The story
Mountain Harvest Festival in Paonia
Paonia spends late summer weekends smelling of roasted peppers and crushed apples, as the Mountain Harvest Festival pairs downtown music and tastings with farm tours out into the North Fork Valley's orchards and fields. The Great Chili Cookoff sends smoke and serious bragging rights across the afternoon, and a street dance carries the celebration into the evening once the sun goes down. Wine, cider, and craft stalls fill the gaps between events.
By midafternoon, Paonia smells like roasted peppers and crushed apples, and music keeps bouncing off the storefronts as people wander between tasting tables and small downtown crowds.