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16th annual Harvestfest offers a final taste of fall for Billings

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Posted at 7:15 PM, Oct 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-12 21:15:30-04

BILLINGS — People in Billings headed downtown for a taste of food, beer, art and fall at the 16th annual Harvestfest Saturday.

The event is organized by the Downtown Billings Alliance and is the final farmers market of the season.

People could browse arts and crafts from 57 booths and get a bite to eat at 30 different food vendors.

For people in Billings, Harvestfest is a last chance to get out and about before winter truly sets its grip on Montana.

"We're about to be cooped up. I think that the rest of the community is ready for one last hurrah to get to celebrate the fall," said Downtown Billings Alliance events director Lindsay Richardson. "We actually do have a lot of farmers and ranchers in the area, to talk harvest and to think about that is really nice. It’s a really good tradition for Billings.”

This year was a stark contrast in weather compared to Harvestfest in 2018. Saturday saw temperatures in the fifties. Last year, it was snowing and 30 degrees for the festival.

"We all stayed really positive. And the snow came early this week instead of later. We were delighted when the forecast went from 30 to 40 to being a 50 degree forecast,” Richardson said.

Richardson added that it was a good turn out this year with more vendors compared to last.

“I think it's been a really great showing of Billings to see how beautiful our downtown looks even at this time of year," Richardson said.