Harvest Moon Festival celebrates community in end of summer hurrah

As the summer winds to an end and “busy season” in Onset comes to a close, the Onset Bay Association had one more event to keep the village lively.

As the association’s annual Harvest Moon Festival saw hundreds of classic cars fill Onset Pier, over one hundred vendors put their wares on sale and trucks dish out all kinds food, those from near and far felt what it means to be a part of the Onset and Wareham community.

“The day’s been amazing,” association President Kat Jones said. “Onset was full right at 10 o’clock.”

The festival was held Saturday, Sept. 27 and utilized not only the Onset Pier but Prospect Park and the bandshell where live music rang out from 10 a.m. to the festival’s conclusion at 5 p.m.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this big or have so many vendors,” said Alexa Canzano of Burlington, Vermont. “We know someone who’s playing [music] too so I’m excited to hear them play.”

Joining Canzano was Ashleigh Kmett and Hannah St. Dawn who came to Onset to visit her mom and it just so happened to be the same day as the festival, she said.

“We didn’t even know this was happening but we definitely chose the right weekend,” Dawn said.

And despite not being from the area, Kmett added the event gave her a sense of what living in Onset year round might feel like.

“This seems like a great space that’s already built for a great event like this so if there’s this event there has to be many more throughout the year,” Kmett said. 

One of the main attractions for the festival since the Onset Bay Association revived it four years ago is the car show put on by the Rusty Nuts car club of Wareham.

The over 300 cars of all kinds ranging from classic muscle to today’s sleek designs is likely the maximum the area can hold, Rusty Nuts member Alan Slavin said.

“I think next year we’re going to have to announce it so people can apply online because I know we turned a bunch of cars away,” he said.

Over the four years, Slavin said he has seen the car show bring people a lot of joy, including Paul Dorsey who had his 1965 Ford Falcon on display.

“I’ve had a lot of older cars and working on things and fixing them is kind of cool because it reminds me of when I was younger and I used to work on crap-boxes to keep them running,” Dorsey said.

Dorsey said he brings the Falcon to lots of car shows and his favorite part about them is hearing the stories behind each car.

“That’s why cars are pretty nice,” he said. “They all carry a story because they carry you somewhere.”

There’s a story behind many of the event's vendors too. David and Susan Paling take one person's trash and turn it into wooden carvings made from driftwood.

“We go to Plymouth, the National Seashore on Cape Cod, towards Rhode Island and to anywhere we don’t think that people have maintained,” David said. “Surf washes up and we pick up stuff that looks like junk and take it home.”

David said once he retired, he found himself looking for something to do and that is what got him into carving whales, fish and more out of driftwood.

“It’s got a nice natural look and it’s something a lot of people have never seen,” he said. 

The festival also included a small petting zoo which was new last year consisting of goats, bunnies and a pony from Blazing Saddles Pony Parties, a Fairhaven based animal sanctuary.

“I really liked the petting zoo but my favorite part was watching my mom make a balloon animal,” Kelsey Gropam said.

Kelsey was joined by her mom and dad Jen and James who said they find it important to get out and be a part of their community.

“It’s good community enrichment,” Jen said. “It brings everyone together and unifies the town.”

And creating that sense of community is what Jones said her goal with the festival is every year.

“Life’s too expensive and this is a place where everyone can come and enjoy free activities,” Jones said.