By Emily Miller
REXBURG – It’s a good, old-fashioned harvest party, and it’s happening in Rexburg this Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Rexburg Tabernacle Civic Center.
The city of Rexburg Cultural Arts Department is preparing for OkTUBERfest, a yearly tradition celebrating all things potato and the end of the harvest. The community will gather at the Tabernacle for games, music, and dancing, followed by a community concert.
“Everyone always says this event is like a Hallmark movie,” says Rexburg Cultural Arts Music Specialist Heidi Pyper. “It’s such a great time to gather as a community as the harvest is over. It’s such a big part of Rexburg.”
Mary Alice Briggs, one of the event planners, says the community can expect to see lots of the favorite activities people have come to enjoy at the annual festival.
“We have a lot of different, fun games, like Russet Racers, where you can carve potatoes into the shape of a race car and race them down Pinewood Derby tracks,” Briggs says.
Vincent Crofts and his country/bluegrass band will be back to play live music on the square, and Elizabeth Fuller will return as the festival’s resident dance caller.
“We just want to invite everyone to come, gather together as our small town, and enjoy the conclusion of the harvest,” Briggs says.
The outdoor festival runs from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and is followed by a community concert, “Country Roads,” inside the Tabernacle from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“This will be the next in our Community Spotlight series,” Pyper says. “We like to choose themes for each of these, so this time we decided to match with OkTUBERfest and make it a country music event. We have a lot of local talent and interest in country music that we don’t always get to hear.”
Performers were chosen from video auditions submitted a few weeks ago, and Pyper says it has been fun to see so much talent in the community.
“Several of the performing groups are families, which we love,” she says. “There will be some dancing and some audience participation, so it will be a really fun conclusion to OkTUBERfest.”
Admission to the festival and the concert is free, but a $5 suggested donation for the concert will benefit the restoration of the Tabernacle. Donations can be made at the event or online.
