Cobourg Harvest Festival
& Chili Cook-off

by Festival Nomad "Sidekick" & Partner, Judi McWilliams

“Cobourg Chili Zone”

I am running solo today! Gary is off on his own working on another project. Cobourg was having its annual Cobourg Harvest Festival and Chili Cook-off. So I decided to venture downtown to take a look. Before I could see anything, I heard music from the distant Downtown Cobourg and smelled something cooking. The first thing I ran into was the road closure sign. As I looked ahead the street was full of people, lots of dogs and kids. There were hay bails stacked into pyramids with big orange pumpkins, scarecrows made out of straw, and signs showing each farmers title. There were small gourds and pumpkins with bouquets for flowers sprouting from the top of each, very colourful indeed. I missed the actual chili bake off as I went downtown far too soon. I snuck a peak into a Busker's bag of tools for his trade, very interesting! I was able to take a picture of one of the youngest band members I’ve ever seem. Strolling along the main street I unexpectedly bumped into my sister and her husband. They were downtown to pick up fresh produce from local farmers. I tagged along with them for a while and was amazed how well they new the names of some of the more peculiar items. My sister’s husband considers himself a gourmet chef, so fresh produce means a lot to him. We said their goodbyes and I went back to strolling. There was a toy maker who had carved many interesting wooden toys for kids, a very popular booth. After all, Christmas is just around the corner! As I wandered along the street, I saw all kinds of goodies for sale, honey, jams, etc. When had left the house I thought I would be cold walking downtown, so I had overdressed. Now with all the walking, I had become far too hot. Also, I had made the biggest rookie festival mistake, our camera ran out of power. Yep, those batteries were dead. I did stay on for a while and enjoyed what else I could see plus I enjoyed a great band. Next time I won’t be flying solo…