Wardsboro is Throwing a Party for Vermont’s State Vegetable: Gilfeather Turnip Festival
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The tiny town of Wardsboro, Vermont, has a famous root vegetable, and unless you’re a Vermont resident, you may have never heard of it.
The locally famous Gilfeather Turnip Festival returns to Main Street in Wardsboro on Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 10 am to 2 pm.
The town has celebrated its homegrown turnip since the early 2000s, and the party has grown from one big kettle of soup into a full day of tastings, a farmers’ market, craft vendors, and one of New England’s strangest contests.
Gilfeather Turnip Festival at a Glance
When: Saturday, October 24, 2026, 10 am to 2 pm, rain, snow, or shine
Where: Main Street, Wardsboro, at the Town Hall, the Wardsboro Public Library, the Wardsboro Methodist Church, and the Big Tent
Getting there: Wardsboro is on Route 100, about 10 miles from Mount Snow
Admission: Free
Parking: $5 donation, which goes to Scouting America Troop #428
Kids: Family-friendly, with games for kids
Dogs: Not this time. Organizers ask that dogs stay home
What to wear: Dress for late fall weather
What Is a Gilfeather Turnip, Anyway?
The Gilfeather is a turnip first grown in Wardsboro more than a century ago by a farmer named John Gilfeather, who named it after himself. Vermont later made it the official State Vegetable, after the town’s schoolchildren spent two years lobbying the Legislature for it.
Nobody knows for sure where Gilfeather got his seeds. Some people also argue that his famous turnip isn’t really a turnip, but a rutabaga.
Ask anyone in Wardsboro and they’ll sing its praises: the Gilfeather turnip is creamy, a little sweet, and much milder than the bitter turnips you may remember from childhood.
What to Do at the Festival
Buy turnips off the cart. About 1,600 pounds of turnips arrive the day before, and people are lined up at the big red market cart when the festival opens. Gilfeathers keep in a cool spot until Thanksgiving, and about five medium turnips will make mashed Gilfeathers for six people.
Eat turnip soup. In the festival’s first year, volunteers made big batches of soup on the old gas range in the Town Hall kitchen, using a recipe from Chef Greg Parks, who was then at the Four Columns Inn in Newfane. Today, the soup is one of the best things about the festival!
Try the turnip. An indoor cafe serves samples of recipes from the Gilfeather Turnip Cookbook. This is the place to change your mind about this underrated vegetable.
Shop the Big Tent Marketplace. Vermont vendors set up across the Town Hall lawn and along Main Street, selling food and crafts.
Visit the Turnip Patch Boutique. It sells turnip-themed clothing, hats, gifts, and crafts, plus Gilfeather turnip seeds if you’d like to grow your own.
Go to the Turnip Talks. Short talks are at 11:30 am and 12 pm in the historic Methodist Church, across from Town Hall. You’ll hear the history of the turnip, the farmer who grew it, and the kids who got it named the State Vegetable. The Turnip Movie also plays all day.
Stop by the library. The Wardsboro Public Library holds an open house and a book sale.
Listen to live music while you work through your second bowl of soup.
The Gilfeather Turnip Contest
You don’t have to be a serious gardener to enter the free contest. Bring your turnip to Wardsboro Town Hall before noon on festival day; winners are announced at 1 pm.
Categories include Heaviest Grown in Wardsboro, Heaviest Grown Outside of Wardsboro, Most Unique, Best Dressed, Judge’s Choice/Grand Champion, and Junior Grower. Yes, people dress up their turnips. There’s also a prize for the most creative name.
The 2024 Grand Champion was a 33-pound turnip grown by David Wright of Middletown Springs. The contest record is a 52-pound giant grown in Wardsboro.
I think this is one of the best small-town events I’ve been to.
It’s a quintessential small-town festival in one of Vermont’s loveliest small towns. The money raised supports the library, the school club, and the local Scout troop. It centers on Vermont’s agricultural roots and an underdog vegetable that is actually pretty delicious!
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