Second FallFest A Success

When Sophia Borg held her inaugural Saratoga FallFest last October, she was already thinking about making things bigger and better for 2024.

Mission accomplished.

The 2nd Annual Saratoga FallFest was held on October 19 in downtown Saratoga and had already grown from the year before. There were more vendors, there were more activities and there were a lot more people.

“Everybody said they had a great time. The music was great, the food vendors were great, the vendors were great,” said Borg. “It was just a good time all the way around, I think.”

Local vendors joined regional vendors in the municipal parking lot on east Spring Avenue, which was closed for the event. A variety of musicians played throughout the day, children of all ages participated in a pumpkin painting contest and a few people even threw some pies at Pastor Vince Vannett of Saratoga Alliance Church.

“We added the chili cook-off, we doubled the vendor amount [and] we got a lot of town support, community support,” said Borg.

The chili cook-off was judged, in part, by Miss Cheyenne Frontier Days Haylie Turley with the help of Lady-in-Waiting Katherine Olson. Borg had Super Bowl-style rings made for the four winners of the chili cook-off, which featured red chili this year.

“I think we will add green chili or white chili, but we have to have the participation to be able to do that,” said Borg.

Dan Martz took 1st place for his red chili.

The cornhole tournament held at Saratoga FallFest will likely grow, too. According to Borg, 307Cornhole out of Rock Springs may be taking over the tournament for next year’s FallFest. Borg said there may be talks of the group helping to establish a league in Saratoga, as well.

All funds raised by the Saratoga FallFest go into planning for next year’s event as well as paying the musicians.

“A majority of that goes to being able to pay our local musicians what they charge instead of them just donating [their time],” said Borg.

Whether it was the weather—which started out on the cool side but soon warmed up—or a combination of late-season tourists and hunters, Borg said she was happy with the increased turnout.