Franklin Downtown Partnership’s annual Harvest Festival arrives early this year as the first Saturday in October arrives October 1! This family-fun community event has a rain date of Sunday, October 2.

The Harvest Festival will be held in downtown Franklin from noon to 5 p.m. on Main Street, Dean Avenue, West Central Street, and Depot Street, as well as the large parking area behind Rockland Bank. 

Visitors to the Harvest Festival will enjoy local entertainment, a variety of food from local restaurants, kids’ crafts, painting and balloon art, specials from downtown merchants, and artwork and crafts by area artisans. There will be more than 150 vendors booths!

“The Harvest Festival is the Franklin Downtown Partnership’s opportunity to invite people to gather downtown and have fun experiencing the local businesses throughout our community,” said Scott Martin, president of the Franklin Downtown Partnership and Harvest Festival chair. “The mix of activities and entertainment we have will make this community event special for all ages, while showcasing the wonderful shopping and dining opportunities downtown.”

Entertainment sponsored by Dean Bank will be provided at the Dancing on Dean stage featuring live music from Ben Gardner’s Boat. MyFM will be broadcasting live at the intersection of East Central and Main Streets. The Franklin Fire Department will have its firetrucks out at its headquarters with Sparky giving out plastic fire helmets to children. The Franklin Historical Museum will offer balloon animals and free popcorn from an old-fashioned popcorn machine. Franklin Art Association member and owner of Painting Venus, Amy Adams, will be painting live during the Harvest Festival. The Franklin Art Association will host an art show and sale in the Rockland Trust Annex as well as its gallery in Escape Into Fiction Bookstore. 

A special “Taste of Franklin” area offering a variety of local foods will be located behind Rockland Trust. Also, check out the special fall food specialties at the Dean Bank tent. Proceeds from that tent benefit the FDP.

A Tyrolian Festival will be held at THE BLACK BOX. This event will celebrate Austria and the upcoming Franklin Performing Arts Company production of The Sound of Music.  Entertainment will feature a traditional oom-pah band as well as preview excerpts from The Sound of Music. The Intermissions stage will also offer entertainment.

The last day to register for booth space is Sept. 15, but organizers expect to sell out sooner. Downtown store-front businesses must register to ensure store-front space. Booths are assigned on a first-come first-serve basis. View the registration link at http://bit.ly/FranklinHF. Email Harvest Festival Vendor Coordinators Roberta Trahan and Pandora Carlucci at [email protected] with questions about booth spaces. Scott Martin, president of the FDP, is once again chairing the Harvest Festival.

“We hope that people will take the opportunity during Harvest Festival to visit local businesses, including many of the new shops that have made downtown their home.” said Franklin Downtown Partnership Executive Director Lisa Piana. “As always, we thank our local business sponsors who make this event possible!” 

The Partnership welcomes business owners to help support the Harvest Festival while gaining publicity for their businesses by becoming sponsors. Please email the FDP office at [email protected] to learn about sponsorship opportunities. 

Many businesses have already agreed to sponsor the Harvest Festival. To date, Harvest Festival sponsors include Platinum level sponsors Dean Bank, Dean College, PhysicalOne Urgent Care, RI Motorsports, and Safford AXiA Insurance. Silver sponsors are Arcadia Dental, Camford Property Group, Hockomock YMCA, Middlesex Savings Bank and Rockland Trust. Bronze levels sponsors are Beaux Regards Photographic Art, Chestnut Dental, Digital Federal Credit Union, Keefe Insurance Agency, and LeafFilter. Mint Dental of Franklin is a Friends level sponsor.

The Franklin Downtown Partnership, www.franklindowntownpartnership.org, is a nonprofit, 501©3 organization made up of more than 400 business owners, community leaders and residents working to stimulate economic development downtown and create a positive impact t