INNISFAIL – Pumpkins, activities, live music and a bit of sunshine welcomed hundreds of families for The Jungle Farm’s fall festival.
The annual event took place at the farm, just north of Innisfail on Oct. 5.
“We're thrilled to see so many people here first thing (to start the festival)," said Leona Staples, co-owner.
"We have some new activities in the back play area and some new games," she said, noting a virtual scavenger hunt that uses an app to allow visitors to explore the farm.
The one-day festival has been a fall tradition at The Jungle Farm for more than 10 years, noted Staples, adding it includes a pumpkin patch, farm animals, a corn maze, games, items for sale at the general store, live music and tractor rides. This year it also featured the Alberta Forest Products Association and professional photographer Amy Chen.
Kelsey Bill and her two sons from Red Deer were enjoying the fall festival for the first time.
"It's our first time at The Jungle Farm. I started following them on Facebook and I saw this event and thought it would be a fun day," said Bill. "It looks like it's going to be a great time and I think it's going to be fun for the whole family. We hope to get some nice pumpkins to take home and enjoy the nice fall weather."
Staples said despite the cooler weather this summer, it was a successful season at The Jungle Farm.
"I think our season was good. The cool weather has definitely made a difference," said Staples "Some things like spinach, lettuce, beets and cabbage, they love the cool weather and we did better with them than we have in other years. Our strawberries were average," she added, noting a nice fall allowed for a successful harvest of pumpkins, squash and onions as well.
After a busy summer, the fall festival is one of the last events of the season, noted Staples.
"We are open every weekend right until the end of October and all of our play area is open too," she said. "We still have a few more things. Thanksgiving weekend is always very popular and our very last weekend of the month we do our extreme pumpkin carving with power tools.
"We've got quite a few more things and opportunities for people to come out and enjoy the farm," Staples concluded.
