It’s almost time for the “Coachella of Farmers Markets,” as it’s been called. Good Food Fest, southeastern Pennsylvania’s premier celebration of local food and agriculture, takes place on Sunday, November 1 in Chester County. As many as 4,800 people and over 120 exhibitors will gather on the Kimberton Fairgrounds in Phoenixville for an epic farmers market like no other. Past attendees know how much fun awaits, and new visitors are in for a real treat at this all-day event.
While the connections, festivities and incredible food of Good Food Fest (GFF) offer dopamine for days, we’re looking at ways you can fold its mission, model and farm-fresh eating into your regular routine for the whole year ahead.
We spoke with Christy Campli, Good Food Fest Event Director, who shared insight about how to transform the GFF ethos into practice. Beyond producing this epic event, Campli owns and directs Growing Roots Partners, an organization building connections between local farmers, artisans and producers and their communities in Pennsylvania. In many ways, Good Food Fest is a grand culmination of what Campli and the festival vendors do every day.
“Our number one goal of Good Food Fest is for you to take this home. We celebrate local agriculture in this really big way, and hope that converts some locavores,” Campli says. “My philosophy is to start small. Dedicate a little bit each week towards local food, start making local swaps and go from there.” Good Food Fest offers the perfect foundation for building a farm to table lifestyle, slowly but surely.
A Sustainable Mindset
GFF invites you to transform a sustainable mindset into daily practice. GFF expands upon its sustainability efforts with initiatives around composting, recycling and food rescue in 2026.
“Controlling where the trash and waste goes during the event with a crowd that large has been the biggest obstacle to overcome,” says Campli. “We’re trying to incorporate composting wherever we can and to optimize our waste management and impact.” To address the challenge, the festival planning committee has partnered with Back To Earth Compost, serving Chester County and beyond, which will offer on-site composting and education as well as Bin There Dump That, which serves the Delaware Valley and will provide an on-site recycling dumpster.
To take these sustainable methods home with you, dig into the how-tos while at the festival. Both Back to Earth Compost and Bin There Dump That will host informational booths at GFF, where they’ll educate and interact with attendees about composting and recycling. Campli says, “This year’s sustainability efforts not only provide ways for people to take care of their waste in a green way at Good Food Fest, but also opportunities to take home new ideas, inspiration and goals regarding how they discard food waste at home.”
Another key sustainability initiative of GFF this year is food rescue. GFF has partnered with Phoenixville Area Community Services (PACS) through Chester County Food Bank for rescue and redistribution of leftover food. PACS volunteers will gather fresh, unused produce and packaged products from the event and get them out to local people experiencing food insecurity.
GFF not only accepts SNAP/EBT, but doubles each dollar through Chester County Food Bank’s Veggie Bucks voucher program, a free market match to use for purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables.
Both PACS and Chester County Food Bank run food rescue programs throughout the year, and always welcome volunteers and donations. Stay connected with their efforts after the festival or find a food bank near you to get involved in the ongoing mission to redirect food and end hunger in Pennsylvania.
Bringing Fabulous Farm Fresh Food Home
With over 120 curated exhibitors selling at GFF, there’s no shortage of incredible food for all palates. Be sure to shop it all to find what you’d like to bring home and enjoy.
It couldn’t be easier to enjoy the flavors of GFF at home than with the premade products available all day. JVB Brothers Co. offers small batch pickles, pasta salads, dips and hot sauces you might want to stock up on. “Their delicious offerings rotate seasonally and from week to week. Some of my favorites are their pickled pasta salad, potato salad, fried rice and kimchi rice, but it’s all so incredibly good,” says Campli. “It’s jarred and easy to pop it in your fridge. I love to eat it after a busy market day.” The ingredients that these Chester County brothers don’t grow themselves, they source from other local farmers.
