Ogden’s Harvest Moon Festival 2023
Saturday, September 16th, 2023
Published September 14, 2023 | By Lynn Blamires, feature writer for My Local Utah
The Harvest Moon Festival is planned for Saturday, September 16th in Ogden on Historic 25th Street from noon to 8:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Ogden Downtown Alliance, the public is invited to come celebrate the end of summer 2023 with family-friendly activities, live music by local artists, community partners, local businesses, vendors and more at the Harvest Moon Festival.
Harvest Moon Entry Is Free to the Public and Parking Is Available
Harvest Moon is free and open to the public. Parking is available in Electric Alley (behind the north side of Historic 25th Street), in parking garages, and in the District Court parking lot. With an increase in traffic to the downtown area for Harvest Moon and additional overlapping events, Ogden Downtown Alliance encourages event attendees to explore alternate transportation if possible. If you are visiting from a neighboring city, please consider utilizing Ride UTA’s Frontrunner or local bus route. The GREENbike system is also available.
Harvest Moon Will Feature a Beer Garden
This festival has all the party atmosphere of a Beer Garden. Wristbands will be issued to those who are eligible to buy beer and sales will be cash only. This is a big event, Ogden touts it as the largest single-day event of the year with last year’s attendance being over 34,000 people. This year the festival will be even bigger.
An Extension of the Ogden Farmer’s Market
With local businesses and vendors offering their wares, in some ways, this is an extension of Ogden’s Farmers Market that ended on September 9th. Some vendors from the Saturday markets will be present, but many new and unique merchants will be there. This is just another reason to come and enjoy this amazing event.
Family-oriented Activities for All Ages
Family-friendly activities will offer children an opportunity to participate in a variety of crafts designed to give them something they have made or put together as a takeaway from the festival. There will be items such as necklaces, bracelets, and a variety of hands-on crafts that children will enjoy. Balloon artists will delight families. Children will also love showing off their own faces painted to look like princesses or animals or adorned with flowers.
The Wild Variety from the Wildlife Center
Families will enjoy a variety of animals that will be shown by the Wildlife Center. It is something special to see an owl or eagle up close that you wouldn’t normally see in the wild. People will be encouraged to help support the work they are doing to save and rehabilitate wild animals, especially considering the loss of their facility and the need to relocate.
Non-profit Organizations Will Shine on Saturday
The festival gives non-profit organizations a chance to shine. YCC Family Crisis Center, Youth Impact, Dinosaur Park, the Ogden Nature Center, and the Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music (OFOAM) will have booths to help you get better acquainted with their missions and purposes in serving our community.
Harvest Moon Equals Live Music
Live music will accompany the celebration with Hearts of Steele being one of the headliners. The Harvest Moon Festival provides the opportunity for new talent to have a chance to emerge in the world of music.
The Annual NU-HOPE Walk
As is the tradition, the Harvest Moon Celebration is held following the Annual NU-HOPE Suicide Awareness Walk that will take place at 11 a.m. at the Ogden Amphitheater.
Come and Enjoy Harvest Moon
These are a few of the reasons to find yourself at this year’s Harvest Moon Festival. Come and join in the festivities and celebrate the end of summer with your friends in downtown Ogden.
I’m going to try to go this year haven’t been in years. Hopefully I can get my friend to go with me.