In 2013, neighbors Janice and Molly decided to start a rhubarb celebration. Why? you might ask. They were looking for a fund-raising activity to benefit the town library’s building fund, and they thought that it was high time that there was a town fest of some sort. Rhubarb is the ‘first fruit of the season’ and by early June, the plant is up and thriving in gardens all over the region. No other town in the area had a Rhubarb Festival, so it had to be Rhubarb! After much planning, they held a bake sale on the Library Lawn in early June. The next year, a baking contest, a face-painter, craft sellers, a children’s Fun Run, and a basket raffle joined the bake sale.

More events were added to the festivities, so activities moved from the down-town Library lawn to Sawyer Memorial Park. By 2020, the Town’s Recreation Committee was involved in the planning. There was no Festival that year at all due to the Pandemic but through modern technology, entries for widest leaf, longest stalk, and rhubarb floral arrangements were judged on-line.

This year, the Festival will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at Sawyer Memorial Park from 10 am to 4 pm, and the Library Trustees are in charge. Parking and entrance are free. There will be craft vendors and food vendors; children’s activities and contests for adults and children. The Library Bake & Book tent is always popular — that’s where the Rhubarb Pies are for sale! Proceeds still go to the Building Fund.

All in all, Bennington has embraced its home-grown Rhubarb Festival, just as the early settlers welcomed the first fresh vegetable of spring when the Rhubarb came up every year. We hope that the Festival will continue for decades to come. Rhubarb has been called the “neighbor plant” because when you started your homestead, neighbors would give you rhubarb to plant. It would be right neighborly if you would come to our Rhubarb Festival.

The next installment of the Bennington NH Historical Society Blog will be posted on June 24, 2024. If you click the Subscribe button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month – for free.