Photos and text by Dan Little
An estimated 6,000 people came out to the Hadley Town Common Saturday for the fourth annual Asparagus Festival, produced by WGBY, Public Television for Western New England.
People from all over gathered on the lawn for live music, craft vendors, food and family fun — all celebrated through the lens of the local asparagus crop.
In one activity, kids were invited to try their hand at picking asparagus, but with wooden pegs filling in for the actual veggie spears.
Among the culinary delicacies were tempura-battered asparagus fries, grilled asparagus, asparagus made into ice cream, or placed in soups or salads.
Peter Harris of Denville, New Jersey, was visiting a friend in Deerfield with his wife, Kristin Harris, and decided to stop in at the festival.
“It’s much busier and bigger than I was expecting,” he said, as he tasted asparagus ice cream. “There’s strong asparagus flavor present, but it’s refreshing.”
One of the main features of the event was a farm-to-table-style dinner to benefit WGBY. The menu featured a mix of local dishes, focused around asparagus, of course, and prepared by area top chefs.
Peter Masiero of the University of Massachusetts Amherst University Club and Restaurant, who was helping with the dinner and at the Baby Berk food truck, said that every year the event keeps … “growing like asparagus.”