The tenth annual Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people show up to the Buchanan countryside.
People came by to see live music, multiple local vendors and tractor rides, while also enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer.
“Usually the first thing they do is swat the bugs away. Once we get past that it’s great for people to walk though 700,000 sunflowers, that’s not something you see every day,” founder Candace Monaghan said. “So to be able to experience that and just chill out a little bit and be calm while enjoying life, it’s nice.”
Of course, there were plenty of sunflowers of differing growth statuses on display.
“I do think the sunflowers are a bit more opened up this year than they year last year,” Abigail Hattersley said. “The weather has opened up which is very nice. When I got her there was still a little bit of cloud cover, so walking through the sunflowers felt nice.”
As far as the weather is concerned, it was much nicer on Saturday than it was on Thursday.
Heavy rains and winds crushed tents and sent vendors scrambling to make sure their merchandise and tents were undamaged.
Some, like Adriana Haynes of Dirt Road Welding, got by with minimal damage. Her tent ended up needing some duct tape to keep it upright.
“Thankfully, my stuff is made to be outside, so everything like that is safe,” Haynes said. “We did have some damage to our tent but we got it repaired quickly and ready to go.”
Others, like Kristy Satterfield’s Sew Down Home, dealt with water damage and had to make adjustments.
“Unfortunately our product did get wet, our cardboard got wet,” Satterfield said. “So we had to make some changes and duct tape our tent, grab some bungees and strap it back up.”
With quick action and the support of the people, the Sunflower Festival was back up and running in no time, to the delight of everyone who showed up.
“It’s been great to have support from everybody locally and regionally. Last year we had 37 states that came,” Monaghan said." So to see how we spread and to see the people that have come to the farm to kind of get away from the city and enjoy nature and learn more about the farm, we’re excited to offer that to everybody.”