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Being
a newcomer to the Gourd Festival, I was unaware of how big this
event really was. My only experiences of Zittel
Farms was our yearly pumpkin
picking right before Halloween. We always knew that Zittel Farms was
relatively famous for its dried gourds, but this event is an
incredible gathering - anticipated by gourd enthusiasts everywhere.
We arrived at the gourd festival on Saturday morning, and right away
we realized that parking was a major issue - the entire strip mall
by McDonalds was completely full, and it stretched all the way down
Oak Avenue. There was also ample parking at Zittle Farms for $3.
When walking to the event, we noticed license plates from Arizona,
Nevada, Oregon - people came from pretty far to get here.
Upon arriving, we are greeted by about 50 booths, with all sorts of
gourd artists from around the
country. They all had dried gourds which were painted, carved, and
cut to some incredible creations. Most all of them were amazing
pieces, and all of course were on sale. We saw gourds made in to
ducks, elephant, airplanes, just about anything you could imagine. In
addition to the artists' creations, there was also a bunch of stuff
for anyone inspired to be a future gourd artist themselves. From
thousands of dried gourds to paints, dyes, tools for carving, and
burning tools, it had it all. It is definitely an interesting
exhibit of works and worth checking out.
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