Planning is well underway for this year’s festival, less than a month away! The Library Trustees and Staff have been working hard, in this the first year that the Rhubarb Festival has been run by the group. In the past, the planning was done by interested friends; then by the Town’s Recreation Committee; then by the Friends of the Library [that’s an official, separate entity]. This year, each Trustee has a ‘portfolio’ and they are grateful for support from the Town of Bennington, the Select Board, the Town Administrator, and generous sponsorship from local businesses. Proceeds from the Rhubarb Festival benefit the Library’s Building Fund.

On Saturday June 1 — always the 1st Saturday of June — more than a dozen vendors will assemble at Sawyer Park in the early morning to set up their tents. They will be selling a variety of wares, with many items being rhubarb-themed. The Festival starts at 10 am, so no early-birds please.

When the gates open, parking for patrons is free. Select-man Tony Parisi will supervise the incoming cars, along with his sons. Visitors will enter the fair-ground through the Welcome Tent. There they will encounter the Rhubarb General Store, dedicated to all things Rhubarb. Purchase jams or relishes or rhubarb soda. Want to grow your own rhubarb? Ready-to-plant crowns will be on sale, as well as fertilizer to help them grow. Just want enough rhubarb to make a pie at home? Stalks will be sold in bundles. Also on offer will be raffle tickets for items from vendors, for gift cards from local businesses, and a Rhubarb Pie Gift Basket filled with everything you could need to make a pie — including a rhubarb plant.

For the children, there will be the Petting Area on top of the hill, where Glory Be! and Dollar Shy Farms will show various animals. There will be a Story Walk, featuring the book Rhubarb by Stephen Cosgrove. A Children’s Activity Tent, staffed by the Craig Family, is always a hit. The Rhubarb Trivia activity will be hosted by Haley Tramposh. And don’t forget the Hollering Contest to be held on the hill by the flag pole.

For everyone, there will be food — from Becky’s Pies to Mama’s On The Run. And how about some Rhubarb-flavored cotton candy? Of course, many people attend for the Rhubarb Pie! The Friends of the Library run the the Bake Table, where pies and other Rhubarb delights will be on sale — including the winning pies from the Baking Contest. Get there early — the pies sell out fast. Also on offer will be books for all ages, and bags to tote them away.

Contests have their own tent, showing Rhubarb stalks and leaves of superlative size, as well as flower arrangements, Rhubarb-themed art, and photography. The Contest Book will be available at the Library and on line at the Library’s website. In addition, the Pie Baking Contest, sponsored by the King Arthur Baking Company, will begin at 10 am at Sawyer Park. The Select Board members usually have the serious job of deciding which is the best pie by an amateur, and which is the best by a professional baker. Contestants should submit their 100% Rhubarb Pies by 9:30 that morning. The Rhubarb Wine Contest will be judged the night before.

And speaking of wine, if you thought that Rhubarb was only for dessert, you should visit the Drink Your Rhubarb booth. From noon to 3:30 pm, you can sample rhubarb beverages to take you from breakfast to lunch to dinner. Expand your knowledge, and find a new favorite beverage.

A musical play-list by Peter Martel will be heard during the day, and at 4 pm live music will begin on the Music Stage at the Park. Select Board member Tom James has arranged for THE EYES OF AGE to kick things off before turning the stage over to THE WHITE MOUNTAIN ROUNDERS at 6:30 pm.

There’s something for everyone at the Bennington Rhubarb Festival! See you on June 1st at Sawyer Park, off Route 202.

This is the blog of the Bennington Rhubarb Festival, started in 2013 to benefit the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund.

If you would like to help the Building Fund, please contribute any amount to the G.E.P. Dodge Library Building Fund, Bennington, NH 03442.

The next blog installment will be posted on June 4, 2024. If you click the Subscribe button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.