CULLMAN – This year’s Farm Y’all event will be held on Saturday, August 29. The event, previously limited to the Festhalle area, will be expanded to include nearby Depot Park.
The event, now in its third year, will include classic events, such as the pumpkin weigh-off. However, Derek Lane, Director of Small Business and Workforce Solutions at the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce, has taken the reins of Farm Y’all and has introduced new attractions.
“We’ll have artistic fruit carving by Rosie Hartley of Stonebridge Farms,” Lane said. “As well as chefs and demonstrators.”
The event, which has grown since its first installment, is meant to celebrate the often-overlooked contributors to Cullman’s economy, the farmers.
“Cullman is ranked number 3 in the United States in ‘micropolitan’ cities,” Lane said of Cullman’s growth. “The main economic engine of Cullman is the agriculture.”
This event, according to Lane, is meant to celebrate, bring awareness and appreciation to the agricultural community of Cullman County.
Cullman’s agriculture isn’t just an important aspect of the local economy, but of the entire state’s economy.
Cullman is the number one agriculture-producing county in the entire state of Alabama, according to Lane, who cited a study posted online in May of this year.
Farm Y’all will start off Saturday, August 29 at 8 a.m. At that time, the farmers market will be open, as well as registration for giant pumpkins and watermelons.
This year, just as in the past, attendance to Farm Y’all will be free.
“We’re committed to keeping the admittance to this event free,” Lane said. “Now, vendors will be at the event and they will charge. You know, food vendors, and this year crafts vendors.”
The initial idea for the event came from a local farmer who merely had the idea to have a giant pumpkin weigh-off. According to Lane, that idea floated around at the Chamber of Commerce until a full-blown festival was the final product.
“We expect 2,500 to 3,000 people visit Farm Y’all this year,” Lane said.
“We’ve grown and expanded the area of the festival of the event to account for the growth and the amount of people at the event.”
The heat is an annual issue at Farm Y’all and Lane said they’ve acquired Polar Coolers to provide a relief from the high temperatures, as well as water mist.
As far as a goal for the event, Lane said, “It would be nice for the Cullman community to raise their sense of appreciation for the agricultural community.”