Tribu is another vendor making home cooking super easy with soup packs and simmered broths that fill your pantry with deeply nourishing meals. They’re nutrient-dense and made with ancient grains and dehydrated fresh produce and herbs in Philadelphia.
For sauces and seasonings to enhance your home cooking, check out Is it Spicy? Sauce Co. from just across the Walt Whitman Bridge in New Jersey. Its boutique, small batch hot sauces made with locally-grown ingredients transform your home cooked meals with zesty, piquant varieties like Cheeky Salsa Rosada, a pink garlicky aioli made with ghost peppers and Cowgirl Drip, a savory habanero strawberry hot sauce.
Festival favorite and Harvest Sponsor IrieVeda will bring its mindful spice blends that are FODMAP friendly, allergen and gluten free and lovingly crafted in Chester County. Old World Roast hearkens back to simpler times with curry, rosemary, thyme and lemon peel while Happy Harvest fuses warming cloves, nutmeg, ginger and more for cozy baking, oatmeal, autumn beverages and savory cooked vegetables. Be sure to check out Blue Sun Growers as well for regeneratively-grown culinary herbs, spices and seasonings from the Lehigh Valley.
For meats, be sure to visit Neighbours Farmstead’s booth. This Northumberland County farm offers butcher-quality, pasture-raised poultry sausage in appetizing flavors like blueberry maple, Asian pear with blue cheese and will offer limited edition flavors created just for Good Food Fest. Its Neighbourhood Sausage Club allows you to enjoy its craft sausages at home, year round. Neighbours Farmstead also sells whole and portioned poultry, rabbit and lamb.
Neighbours Farmstead will serve from a hot food menu, featuring their farm raised poultry, in the food truck area in addition to their frozen meats to take home. Also in the food truck area, you’ll find Deep Roots Valley Farm from Berks County and Birchrun Hills Farm from Chester County, so there will be no shortage of fresh, ready to eat farm to table lunch options available.
You’ll find more delicious proteins by Apple Ridge Farm, a Monroe County farm and bakery offering pork sausage, chicken, homemade kraut, potatoes, greens and tons more. Its brick oven sourdough operation churns out delectable breads, pretzels, chicken pot pie, pizza and an array of desserts for a one-stop take-home shop to keep on your radar.
Find sweet treat vendor, Vegan Confectionaries, for bake-at-home mixes as well as ready-to-eat baked goods made in Chester County. “Not only does the owner have the finished products, like loaf breads and muffins, but she also sells her baking mixes that you can easily make at home,” Campli says. “Even if you’re not vegan, check her out. Her products are so good.”
Macaron lovers, be sure to visit Mrs. PTB Makes for lovely French cookies in the prettiest hues, all made in a cottage kitchen located in Chester County.
Vesta Kitchen, a farm to table catering company in Montgomery County, is known for its culinary creations, savory sauces and pantry items. But don’t sleep on its beautiful pastries and artisan desserts, available at this year’s GFF.
As for farm fresh produce, Campli says, “We have 19 growers this year at Good Food Fest, selling everything from mushrooms to produce to flowers and microgreens. All of them are amazing.”
Check out Cruz Family Little Farm from Berks County, new to GFF and part of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union (a top festival sponsor). They’ll have raw honey, fresh eggs, crisp lettuce and herbal tea available, as well as their line of bold, fiery hot sauces. Two Gander Farm from Chester County will also be on hand with its organically grown crops like leafy greens, root vegetables and cruciferous crowns. You can find its fresh produce year round at Kimberton Whole Foods, the festival’s Premier Sponsor.
Produce for the Win
While we typically know exactly how to enjoy pre-made, packaged market goods, the spectrum of possibilities for preparing fresh produce can sometimes feel overwhelming. GFF has teamed up with Pasa Sustainable Agriculture as the event’s Produce Promotion Initiative sponsor to make it easier to enjoy fresh, locally grown produce at home. “Fresh fruits and vegetables are the foundation of community health, a resilient food system and Good Food Fest,” says Campli. “We want to shine a spotlight on the farmers who grow them.”
