A shared love for one of Appalachia’s most iconic crops — tomatoes, and a desire to bring a new, fun and family-friendly event to Downtown Canton, led to a collaboration between the Canton Merchant Partnership and Mill Town Farmers Market and the result is Haywood Grows Farm Fest and ‘Mater Mayhem 2026!

We hope you’ll join us Saturday August 1st, 2026 beginning at 10 am at Sorrells Park, Downtown Canton NC, for day sure to be filled with lots of big smiles, great music, games and contests, and ‘mater sandwiches! Check out our schedule here.

And if you think you make the best tomato pie, or you’ve got a talent for eating spaghetti that makes your grandma proud, you might want to consider entering one of our many fun contests. You can check them out here!

The kids will love the games, bouncy houses, petting zoo, and Cool Cucumber sensory tent! We’ll have a Little Miss Tomato and Little Mister Tomato contest with winners riding in the Labor Day Parade. And Professor Whiz Pop will be joining us with his amazing balloon twisting talent!

All this plus live music featuring Jon Shain with FJ Ventre and Angela Easterling and her band, a “Tomato” art show, local vendor village, and so much more. We can’t wait!