Field Fest 2022

Celebrate the harvest at the Farm at the Arb with a family-friendly festival! Enjoy farm-fresh food tastings, garden tours, a scavenger hunt, interactive games, exhibits and more. Dig into the dirt to harvest sugar beets or try the hands-on activities in the family tent while Clark Machtemes and the Traveled Ground play from the Event Lawns stage. Purchase food and drinks from food trucks and a beer garden.

Parking & Access: The Tram & the Beeline shuttle will not be running during Field Fest. However, you can shuttle from the Arboretum Visitor Center via the SouthWest Transit Field Fest Shuttle Bus. The shuttle bus will loop from the front turn-around of the Snyder Building (the building just east of the Visitor Center). Shuttles depart approximately every 25 minutes between 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., looping from the Snyder Building to the Farm and back.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. you can enjoy... 

• Sugar Beet Harvest - It's harvest time for sugar beets in Minnesota, and we need your help! Pull a sugar beet from our Farm at the Arb sugar beet Crop Plot, and learn more about why Minnesota is the largest sugar beet producer in the United States. The lucky person to pull the biggest sugar beet wins a Farm at the Arb Basket, including a Yeti Coffee Mug and sugar cookies!
• Farm Crawl: Corn & More - Sponsored by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association for the second year in a row, this family scavenger hunt is fun for all ages. It includes an interactive map to explore different elements of the farm, including how corn growing impacts our daily lives. After completing the tour, stop by the red barn to pick up a prize.
• Modern Farming Video - Watch a "Modern Farming" video in the Learning Lab of the Tashjian Bee & Pollinator Discovery Center to see how Minnesota farmers have changed the way they grow our food and more. An activity sheet goes along with video, brought to you by the Twin Cities Road Crew and Minnesota Corn Growers Association.
• Red Barn Pop-Up Shop - Shop all of your Arb fall favorites in the red barn – only during Field Fest! Browse through Farm at the Arb and Arboretum merchandise, along with apples and honey products. Meet author and garden expert, Meg Cowden, who will be signing her new book, “Plant, Grow, Harvest, Repeat.” She shares her passion for growing food on her Seed to Fork blog and Instagram.
• Event Lawn Stage
  • 10-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.- Clark Machtemes & The Traveled Ground
  • 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m. - Food for Thought Producer Panel: Homegrown Gardens Featuring Meg Cowden, Suado Abdi, and Larry Pfarr
  • 12:15 p.m.-12:45 p.m. - Food for Thought Producer Panel: Sugar Beets Featuring Jeff Buboltz, Buffalo Lake and the Kruger Family of Montevideo
• Beer Garden & Food Trucks 

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. you can enjoy... 

• KWS Family Tent - The KWS Family Tent will be jam-packed with hands-on activities on the Farm at the Arb Event Lawn. We will showcase sugar beets and all of the fascinating facts about this incredible Minnesota crop. Expect to find face painting, games and sweet fun for the whole family. You can also stop by the Summer Kitchen for sugar beet tastings. 

AppleJAM will also kick off at 5 p.m. with the local band, The Z's, followed by Humbird from 6-8 p.m. Bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy the show from the Farm at the Arb events lawns.