Sunflower Festival to return June 10

Local and out-of-town visitors alike gather each year to celebrate the summer and pick sunflowers at Copper Creek Farm’s annual Sunflower Festival.

This year’s festival, held at 1514 Reeves Station Road in Calhoun, is set to begin on Thursday, June 10, and continue on select dates through July 24.

Geared toward providing entertainment for the whole family, the annual event features hayrides, duck and pig races, 100-foot barn slides, watermelon cannons, pony rides, steer roping and more. Children are invited to mine for gems and watch an animated chicken show, while adults have the opportunity to enjoy a visit to the honey bee barn or to grab a bite to eat from Copper Creek Grill.

The grill serves local favorite foods such as homemade ice cream, BBQ sandwiches, apple dumplings and fresh squeezed lemonade all day long.

General admission to the festival is $17.76 and includes a stroll through the sunflower fields, a trip to the old general store and Copper Creek Grill and access to the farm and all of the day’s activities. For an additional $5, guests receive a bucket of freshlypicked sunflowers straight from the farm itself.

Children under 3 years old get in free. Seniors over 60 and groups more than 20 receive $2 off the cost of admission.

The sunflower festival dates back to 2015 when owners David and Sabrina Grogan were first wrapping up renovations to the newly-minted Copper Creek Farm, formerly the historic Tara Farm.

“We wanted to do something other than just the corn maze and pumpkin patch in the fall,” David Grogan told The Calhoun Times in an interview shortly before the festival opened for the first time. “What’s prettier than a sunflower festival?”

A full list of festival dates is available online at www.coppercreekfarm.com/sunflower.html. The farm is closed on Sundays.