Cherry Festival continues despite lower harvest
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POLSON — Cherries were still available during the 25th annual Flathead Cherry Festival last weekend despite a lower cherry yield this year due to freezing conditions at the start of the season.
Cherry products at the event ranged from cherry syrup to cherry jelly, including one jelly spiced with habaneros, and whole cherries by the pound.
Mike Morelli was manning his stand for Morelli Farms. While selling cherries, he said: “We only had 3,000 pounds of cherries this year. In a normal year, we have 30,000-40,000 pounds of cherries. Our quality is still great. We just have a lot less than we normally do.”
Many festival participants said they were happy to get any cherries and to support local growers.
Trecor Hando, festival participant, said: “It’s a lot bigger here than last time I came to the event, and it’s definitely cool to see the changes from previous years. If I had to offer any advice to anyone wanting to come check out the festival next year, bring some cash and come out and enjoy what the festival has to offer.”
Vendors filled Main Street for the weekend event and two connecting streets. On the first day, the air was smoky from nearby forest fires, but on Sunday, the rain came in. The weather didn’t stop hundreds of attendees.
On Sunday, the Foodie Competition was the main event with four categories for contestants to compete in: sweet, savory, pie and professional. Several judges scored the cherry creations, including District Court Judge Molly Owen. Event coordinator and Main Street business owner CarolLynn Lapotka said: “This year’s festival had a more diverse group of vendors and more artists than ever before. We are very thankful that there are cherries to be purchased this year due to the lower amount of crops being harvested.”
