After a weekend packed with Homecoming celebrations, Gators can wind down with a seasonal festival in downtown Alachua.
The eighth annual Alachua Harvest Festival is planned to take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The 170 vendors and scarecrow-decorated street lights will stretch all the way down Main Street.
Scarecrow Row, the portion of the festival where people can decorate the light poles with different scarecrows, is a competition among Alachua businesses.
This year’s festival theme is “Alachua’s Wide World of Sports.”
The sponsors of this year’s festival include the Alachua Business League, SunState Federal Credit Union, Gator Domino’s, Alachua Design Printing and the City of Alachua.
The Alachua Business League uses the proceeds from the festival to fund scholarships for local high school students to go to Santa Fe College, said Joan Sroka, chairwoman of the festival.
“Alachua Business League believes in reinvesting in the community, and purchasing scholarships is one of the many ways we support the community,” Sroka said.
Festival-goers can spend an October afternoon socializing with other visitors and perusing tables stacked with handmade items.
Christmas shopping is also possible at the festival, said Valerie Taylor, a member of the festival’s logistics team.
“I always look forward to seeing the pretty scarecrows and vendors on Main Street,” Taylor said.
