Downtown Piqua’s annual fall celebration will take over the streets of downtown Piqua next Saturday, October 14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Harvest Days celebration features lots of fall fun, live music and crafters.
The Piqua Kiwanis Club will be hosting a pumpkin patch for kids and families. Festival visitors can show a receipt for a purchase from a downtown business, or make a non-perishable food donation to the Bethany Center, and they can pick out a pumpkin. The pumpkin patch will be located on the north end of the 400 block close to Readmore’s Hallmark. The Piqua Kiwanis Club and K-Kids will also have a pumpkin painting station where kids can paint their pumpkin of choice.
Other fall activities at the Harvest Days include pumpkin bowling and a corn pit for (little) kids to play in. Mainstreet Piqua’s big games, including giant jenga, pop-a-shot, cornhole and connect four will be available for families to enjoy. Live entertainment will start at noon with a performance by Piqua’s own Jimmy Felts. At 3:30 the “The Possum Creek Ramblers” will take the stage for a two-hour show. The Possum Creek Ramblers are a Dayton band playing a variety of contemporary and traditional bluegrass with plenty of crossover tunes snuck in there. Band members include Chris Lemon (lead vocals, baritone vocals, banjo, dobro), Jeff Martin (lead vocals, backup vocals, bass & guitar) & Sylvia Gleason (soprano vocals, fiddle & dulcimer). In 2023, Tyler “T-Bone” Joseph and Christian Tobbe (of Christian T. and the Six Shooters) joined the group, bringing considerable instrumental and vocal talent. The show promises to be a lot of fun. Please bring a lawn chair, the main entertainment stage will be on the south end of the 300 block of N. Main Street.
In addition to downtown Piqua’s restaurants, food will be provided by B & V Eatz and Dobo’s Delights Bakery will have cabbage rolls and pumpkin spice treats. There will be at least a dozen crafters selling a variety of items, many of which are homemade. Mainstreet Piqua will also have a booth at the event, selling Piqua items including Atomic City and French Horn District t-shirts, Made in Piqua ornaments, shot glasses, mugs, coasters and other Piqua collectibles.
An annual feature of the Harvest Days event is the Costumed Pet contest and parade. The judging will start at 2:30 p.m. in Canal Place (behind Susie’s Big Dipper) and the parade will start at 3 p.m. The costumed pet parade is sponsored by RPets, located on Ash Street in downtown Piqua.
Downtown Piqua’s retailers will also be hosting their fall open house during Harvest Days on Saturday, October 14. Stop by and see all the new fall and holiday merchandise.
Harvest Days is a project of Mainstreet Piqua and this year the event was sponsored by Mutual Federal, Apex Aluminum and Die Casting, Jackson Tube Service Hartzell Industries, Miami Valley Steel and Edison State Community College. For more information about Harvest Days visit www.mainstreetpiqua.com and click on the Harvest Days link on the home page.
