JEFFERSON, Massachusetts — It was a sea of purple at the Farm at SummitWynds in Jefferson. The sold-out Lavender Fest welcomed families for a relaxing day in nature.
2024 marks the festival's fifth year, which featured picturesque scenes in the local lavender fields. The plant was the star of the show, as vendors sold some lavender-infused food and drink options like beer from Seven Saws Brewery, wine from Hardwick Winery, lavender lemonade and even ice cream.
SummitWynds is a horse farm but in 2017, they began planting lavender. They mainly focus on culinary lavender, but they have 21 varieties in total. The plant comes in bloom in late June, but the sunny weather so far this year helped get things started a bit early.
"How beautiful it is, how tranquil, just what a great time they're having," the farm's Amanda Morse said. "We have live bands that come so there's music during the festival, it's a really fun time. I think it's something unique, you don't see it everyday. There's a couple farms in New England that do it but it's a unique product. People don't know about it and they want to come see what the lavender fields look like and taste the lavender. That's a big thing, people have no idea what lavender tastes like until they come here."
"It's very soothing, the atmosphere is really nice, beautiful views, it is unique, it's one-of-a-kind to be honest," Clarissa Dume, who was visiting from Attleboro, said. "I've seen advertisements for carnivals and all different events and there's nothing like the lavender farm festival."
The farm says they will harvest and eventually sell the lavender to other businesses in the area. Sunday was the last of two weekends for the festival.