Fall Colors, Blue Skies And Frenzied Filmmakers Abound At Renton's Harvest Festival

Unseasonably sunny and warm weather graced Renton on Saturday as families  made their way to Downtown Renton’s Piazza for the .

The festival’s founding attraction, a pumpkin decorating tent, remained busy with young children and Renton High School Key Club students who volunteered to help in the booth, said Nancy Hoben.  A longtime volunteer, Hoben took a moment to talk, with broom in hand, as she tidied up the space in preparation for more pumpkin-decorating children.

donated the pumpkins and a grant from the Renton Arts Commission helped pay for the decorations, she said.

Across the way, Photographer Shannon Richards snapped photos of couples, kids and families posed by a harvest-inspired backdrop of hay, cornstalks and pumpkins at a booth for her business, Pixi Photos by Shannon.

While arts and crafts vendors stationed outside reported a steady crowd, local nonprofit and business representatives inside the Pavilion Events Center for the Expo said they didn’t see the same amount of foot traffic as the previous year.

The nice weather may have been to blame, said Rex Hashimoto, store director.

The Harvest Festival and Renton Chamber Business Expo weren’t the only events in town this weekend. Participants in the Renton FilmFrenzy were seen downtown, feverishly working on their 50-hours film submissions. All films must be done by Sunday, Oct. 9 at 5 p.m.