Planning is well underway for this year’s Hartford Strawberry Festival.

Set for June 13 and 14, the 38th annual festival is expected to attract thousands of people to town. Festival Chair Patty Schroeder tells us the schedule has been set, and there will be plenty happening around the downtown those two days.

“Of course we always have our parades and we’ll have live music, and John Dudley, the magician, will be back again this year,” Schroeder said. “We have a pie eating contest, carnival rides. This year new we have a street dance.”

So, what’s the most popular event to take place during the festival?

“Definitely the pie eating contest has really grown and everybody loves to just jump in and take a spot and see who comes out the winner.”

Schroeder says the pie eating contest is all about who can eat one pie the fastest, and not who can eat the most pies overall.

The street dance with live music will close out the festival at Ely Park. All of this is not to mention the strawberries that will be available from local growers all over town. Schroeder says the festival is all about celebrating those beautiful strawberry fields nearby.

Everyone’s invited to mark their calendar and head to Hartford for the Strawberry Festival next month. You can learn more right here.