Margaretville Cauliflower Festival

20 Years and Counting

By Diane Galusha for Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce

As the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and partners prepare for the annual Margaretville Cauliflower Festival, ‘20’ is the magic number.

Not only will this be the 20th festival (Saturday, September 21), anticipated with much pleasure by participants and attendees alike, but 2024 also marks the 20th anniversaries of the launch of Pure Catskills, a consortium of Catskill Mountain farmers and producers, and of the start of the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, which has chronicled the history of agriculture, including cauliflower production, in the region.

The Cauliflower Festival, a celebration of all that’s best about rural living, was born in 2003. It was the brainchild of Carol Molnar, proprietor of Margaretville Mountain Inn, a bed and breakfast in the former William and Thankful VanBenschoten farmhouse where the cauliflower industry began in the late 1890s, and Terry Cohen, a former owner of the house. The idea was to pay tribute to a major aspect of the region’s farming history, and to establish a new and different focus for a summertime celebra- tion that would give Margaretville residents and visitors a reason to come together.

They have come together every year since, except 2011 when Margaretville was cleaning up from Tropical Storm Irene, and 2020, when the Covid pandemic precluded large gatherings.

The first festival, held in August of 2003, featured a vintage baseball game, car show, craft vendors, country music and kids’ activities, including a watermelon eating contest. Of course, cauliflower was offered for sale.

The following year, many local producer/participants of the new Pure Catskills marketing initiative of the Watershed Agricultural Council, brought their farm-fresh produce to the festival. What started with a small group of farmers in the Catskills region has evolved into an economic and community development program representing nearly 350 diverse farm and forest-based businesses, restaurants, local artisans, other non-profit organizations, and accommodations. Not surprisingly, the Pure Catskills tent has become a mainstay and sponsor of the harvest-time festival.

A History Tent was a key element of the inaugural festival. Area residents donated cauliflower growing tools, crates and implements for display, and a slide show of contributed photographs was on continuous loop. The impetus for the formation of the Historical Society of Middletown (HSM) picked up steam and the group was established in 2004. HSM, now 130 members strong, has continued to spotlight cauliflower and community history through displays and panel discussions in the History Tent, and through programming and exhibits at its new Middletown History Center.

Pure Catskills, HSM and a host of other organizations, vendors and community institutions will once again fill the Village Park for the 20th Margaretville Cauliflower Festival, which runs from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday, September 21. A tractor parade up Main Street to the festival grounds starts at 11:30 am. Drivers in the Catskills Conquest 1903 Automobile Rally will put their vehicles on display for a short time in late morning.

Live music, a corn hole tournament, karate demonstrations and kids activities, crafts and games will be offered. There will be farm animals to pet and plenty of great food to eat. And don’t forget to bring a shopping bag for a head or two of cauliflower!

Main Street businesses will also welcome festival goers. The Village of Margaretville will sponsor fly fishing lessons for kids on the pedestrian bridge over the Binnekill stream, a stone’s throw from the site where long lines of farmers once waited to sell truckloads of cauliflower to NYC commission agents at a busy auction block in what is now the municipal parking lot.

The Cauliflower Festival takes place at the Village Park behind Freshtown Market Place and CVS Pharmacy, Bridge Street, Margaretville.

For more information, visit margaretvillecauliflowerfestival.org, purecatskills. com, or mtownhistory.org