Carilion Clinic Hosts Fall Harvest Festival at Morningside Urban Farm

Carilion Clinic Community Health and Outreach will host a Fall Harvest Festival at Morningside Urban Farm in Southeast Roanoke on Thurs., Sept. 28, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This free event celebrates the end of the farm season and features experiences to strengthen mental health and well-being.

Festival attendees will enjoy free food, music, family-friendly activities and games. Over 20 organizations will be onsite hosting activities that reduce stress, build community, and strengthen overall health and wellness. “Mainstage” performances related to mental well-being will also take place throughout the event, including:

• Spoken word from Carilion Artist-in-Residence Bryan “Harvest Blaque” Hancock
• “A Seat at the Table”: A performance of dance, song and spoken word focused on food access from CommUnity-ArtsReach
• “Uplift”: A dance performance from Mental Health in Motion featuring rapper/singer-songwriter Dylan Dent
• “Joyful Rhythms: Dancing for Mental Wellbeing”: A group dance workout with YMCA of the Blue Ridge

This will be the fourth Fall Harvest Festival Carilion has hosted at Morningside Urban Farm. Last year’s event—which focused on connecting community members to local resources—drew a crowd of more than 500 people.

“We hope this event will help attendees discover simple yet powerful acts of self-care that will be meaningful to them,” said Rachel Burks, Carilion Community Health Education Manager. “Things like social connection, physical activity, gratitude, and art can be fun and help us cope with life’s challenges. Self-care is for everyone!”

Morningside Urban Farm is an educational space in Southeast Roanoke that benefits the local community. It hosts free events and workshops on various topics, including nutrition, gardening, mindfulness, fitness, the arts and traditional crafting. All produce grown at the farm is given for free to class participants, volunteers and local nonprofits. The farm is one of the many successful initiatives born from Carilion’s Community Health Assessments. This triennial process helps identify area health needs and drive investments in community health programs and partnerships.

Community members can register for the Fall Harvest Festival online or by calling 800-442-8482. Registration is required to guarantee a food ticket.