The initiative involves a currency called “Carrot Cash,” available only at the festival and only for fresh produce. A list of growers is printed on the “cash,” and recipe cards will be available at the Growing Roots booth to encourage simple, scrumptious at-home consumption of fruits and vegetables. The first 50 kids in the door at GFF will receive Carrot Cash, as well as other lucky recipients throughout the event. If you spend more than $25 on fresh produce at the festival, you earn a free shopping bag!
Unlock a New Skill
The GFF Demo Kitchen gives you the chance to acquire new culinary and kitchen skills to take home and use any time. Presenters, who are either farmers, themselves, or source their ingredients locally, walk you through every step of delicious, seasonal dishes while sharing tricks and tips for these special recipes.
This year, the fantastic lineup includes Billy McCullough and Carmen Guzman-Francesco of the aforementioned Blue Sun Growers and Is it Spicy? Sauce Co. as well as James Coleman of Fungus Aurelius from Lancaster County and Ian Knauer of Roots to River Farm and Amara Kitchen from Bucks County.
Each presenter offers know-how you can implement at home again and again. McCullough will share a recipe for a lemon herb-infused fall apple and fennel salad, Guzman-Francesco will demonstrate how to make a chimichurri marinade, Coleman will show guests how to prepare a simple mushroom toast and Knauer is leading a fresh ricotta cheesemaking demonstration.
Sustained Connections
There’s a certain symbiosis that grows out of Good Food Fest. Vendors strengthen their bonds and go on to collaborate professionally while vendors and customers get to know and trust one another. All of this carries on long after the festival ends.
This year, a longstanding partnership between Chester County’s East Branch Brewing Company and Delaware County’s Deer Creek Malthouse will once again produce the festival’s signature beer, a Brandywine Pilsner. It’s a tasty symbol of the fruitful collaborations forged at GFF.
GFF organizers ensure that you’re truly buying local by screening potential vendors based on their use of local ingredients. This not only strengthens hyper local food systems, but allows you to meet and patronize these local businesses yourself. GFF is a wonderful opportunity to chat with vendors, find out where they sell their products, and keep investing in your local economy while accessing fresh, healthy and local food. Many festival vendors have well-coordinated community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, farm stands and year round presence at Kimberton Whole Foods and Growing Roots Partners farmers markets throughout Pennsylvania.
Campli hopes to see the spirit of GFF echo on throughout the year. “Continue the energy of Good Food Fest by investing in your local community in whatever way makes sense for you,” she says. “Four days after the Good Food Fest dust settles, we’re back at the markets. Find your favorite producer from the festival at a farmers market near you and keep that connection going. Seek out other experiences like this that are unique and curated, allowing you to meet the people that make your food and support the people in your community.”
It’s always wise to grab your Good Food Fest tickets sooner than later! Whether you’re a returning festival-goer, a family looking for a fun day out or a curious foodie who loves local food, drink and live music, this annual festival is a guaranteed good time that will fill your cup for the months ahead. General admission is just $5 until October 1, and $10 after that. VIP tickets ($25) get you early access to peruse the fest before the crowds take over. You can also invest in Good Food Fest with a Local Lover Ticket ($50), which includes a VIP ticket, tote bag merch, a contribution to GFF and a donation to Chester County Food Bank. Community members for whom ticket prices are a barrier to entry are encouraged to reach out to event organizers.
Good Food Fest is held on Sunday, November 1, 2026, rain or shine, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. VIP ticket holders may enter at 10 a.m. Find your comprehensive event map at the GFF information booth upon entry. You can stay in the loop by following GFF on Facebook and Instagram. The festival is made possible by premier sponsor, Kimberton Whole Foods, where you’ll always find real food with local roots. Kimberton Fair Grounds, 762 Pike Springs Rd., Phoenixville; [email protected].
- Photos : Growing Roots Partners
