Sleepy Hollow Festival rides into town
The ninth annual Sleepy Hollow Festival will return for spooky fun in downtown Harmony on Oct. 9. Managed by the Harmony Business Association, the festival has in past years partnered with the Zelie Fall Fest, but will run independently this year.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday in downtown Harmony. Food, music, local vendors and Halloween activities will fill the schedule.
Visitors can keep an eye out for a “Headless Horseman,” who will ride through town at mid-afternoon.
“Harmony is a cool little community — there's a lot of music and arts, and it's a really cool place to be,” said MJ McCurdy of Bottlebrush Gallery and Center for the Arts, who has run the festival for the past eight years.
McCurdy said that part of the goal of the festival is to spotlight local businesses working together.
“We have an artisan fair that's part of it, and we invite artists in the area to bring out booths and do demonstrations as well,” she said. “We've been having artist fairs since COVID outdoors to help artists who aren't able to sell as they used to do.”
The Artisan Fair runs for the duration of the festival day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Wagner Haus Lawn and at Bottlebrush Gallery. A “Mystics and Merchants” vendor market featuring tarot and psychic readings will run in Stewart Hall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Weavers Cabin will offer weaving demonstrations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and there will be a drum circle on the Harmony Inn lawn from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A costume contest will be held at 4 p.m. on the lawn at the Harmony Inn. Prizes donated from local businesses will be given out for the Best Children's Costume and Best Youth Costume. There will also be a “Pet-Owner Costume Look Alike” competition.
Games, hopscotch and trick-or-treat at shops will be available for kids throughout the day. Families can look for shops with pumpkin heads in the windows from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to participate in trick-or-treat activities, and a scavenger hunt challenge with prizes has also returned to the festival. There will be a sheep petting zoo at Weaver's Cabin from 12 to 4 p.m.
