The annual event will feature tours and open houses on Sept. 19 and 20 before the cook-off, which is attracting many area cooks.

BETHEL – The sixth annual Bethel Harvest Fest and Chowdah Cook-off will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 19 and 20.

On Friday, a line up of informative tours and open houses are open to all. Starting at 9:30 a.m., and continuing until 2 p.m., folks are welcomed to stop in at Maine Line Products’ Greenwood Store to see how they create their Maine gift baskets and fudge.

At 10, all are invited to Bethel Furniture Stock for a tour of the mill to see how furniture and component parts are made, including the high-tech wood bending process. The Maine Chair Kit Co., a division of Bethel Furniture, will have the chair kits and the Grover Rocker on display.

At 11:30, those who are curious about local forest management, are invited to the Chadbourne Tree Farms Philbrook lot on Route 2 in Hanover for a one-hour tour.

After lunch, people are invited to gather at Hancock Lumber on Route 26 for a one and one-half hour tour at 2:30. Those wishing to attend this are encouraged to be there by 2:15 and park next to the railroad tracks in the designated lot. Immediately following, head over to the Timberlake and Co.’s Mayville Showroom to an open house and demonstration. To finish off the day, plan to attend a wine tasting at Briar Lea Inn and Restaurant, featuring specialty Italian wineries.

The scarecrow theme this year is “Celebrating the Spirit and Bounty of Bethel.”

On Saturday morning, the Harvest Fest begins on the Bethel Common. The arts and crafts festival will begin at 9 a.m. More than 40 crafters and farmers are expected to fill the common with their unique products and harvest items.

Ted Walker from Peru is scheduled to provide a chainsaw carving demonstration, and is creating a moose carving for the chamber to raffle. He will be there most of the day and will have some of his own carvings to sell.

At 11:30, the chamber will begin to sell tickets for the Chowdah Cook-off. This year’s event is being sponsored by U.S. Foodservice, which will provide a judge, along with two culinary-media representatives. A solid turnout is expected from Bethel area restaurants and invitees from a 35-mile radius.

Musical entertainment in the gazebo will feature Denny Breau and friends from 11 a.m. through mid-afternoon.

The Pulp and Paperworker’s Resource Council is bringing the spirited puppet show, “The Forest Grows Back Again,” at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Everything on the Common will wrap up by 4 p.m.

As part of the Harvest Fest, the Bethel Historical Society will be holding “Bethel’s Own Antiques Floorshow” at the Middle Intervale Meeting House. From 10 a.m. to noon, Kaja Veilleux of Thomaston Place Auction Gallery will conduct verbal appraisals and a public Floorshow Appraisal Event is scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. The cost of appraisals will be $5 per item and general admission to the Floorshow is $3 per person (without appraisals). For more information, contact the Bethel Historical Society at 824-2908.

There will be a 50-mile scenic bicycle tour led by Dillon Gillies on Sunday morning, Sept. 21. Plan to meet at the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce office at 9 a.m. for beverages and snacks before cycling.

The festival is made possible by sponsors, Oxford Networks, U.S. Foodservice, Hancock Lumber and C.B. Kenworth. For more information, contact the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce at 824-2282.