Fort Ross Harvest Festival 2019
Saturday October 5th, Fort Ross State Historic Park
10am – 3pm
Harvest is the time to enjoy autumn’s fresh air with friends and family, acknowledging all that the seasons provide us. Please join us! Harvest Festival is a free event. Please park at the main parking lot and take the shuttle to the orchard. Regular California State Parks kiosk fees of $8/car apply. There will not be food vendors at the park–please bring a picnic.
- Apple and pear picking in the historic orchard,
- Juicing the apples (store bought apple juice will be served),
- Pumpkin Carving for kids of all ages
- Russian group Kedry and their families in traditional costume singing and performing seasonal games,
- Wooden apple painting with Andrei Borovsky,
- Kids games,
- 11:20am – Interpretive tour of San Andreas Fault and Spyra Redwood Grove (25 minutes, easy walking),
- 12:10pm – Interpretive talk about the historic orchard highlighting the first grapes grown in Sonoma county, the Russian-era cherry trees that still survive, and the expanded orchard developed during the ranch era (15 minutes, in the orchard),
- 12:30-2pm optional farm-to-table family style luncheon in the orchard. Advanced purchase required; details below.
And back down the hill:
- 2:00pm – Windmill demonstration and interpretive talk (at the main parking lot).
The Gran Fondo Bike Race is taking place across Sonoma County on October 5th.
We recommend you avoid River Road between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. After 10:30 a.m. we recommend you take River Road to Jenner (do NOT take Highway 1 through Bodega Bay).
Please check google maps before leaving.
We suggest you stay at Fort Ross until at least 3:00 p.m. to avoid southbound traffic.
Please park in the main parking lot at Fort Ross State Historic Park and take the shuttle up to the orchard. https://www.levisgranfondo.com/route/fortross.
Scenes from last year’s Harvest Festival
Newsflash: Fort Ross Conservancy, in cooperation with long-time Fort Ross volunteer group Russian House “Kedry” (San Jose), is happy to announce we will be doing traditional Krutets apple painting with famous ethno-culturologist and anthropologist Andrei Borovsky. Krutets is an ancient village of Nizhny Novgorod province. Carpentry has been flourishing there for centuries – the surrounding forests gave plenty of wood which served as material for almost everything: from furniture and tools, to utensils and children’s toys. Painted toys from this area were a centerpiece of every fair – matryoshka dolls, piggy banks, toy utensils. Each village had its own featured style. The most recognizable product of Krutets was an apple – a toy box with a surprise. Almost every house in Krutets still owns several lathes and Andrei has brought these apples for the master class being held in the historic Fort Ross Orchard.
To get acquainted with the tradition of folk painting, learn more about the secrets of ancient crafts, speculate about the symbol of an apple in the Russian culture and recall the wonderful apples from fairy tales, please join us for a master class with Andrei Borovsky during Fort Ross Harvest Festival.
Optional Family Style Luncheon at Fort Ross Orchard
This event is SOLD OUT. Thank you for supporting Fort Ross Education Fund!
Photos by Grace O’Malley.
Harvest Festival sponsored by Chevron, Transneft, and Sovcomflot.
