One local family farm is bringing back their annual sunflower festival at the end of July.
The Bergsbaken family is preparing to host the seventh annual sunflower fest July 29-31 at their farm, W2095 County Road E, Cecil.
“We have a lot of things planned for that weekend,” said Bergsbaken Farm co-owner Lee Bergsbaken. “We have wagon rides, walking trails and people can pick sunflowers. We will also sell sunflower oil, popcorn, whole shelled corn and cracked corn. We also have a vendor fair, live music and a quilt raffle.”
The family originally decided to host the event, because they noticed that travelers would stop on the side of the road to take pictures and look at the sunflowers.
“There were so many people on the road taking pictures that it caused traffic jams,” said Bergsbaken. “We thought if there are that many people interested in the flowers, we should invite them in. It has grown in to the point, where we are seeing families year-after-year having a good time here.”
Bergsbaken said that when the family first decided to host the event, they were hoping for a few-hundred people. Since the first event, he has noticed that information regarding the event gets spread around and more people come each year.
“The first year, we had about 1,600 people show up throughout the weekend. The year after, that grew to 9,000 people,” said Bergsbaken.
He claimed that approximately 30,000 people attended the event during a three-day span last year.
In order to prepare for the event, Bergsbaken said that the family plants sunflowers 70 days before to get a full bloom by the event day.
“We always have our festival during the last weekend in July,” said Bergsbaken. “We have sunflowers that bloom in 68 days this year. It is almost two or two-and-a-half months of preparation.”
Bergsbaken noted that as the event has grown in its seven years, people from other counties, other states and even other countries have visited to spend an afternoon at the farm.
“People love this event,” said Bergsbaken. “I know that there are some people who have been here every year, since we started. It is always nice to see new people come too.”
He added that he has met people at the farm from France, South America, Japan and China.
“It is kind of wonderful to see that diverse amount of people,” said Bergsbaken.
Through his point of view, Bergsbaken said that it is nice to see that visitors have taken a liking to the farm.
“It gets pretty exciting,” said Bergsbaken. “My dad told me that if you want something out of your community, you have to put something into your community. I think that this is what we put into the community that benefits, not just us, but a lot of people around the area and the world.”
Bergsbaken said that an event like this not only helps out the family farm, but other business in the area as well.
“It does a lot for Cecil and surrounding communities, especially in the restaurants, gas stations and hotels,” said Bergsbaken. “There are wineries around here that get a lot of people too. I know that there are a lot of people who come from the Milwaukee area, who stay in Green Bay and come up here for part of their day.”
Finally, Bergsbaken summed up the event saying that visitors should attend the event for an afternoon of fun.
“Sunflowers always make everyone feel good,” said Bergsbaken. “This is somewhere where people can just forget about their troubles for the day.”
lreimer@newmedia-wi.com
Bergsbakens prepping for Sunflower Fest
