter Tim Amos and a wonderful summer supper dining experience along the beautiful Spray Canal. The menu will consist of produce, meats and products “grown & gathered” in Rockingham County or a nearby local source. Live entertainment will be provided by Ginger Waynick & Larry Johnson. Proceeds from the event will benefit a local food pantry and the Fine Arts Festival of Rockingham County.
September 14-15, 2018
Great food vendors and a great time on the river! Look for more about RiverFest in an upcoming story.
Franklin County, VA
Franklin County Agricultural Fair
September 12-15, 2018
Experience the excitement of tractor competitions, student SkillsUSA competitions, midway rides, nonstop music, live action entertainment, local exhibits and demonstrations, pet and livestock shows, a pageant, petting zoo, food, family, and fun.
Rocky Mount Strawberry Festival
May 10, 2019
Visit Rocky Mount’s Farmers Market for a fun-filled afternoon with plenty of fresh strawberries on ice cream, snow cones, balloons, and children’s activities including a rock climbing wall and face painting. Live musical entertainment will be provided by local bands and several gospel groups.
Annual Southwest Virginia Antique Farm Days
June
Southwest Virginia Antique Farm Days celebrates the restoration and preservation of farm machinery and implements. Through displays and demonstrations, learn about the importance that early farm machinery played in shaping life in Franklin County and surrounding areas.
Farms to visit:
Enjoy award winning ice cream in a variety of cones, milk shakes, and close to 30 flavors. Freshly made cold sandwiches, hot panini sandwiches, salads, season soups, and a variety of baked goodies also are available. Shop for unique gifts and local food including glass bottled milk and old-fashioned butter. Also features a petting zoo, and dairy farm and creamery tours.
Pacabella Farm Alpacas & Boutique, Franklin County, VA
Pacabella Farm Alpacas & Boutique invites you to come feel the warmth and softness of alpacas at its family farm. Its boutique offers a wide variety of alpaca products from children’s toys to luxury clothing.
Smith Mountain Lake Farm Alpacas, Franklin County, VA
This farm specializes in breeding and selling alpacas. It offers tours daily, a gift shop, and special activities/open house events throughout the year.
Farmers markets:
Halifax County, VA
Farmers markets:
Downtown South Boston Farmers Market
Henry County, VA
Farmers market:
Martinsville, VA
Farmers market:
Patrick County, VA
Patrick County Agricultural Fair
September 18-23, 2018
Nightly fun with rides, midway, exhibits, food, games, livestock shows, animal barn, and entertainment.
Apple Dumpling Festival, Virginia
October 20, 2018
Held in the quaint, historic “Depot” area in downtown Stuart, Virginia, the festival features music, artisans, and an abundance of delicious food from apple pies and apple butter to Stuart’s famous apple dumplings
Farms to visit:
Meadow Mountain Corn Maze (September-November)
Farmers market:
Person County, NC
April
Tour local, sustainable farms and discover the delicious meat, dairy, fruits, mushrooms, and veggies produced in the Piedmont. The 2018 tour included 45 scenic and sustainable farms in Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Johnston, Orange, Person, and Wake Counties. Kids, foodies, locavores, gardeners, new or aspiring farmers, locals, and visitors will all enjoy a memorable weekend spent meeting local farmers and touring their beautiful farms.
Farm to visit:
Groups of 12 or more can schedule a tour of the farm, which lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes. You will be taken into a pasture with an up close view of the buffalo. Twice a year, the farm participates in tours sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (spring) and Person County (fall). These tours are usually 30 minutes long.
Dawnbreaker Farms, Person County, NC
Dawnbreaker Farms is sustainable farming at its best, with forest-raised pigs, pasture-raised chickens, and grassfed lamb. Its livestock are regularly rotated to fresh pasture in a rhythm and style that resembles natural systems that sequester carbon, grow soil and increase biodiversity.
Red Hawk Farm, Person County, NC
Learn how farmers grow and pack arugula, mustards, lettuces, and other salad greens year-round for local co-op grocers, restaurants, buyer clubs, and the Durham Farmers’ Market. See inside their packing shed and six high-tunnel greenhouses, walk their fields, and learn about the tractors, harvesters, and other equipment employed on the farm.
Spring Forth Farm, Person County, NC
Come see Spring Forth Farm’s cut flower fields and discover what life is like on a flower farm. Learn about how it grows flowers intensively in permanent raised beds, uses no-till practices, mixes in vegetables which it donates to a local food pantry, and nurtures biodiversity.
Wild Scallions Farm, Person County, NC
This farm includes two acres of cultivated fields, a 10-year old holistically managed orchard, a passive solar greenhouse, and a rotationally grazed homestead herd of dairy goats. It grows vegetables and flowers year-round with the aid of two hoop-houses.
Flat River Nursery & Farm, Person County, NC
Visitors will learn about its greenhouse tomato production and see its waste-wood heating system, bumble bees, and herb and flower production. A family farm since the 1700s!
Farmers markets:
Person County Community Market
Pittsylvania County, VA
Farm to visit:
Farmers market:
Virginia Grown Farmer’s Market
Rockingham County, NC
October 20, 2018
The Fall Jubilee is one of the largest festivals in Rockingham County and draws thousands of people from across North Carolina and southern Virginia for entertainment, food, fun, and a car show featuring more than 200 beautifully restored antique cars, trucks, street rods, and classics.
Farms to visit:
Farmers markets:
Reidsville Downtown Farmers Market
Rockingham County Farmers Market
Stokes County, NC
Stokes Stomp Festival on the Dan
Moratock Park Danbury, NC
September 8-9
Farms to visit:
Plum Granny Farm is a USDA Certified Organic small family farm located on 54 beautiful acres of rolling countryside just south of Hanging Rock State Park. It grows raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, garlic, ginger, specialty veggies, herbs and cut flowers. It frequently hosts twilight pick your own, weekend pick your own, and open greenhouse and plant sales events.
Mabe’s Berry Farm has been owned and operated since the first strawberry plant was planted in 1967, and is one of the oldest strawberry farms in North Carolina. Founder, W.G. “Bill” Mabe and wife Emma bought the farm in 1962 and wanted to farm something other than tobacco so the first strawberries were planted.
Armstrong Artisan Farm produces great quality meats for the consumer, as well as lambs and pigs for shows. In the fall, it hosts an Annual Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch.
The Robertsons sell strawberries, summer vegetables, straw by the bale, and grass-fed and grain-fed beef. It features a Fall Pumpkin Patch, annual Strawberry Festival and Roadside Produce stand for in season crops.
Farmers markets: