MONTE VISTA – The San Luis Valley Potato Festival is less than a week away. This year’s festival will be held on Sept. 7 at Chapman Park in Monte Vista.
The day begins with the Tater Trot. This 5K event includes a nice T-shirt for a registration fee of $25. Proceeds from this event go to the local pediatric diabetes fund at San Luis Valley Health.
The popular agricultural tours will again be available. According to Jessica Bradshaw, of the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee (CPAC) in Monte Vista, there will be a tour that leaves the park at 8 a.m. and another tour that leaves at 1 p.m.
“You can sign up to attend the tour and ride a bus from the park, to visit the designated area, and watch a field being harvested. The bus will go to the research center and to a potato grower’s farm,” she said.
The tours are free, but registration is requested to ensure that there is enough room on the bus for everyone. The tour provides education on seeding, production and potato harvesting.
According to Bradshaw, a new ride will be available at the fest.
“We will have a zipline. It’s part of the kids’ games. A large zipline that is free to the public. Something for everyone to ride and have fun with,” she said.
Bradshaw also spoke about the potato bake that will take place.
“The Monte Vista boys varsity basketball team will host this,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a free baked potato, but the team does ask for donations for the fixings and the drinks. The traditional potato dunk tank will also be there and begin at 10:30 a.m., and there are four people signed up for that, too.”
Bradshaw stated that she is excited every year for the festival, and the CPAC will be at the festival beginning at 8 a.m.
“We have the San Luis Valley Community Band coming in at 11 to do a performance. We will have our Chef Competition, with three chefs competing this year, with RJ Harvey of Potatoes USA, Jason Morse of 5280 Culinary, and Tim Alfrey of the Windsor Hotel. We are pretty excited about adding some local flair to the competition. They will be focusing their efforts toward Colorado themed potato pizza. It will be fun to see what they come up with,” she said.
Bradshaw stated that there will be lots of kids games this year, including bouncy houses and a petting zoo. She also said the “Swoop of the Cranes” live auction would take place at the festival at 3 p.m.
Bradshaw stated that she feels the best part of the festival is that it is family centered.
“It’s just a good time to celebrate. We hope everyone comes out,” she said.
For more information or to register for the tours, visit the CPAC website at coloradopotato.org/potatofestival or call 719-852-3322.
