Since the days when Whidbey Island’s Greenbank Farm was the nation’s largest loganberry farm, locals and visitors alike have been celebrating the fruit’s harvest with an annual festival, know as the Loganberry Festival.
The patch of loganberries may be down to a mere half acre, but the festival scheduled or Saturday and Sunday, July 25 and 26, lives on in all its splendor. There is a requested donation per car for parking, but the event is free to the public.
When the festival first started the Farm was owned by the Chateau Ste. Michele Winery, and those winery roots still hold fast at the Loganberry Festival with a wine tent that showcases as many as 20 Puget Sound wineries pouring their favorite wines for the event.
The festival will also feature a beer garden, and Mukilteo’s Diamond Knot Brewery provides the brew.
Live Music and entertainment goes on from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The main stage is sponsored by Whidbey Island Bank, and features musicians include old favorites like Stan Boreson; folks that play the old favorites like Dillinger’s Clambake, the Swing Again Jazz Band and Randy Bradley Band; blues and ballads from Gary Smith and Al Kaatz or Dave Draper; saxophone legend Danny Ward; foot stomping Swords into Plowshares; sea shanties by the Shifty Sailors; and some local favorites Jamie and Joe. A street dance, sponsored by Whidbey Telecom, features the LiCastro brothers’ band Western Heroes, which plays Saturday night until 7 p.m.
Mix all that fun with pie eating contests sponsored by Gemkow Construction, kid’s activities sponsored by Evangelical Free Church, local artists in action, vendors offering hand produced artwork, jewelry, woodworking, crafts, nursery goods, glass work, toys, apparel and more.
There will be plenty of fabulous food, both from the farm’s own Whidbey Pies Café or the Greenbank Cheese Shop, or from the numerous vendors that offer everything from hot dogs to African food made from organic vegetables grown on the farm’s certified organic 119 acres.
Visit www.greenbankfarm.com, or call 678-7700.
