Arts & Entertainment Community

Scarecrow festival, farm tour on tap this weekend

A Scarecrow Festival Saturday at Sehmel Homestead Park will feature a scarecrow contest, vendors, music, entertainment and a pumpkin launcher.

The free event, sponsored by PenMet Parks and Local Makers: Gig Harbor, will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

New this year will be a Peewee Rodeo, featuring stick horse barrel racing, hula hoop lassoing and “hog” tying. Each participant will receive a prize and a hat.

Guests can browse a handmade goods market featuring dozens of local makers and many mini makers (students). Or they can join local businesses, community groups and families in entering the scarecrow competition. Winners will be awarded prizes for best of show and people’s choice. Click here to enter: https://form.jotform.com/212524415706046.

PenMet Parks is following all state and local guidelines for COVID-19 safety, including mandates to wear masks at all times except while actively eating or drinking.

For more information, contact [email protected] or (253) 858-3400.

Key Peninsula tour features farms and more

The free Key Peninsula Farm Tour runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., though some stops aren’t open both days.

Visitors can check out the Grand Farm’s horse boarding and training facility and get a preview walk-through of this year’s haunted forest. Four Winds Riding Center will feature vaulting demonstrations and pony rides. Kaukiki Farm raises beef, lambs and chicken. A barn will have displays of haying equipment through the years

Master Gardeners will be stationed at Gateway Park to answer plant and gardening questions. They’ll be joined by the farm tour’s featured artist, Paige Atkinson. Artwork can be commissioned or picked up ready to frame. Kids activities will include a mask tie-dye and photo ops with Pumpkin the mini-donkey.

At Sound View Camp, guests can pet a llama, sing songs around a campfire, take a guided nature walk and shoot an arrow. Red Barn Youth Center will offer a tour through the teen center and community garden, with a chance to play pool, foosball, ping-pong and board games and enjoy crafts. A logging equipment display and demonstrations will be available at Key Peninsula Community Services, where soup, pie and cider can be purchased. Photo ops with a fire truck and demonstrations at the fire training center will be offered at the Key Center Fire Station.

A Fiber Arts Show and antique tractor displays will be at the Longbranch Improvement Club, featuring craft vendors, food and music.

Shuttle bus service will be available to some stops. To see bus details, a tour map and find more information, visit kpfarmtour.com.