SYDNEE FLOTRON-ODDITIES EDITOR
The Mesa County Health Department has officially approved plans for the beloved Palisade Peach Festival to return Aug. 19-21, after two years of tumultuous festival weekends.
Each year, the festival hosts hundreds of vendors and brings in thousands of visitors to the Grand Valley. Two years ago, the 2019 Peach Festival started well, and was one of the most well-attended years to date. On Friday, Aug.16, the opening night fireworks left the festival in flames.
Toward the end of the show, a fire broke out on the hillside behind Riverbend Park, and all vendors and attendees were evacuated within 20 minutes. The festival did not continue through the weekend. Local photographer Noah Stahlecker was at the 2019 festival, and will always remember his experience.
“The fire caught me off guard. I was taking photos of the fireworks and then started noticing an orange glow behind the stage. I looked down from the fireworks, and people were running away. I ran towards the fire instead to take photos of it. It was an amazingly terrifying experience but I’m glad I did it,” Stahlecker said.
In Fall of 2020, the festival was completely cancelled due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time. The 2021 festival was in question until recently when restrictions began to lift and vaccines became more accessible to the general public in Mesa County. Ryan Eckroth, a marketing intern for the Palisade Chamber of Commerce has high hopes for the 2021 event.
“Agriculture is huge here in Palisade between peaches, wineries, grapes, all of that. The Peach Festival is one of the biggest festivals of the year for not only Palisade, but honestly the Grand Valley as a whole. It shows off all of the agriculture for the year, and of course a lot of local entertainment and vendors. This year may be a little different in terms of social distancing but we’ll see; it’ll be fun,” Eckroth said.
This will be Palisade’s 53rd festival complete with the following lineup of events for the weekend:
THURSDAY Aug. 19
-Free Ice Cream Social and Street Dance
-The Biggest Peach Contest
FRIDAY AUG. 20
-Feast in the Fields
-Peach Jam Stage
-Orchard & Farm Tours
SATURDAY AUG. 21
-Just Peachy Run
-Pancake Breakfast
-Peach Festival Parade
-Peach Festival Car Show
-Peach Cuisine
-Backyard Peach BBQ Throwdown
-Peach Eating Contest
For further information on ticket pricing, shuttle bus schedules, vendors, time and locations for specific events, visit The Palisade Chamber of Commerce.
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