Petaluma Harvest Days fun for the family

Petaluma’s downtown merchants host Petaluma Harvest Days and Scarecrows on the Town Oct. 24 through Oct. 25.

The event is a celebration of fall with cheese tasting, grape tasting, pie tasting, pumpkin decorating, harvest menus, a cupcake cookoff, bake sale and other activities, including a scarecrow display. Here is the schedule of events

Saturday Oct. 25:

I Leoni’s Hocus Pocus Cupcake Bake Off and Sale. Bring your culinary talents to the table and see if you can create the most delicious and beautiful cupcakes of them all. Or just stop by i Leoni at 120 B Kentucky St. and sample some. Cupcakes will be judged by local personalities and prizes will be awarded. All proceeds will benefit Petaluma Committee on the Shelterless. For more information or questions, call I Leoni at 762-9611.

Petaluma Market’s Pumpkin Carving. Join Petaluma Market at 210 Western Ave. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a free pumpkin carving event for the whole family. Everything you need will be supplied and they’ll even have paint and stickers for the younger decorators. Call Petaluma Market for details or to RSVP at 762-5464.

Petaluma Pie Company’s Guess the Weight of the Pie Contest will take place in Putnam Plaza, 125 Petaluma Blvd North. Take a guess at the weight of the pie, if you’re right, you win a pie.

Petaluma Pie Company will also host a Pumpkin vs. Sweet Potato Pie Blind Tasting. Do you think you can tell the difference? Drop on by and see. For details on Petaluma Pie’s activities, give them a call at 766-6743.

The Petaluma Farmer’s Market will take place from 2 to 5:30 p.m. in Walnut Park. Peruse the tempting baked goods, local cheeses, fresh cut flowers, local fruits & vegetables, and take it all home for your own harvest bounty celebration. Also, make sure to partake in making a traditional sugar skull, as part of The Petaluma Arts Center’s El Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Gallery One Petaluma at 209 Western Ave will have a wide selection of hand-blown glass pumpkins, hand carved gourds, and sculptures by Steven McGovney based on The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

Oct. 24 to 26:

Flower Child at 123 Kentucky St. - Guess how many pieces of candy corn are in the jar to win a gift certificate to Flower Child consignment worth $20 and the jar of candy corn!

Free Range Provisions & Eats at 25 Fourth St. will host a Heirloom Apple Tasting. Drop by during their normal business hours (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday & Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday) and partake in a culinary exploration of local seasonal apple varieties.

Paperwhite at 119 Kentucky St. will be offering complimentary Halloween themed postcards. Send off a spooktacular suprise to your friends or loved ones!

Graffiti Restaurant at 101 Second St. will offer harvest themed menu items.

Take in the beauty and pagentry of The Petaluma Art Center’s El Dia de Los Muertos Exhibition & Celebration. Stop by the Petaluma Arts Center at 230 Lakeville St. and peruse their exhibit and altars. Downtown will be full of beautifully decorated altars, and there will be many activities in coordination with the celebration, including Poetry of Rememberance on Friday Oct. 24. Visit them online for more information or give them a call at 762-5600.

While you’re here, make sure to visit our fabulous local pumpkins farms & harvest attractions:

Petaluma Pumpkin Patch and A-Maze-Ing Corn Maze offers pumpkin picking, a kids corn maze in addition to their 4-acre-corn maze, a straw mountain to climb, farm petting zoo, food vendors on the weekend, a bounce house and various other activities throughout the season.

Spring Hill Cheese home of The Great Peter Pumpkin Patch offers pumpkin picking, live music on weekends, cheese & ice cream tasting, baby animal petting, hay rides and more.

McClelland’s Organic Dairy offers pumpkin picking, interactive farm tours, a hay maze, a bounce house, hands on cow milking, petting farm, farm store where you can get great local products and farm fresh produce and a great barbecue lunch.

For details, go online to visitpetaluma.com or www.petalumadowntown.com/harvest.html