Field Fest
Experience the harvest season at the Farm at the Arb with this annual family-friendly festival with hands-on harvesting of sugar beets, Rootstock pop-up and beer garden, live entertainment and activities for all ages.
Presented By
Highlights
- New this year! We welcome Minnesota’s own Zoë François, pastry chef and baker extraordinaire, who will kick off the sugar beet harvest and sign copies of her New York Times best-selling book "Zoë Bakes Cookies" as well as "Zoë Bakes Cakes."
- Visitors can learn directly from Minnesota food growers and producers while exploring interactive exhibits, games and hands-on activities in the KWS Family Tent
- Tour the crop plots and orchards
- Help harvest our Minnesota sugar beets, corn and potato
- Beet-weighing contest
- American Crystal Sugar will provide a free bag of sugar to participants — bringing the plant-to-plate experience full circle
- Learn how sugar beets move from seed to sugar in the store
- Make bouquets with flowers you can grow at home
- Learn about the cut-flower industry
- Live entertainment from TC Road Crew
- Big Ideas Learning Lab Trailer will offer demonstrations and Career Exploration VR (agricultural trades)
- Tastings in the kitchen with harvested foods
- Rootstock pop-up will offer food for purchase in the Summer Kitchen
Zoë François is a pastry chef, Emmy nominated TV host and New York Times best-selling author.
Field Fest Tickets
For this event, visitors can enter the Arboretum at the Farm at the Arb entrance gate or the main entrance by following the scenic Three-Mile Drive and Peter C. Moe Drive to reach the farm. Have your admission ticket ready to scan at either entrance.
Field Fest Scheduled Activities
10-10:30 a.m. Sugar Beet Harvest Kick-off in the Sugar Beet Field
The field is a magical place! Head to the Sugar Beet crop plot and help dig the first beet of the season to kick off the 2025 Arboretum harvest season!
10:30-11 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-noon, 1-1:30 p.m. Watch the Beekeepers at Work
Get a peek at a day in the life of a beekeeper! Watch safely from inside through viewing windows, as the beekeeper at the Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center inspects the honey bee hives and explains the process as she goes.
11 a.m.-noon Tastings in the Kitchen Classroom
After guests have dug up their beet, all are welcomed into the kitchen to taste Minnesota-grown sugar in one of Zoë François's recipes!
12:30-1:30 p.m. Stories with the Black Storytellers Alliance at
Join the Black Storytellers Alliance at the Entertainment Stage to enjoy stories, performed by Danielle Daniel and Sister Mariama Gillespie.
1-1:30 p.m. Zoë François Book Signing in the Red Barn
Zoë will sign copies of her New York Times best-selling book "Zoë Bakes Cookies" as well as "Zoë Bakes Cakes." Books will be available for sale.
