Freshly made pizza, arts and crafts, jewelry, a petting zoo, homemade treats and more awaited attendees at the first-ever Fall Festival staged in Farmington.
Put on by the EPIC – Everything’s Possible In Christ – women’s group at the Farmington United Methodist Church, the Saturday, Oct. 26 event was a definite success.
Coordinating this first-time fest was Crystal Moos, who said she was pleasantly surprised with the response from vendors, with a wide variety coming to set up shop for the day. Festivities were staged in the park adjacent to the church on Elm Street in Farmington.
Escalon 4-H brought a few animals for a petting zoo; a trio of goats – Gigi, Gladdy and Glendale – were the favorites, as young visitors enjoyed getting up close to the vocal animals.
There was also a pumpkin patch, a costume contest for kids, and the arts and crafts area drew several participants throughout the event.
Manning a booth for their first ever in-person event, it was dk Press Lab; with the slogan: Where Shirt Happens. They had items for sale, so shoppers could select their apparel, choose a design and have that design applied onsite. They also have free local delivery and can ship products.
“This is our very first (onsite) booth, so people can come and choose their apparel, we have hoodies and sweaters and T-shirts and tote bags; then they can choose from any of our designs and we press them on the spot,” explained Katie Billiet of Farmington, who runs the dk designs with business partner Dani Rankin of Stockton. “We are local so we deliver to Escalon, Farmington, Oakdale, all the local areas.”
They have about 50 press on designs currently, and are always adding more.
“This is great, I love this turnout,” Billiet said. “There’s been a lot of kids, a lot of community and it has just been a really fun event.”
Elsewhere the Farmington School PTC, Parent Teacher Club, had a booth selling baked goods and other treats, helping to raise money for the fourth-grade trip to Asilomar.
Soaps, jerky, photographic prints were all included in the merchandise booths.
“It just went beyond what I thought was going to happen,” Moos admitted of the large turnout of vendors and shoppers. “The high schoolers that came really helped out with our festival, the Escalon 4-H showed up … it just really blows me away how the community gets together, really kind of comes together and makes something happen.”
More than 15 vendors had a variety of items for sale, with food options set up in another area of the large park adjacent to the church.
“Great weather, great day, I couldn’t ask for a better situation here in Farmington,” Moos said, adding that the success of Saturday’s event makes it likely there will be a second annual Fall Festival next October.
