Enfield holds first annual Rhubarb Festival

The town of Enfield will hold its first annual Rhubarb Festival at the Enfield Community Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 21.

The event, which is new this year, was started by Debbie Teeter, member of the Enfield Community Council (ECC) and the event’s organizer, who wanted an event in addition to the spring festival. Teeter drew inspiration from other rhubarb festivals, none of which were in the Enfield area.

“It’s very unique in these parts,” Teeter said. “There’s nowhere else anywhere near that does a rhubarb festival, but there are other rhubarb festivals around in other states and in Canada, so we were able to look at what other folks were doing and model on that and use our own experience with past events.”

Teeter said the Rhubarb Festival has much to offer that other types of festivals do not, particularly how accessible and affordable rhubarb is. According to Teeter, one advantage that the rhubarb festival has over a strawberry festival is that strawberries are expensive to buy and difficult to grow, making rhubarb a more practical alternative.

“They’re all a lot of fun and they have the potential to draw a large audience,” Teeter said of other festivals. “But rhubarb is wonderful because people many have it growing in their backyard, so it’s free or it’s very inexpensive to buy at the farm market or a roadside stand near you, and we like that. Plus, we don’t want to be in competition with a pumpkin festival or a strawberry festival.”

Various organizations will be taking part in the event and offering treats made from rhubarb, such as breads and squash. There will be other rhubarb products such as rhubarb crowns, which can be planted at home to grow rhubarb. Each tasting requires a ticket, which cost $5 for a set of 10, and profits will be split between the participants and the organizers.

“They’ll make some money — there’s no way of knowing how much this first year, but they will definitely make some money through the sales of their product,” Teeter said. “But more importantly for not-for-profits, it’s an opportunity for them to raise awareness of who they are and what they do, particularly in a community like Enfield.”

The Rhubarb Festival is also beneficial for the ECC’s mission. Because the ECC bought its community center last year and is still paying off the mortgage, this event is a necessary fundraising opportunity to help cover the organization’s expenses.

“That’s one of the reasons we offer this event — we’ve got bills to pay,” Teeter said.

Teeter hopes that between 300 and 400 people will attend the Rhubarb Festival since roughly 250 people come to the harvest festival each year. She hopes the festival will have 20 rhubarb treat vendors, although she said she would be happy with 10. While Teeter wants to grow the event, she does not want the event to become too large in its first year.

“Many things don’t become hugely successful the first year, which is really good because I wouldn’t want 1,000 people here,” Teeter said. “We could be a complete mess if 1,000 people showed up. We’re just not ready for it. But I’d like to build to 1,000 people. I’d like to build it to a daylong event where people would come and go over the course of the day and you might see 1,000 people over the course of the day.”

As far as safety precautions against COVID-19, the Rhubarb Festival will require attendees to wear masks while attending indoor events and will have hand sanitizer available. Teeter said the event will be 70% outdoors and 30% indoors.

Teeter encouraged people to come to the Rhubarb Festival.

“I hope people come and have fun,” Teeter said. “I’m sure it will be fun because everything we do is fun.”

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