Shoppers peruse the vendor booths on Main Street in Elkin at the 2022 Yadkin Valley Harvest Festival.
ELKIN — The 2022 Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival in downtown Elkin brought in an estimated 6,000 visitors, according to Chamber President David Steelman. Steelman said gray skies and some intermittent sprinkles may have kept some of the crowds away but overall it was another great festival.
“It was a good day,” said Steelman. “It brought a lot of people into the Yadkin Valley and that is the whole intent.”
“And hopefully they’ll want to come back,” Steelman added.
This year’s event featured live music throughout Main Street and around 100 vendors selling food, crafts and more.
It was a true festival atmosphere with jugglers, spooky stilt walkers and a dunking booth featuring local elementary school principals.
“Those little kids just lined up and did a wonderful job of putting their principals in the water,” Steelman said.
“Hats off to them,” he added of the principals.
A giant American Flag, donated by a local citizen to the Elkin Fire Department, waved high above the crowd in the center of the festival on Main Street. The Elkin High School chorus sang the National Anthem just below the flag as part of the day’s festivities.
For gourd growers, the highlight of the event was the Great Pumpkin Weigh Off which took place in front of the Trails and Heritage Center on Standard Street. Albert Rodebaugh of West Virginia claimed the top spot for pumpkins with one weighing in at 1,457 pounds.