Have you ever wondered what the largest sunflower festival and vendor show on the East Coast looks like? Now is your chance to find out. Dates have been announced for the Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival in Buchanan.
Each September, thousands of visitors throng to Botetourt County to a small family-owned farm just outside of Buchanan. Their goal? To glimpse a sea of 700,000 sunflowers as they burst into brilliant gold blooms. For 10 days, visitors clamor onto hayrides, pose for professional photographers, and visit with 100+ vendors of handmade crafts and fresh food. This is the iconic Beaver Dam Farm Sunflower Festival – now known as the largest sunflower festival and vendor fair on the East Coast.
The event’s local roots run deep. Beaver Dam Farm was purchased in 1900 and became a tomato cannery in 1916, then a dairy in 1927. The farm – still owned and operated by the same family today – now focuses on beef cattle, hay and straw sales. But the sunflowers? The family first planted them almost on a whim.
“Back in 2015, we had an open field, and my father said out of the blue, ‘We need to plant sunflowers,’” remembers Candace Monaghan, the festival’s founder. “There was no other reason than he thought they were pretty.” The following year, Monaghan suggested opening the field to sightseers, with a goal of 300 attendees. Instead, the event saw 1,600 in a single day.
Since then, the festival has steadily expanded, attracting 20,000+ visitors each year, and in 2023, the family opened Gracely Hill, a wedding and event venue with panoramic mountain views. All told, an annual study suggests that the festival and its offshoots represent some $1.4 million in economic impact (2023).
For more information and ticket information, visit www.BeaverDamSunflowers.com.
2024 Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 6 – 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 7 – 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 8 – 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 9 – CLOSED
Tuesday, Sept. 10 – Preschoolers – 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 10 – Ticketed Dinner – 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 11 – Seniors – 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 11 – 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 12 – Special Needs – 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 12 – 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 13 – CLOSED
Friday, Sept. 13 – Ticketed Dinner – 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 14 – 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 15 – 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
~ Beaver Dam Sunflower Festival
