Harvest Moon festival brings Alaska-grown food, pie contest to Soldotna

Soldotna Creek Park becomes a showcase for Kenai Peninsula food on Saturday, Sept. 26, when the Harvest Moon Local Food Festival runs from 11 am to 6 pm.

Kenai Local Food Connection started a Harvest Moon local food week in 2013 and turned it into a festival in 2018. The group says more than 3,500 people come each year.

The vendors are held to a local standard. Booths sell food grown, harvested or made in Alaska, along with wellness products made from local or wild-harvested ingredients and tools for the kitchen or garden. Food trucks are expected to cook with local ingredients. The day also includes live music, cooking demonstrations, free activities for kids and a Fermentation Station.

At the end of the day, one vendor wins the Most Local award. Judges score booths on whether they list their local ingredients, name the farms and harvesters those ingredients came from and how much of the menu is local. A Most Festive award goes to the booth having the most fun, with extra credit for decorations made from local materials.

The Kenai Peninsula Farm Bureau runs the pie contest. Every pie has to be homemade with at least one Alaska-grown ingredient, and cream, custard and whipped-cream pies aren't allowed because the festival has no refrigeration. Prizes go in three age groups: youth 15 and under, adults 16 to 64 and a Homesteader category for bakers 65 and older. The contest is capped at 30 pies, and entries require preregistration and $5 per pie. Bakers drop off pies at the Farm Bureau booth between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm.

To keep waste down, vendors must use compostable or recyclable containers, recycling stations are set up around the park and each year a local farmer takes the food scraps home for compost or chicken feed.

Organizers are still looking for volunteers to help sort recycling and count attendance, and every volunteer gets a free bowl of soup. To sign up, email [email protected].