Open Farms planned as a hybrid event, live and virtual, for September

Jeff Green | May 26, 2021

“It is happening, we are planning ahead for it,” Alison Vandervelde said of Open Farms, the signature annual event for the Frontenac County Economic Development Department.

Open Farms was well attended, and received, in its inaugural year, 2018, and grew substantially in 2019. In 2020, it was run as a lower profile virtual event, for obvious reasons. While nothing is certain at this point, Vandervelde told Frontenac County Council last week (May 19), that there are virtual tours and school sessions planned for the first day of Open Farms this year, on Friday, September 10.

The weekend however, is expected to include not only the popular farm tours that are the core of the event, but also farmers’ markets in Harrowsmith and Wolfe Island, programming at the South Frontenac Museum, and perhaps even plowing matches in Wolfe Island and/or mainland Frontenac County.

Vandervelde said that she has “started an open dialogue with KFL&A Public Health and they have told us that they think holding an outdoor event of this scale and nature at this time of year is reasonable. I think that the more we see case counts decreasing, and vaccine rollout ramping up, that seems more reasonable. But of course we are keeping open lines of communication with them. Their advice, which I am heeding, is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

In the ‘hope for the best’ department, the county has applied for a “Reconnect Festival Grant”, from the Ontario government, in order to pay some of the costs and provide some of the labour that is required for a larger scale event. It will be a few weeks before the grant allocations are announced.

The county is partnering with Tourism Kingston and South Frontenac Township, among others, to put on Open Farms, so there will be resources available whether the Reconnect Ontario grant comes through or not.

Aside from the logistics surrounding this year’s event, Vandervelde also explained where the Economic Development Department sees Open Farms going as an event, and its role in the development of Frontenac County’s agri-businesses in the future.

The original goals of Open Farms, which remain in place, are to: educate consumers about small-scale agriculture, increase awareness of local food, provide opportunities to consumers and producers to connect and form long term relationships.

A new goal this year is to enhance the region's reputation as a local food destination, both for agri-tourists, and for potential new food and beverage businesses, to come in and bring their existing businesses here or come and start up new food-based businesses.

“We foresee visitors wanting to travel here, specifically for experiences related to local food, building their visit around those experiences,” she said.

Open Farms 2021 is set for the weekend after Labour Day, Friday September 10 to Sunday September 12. If everything works out, it may be the first major event in Frontenac County in a couple of years, a showcase not only for a number of innovative farms, but the South Frontenac Museum and the refurbished Centennial Park as well.