The Cottage Farm to debut Pumpkin & Pickle Festival

Oct. 1—The Cottage Farm Stand & Baking Co. will present its two-day inaugural Pumpkin & Pickle Festival this weekend.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, and Sunday, Oct. 2, at The Cottage, located at 6869 Kentucky Highway 56.

At first, the festival was to be the second year of the business' Sunflower & Pickle Festival that debuted last year, but owner Marlene Knight needed to figure out an alternative plan due to mother nature.

"Our sunflowers didn't get the memo," she joked. "We planted two fields to try to hit this date ... and our sunflowers ended up blooming early. So they had bloomed, they had great photo opportunities ... and now they are not what you would want if you came out to a sunflower festival."

Thankfully, Knight said they were able to strategize a new idea since the situation occurred early enough to pivot in another direction.

The event will still include "pickle delicacies" such as fried pickles, cheesy pickles, pickle ice pops, pickle cotton candy, pickle popcorn, pickle corn muffins, pickle juice shots and pickle-stuffed kolaches — which Knight described the latter as a "big pig in a blanket."

There will also be "lots" of homemade pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake and other varieties of pumpkin-oriented food.

The Cottage's full-service coffee bar will also be open during the event.

Knight said the business also partnered with The Brew Bridge this year, who has made a pickle beer that will be available for patrons.

Additionally, Knight said 75 vendors of arts and crafts entities, local and regional artisans and other small businesses will be on site.

Other activities that will be occurring all day will include a $5 five-acre corn maze, pumpkin painting, temporary tattoos and a petting zoo.

Despite the hiccup in the initial plan, Knight said she feels "fairly relieved" with being able to put on this new event.

"Trying to hit that date was very stressful, but — more than that — I am really, really happy with it," she said.

Knight looks forward to being able to offer more activities like this event and The Cottage's Strawberry Festival for the public to enjoy, which she hopes to continue for years to come and help bring awareness about the business.

"Prior to The Cottage, I owned an event planning company doing national conventions mostly; (so) events have always been my world," she said, "and I absolutely love doing them at The Cottage because our outdoor space lends itself so well to them. But it also really has helped us educate the community about the cottage (and) where we are ... and just to (let them) know all the things that we have to offer.

"We just really want to provide our community, that's been so welcoming to us, the opportunity to come out with their family and have a nice day."

Parking will be $5 cash only for the event.

For more information, visit cottagefarmstand.com or facebook.com/TheCottageHwy56.

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315