Something is ripening at the Horn Farm Center in Hellam, PA!
Ever heard of (or tasted) the pawpaw fruit?The pawpaw–the largest edible fruit indigenous to North America–is a wild, delicious delight that ripens for a brief period in the late fall. Each year, the Horn Farm Center hosts the popular Pawpaw Festival, attracting thousands of visitors from across the region to taste and purchase this unique food that grows in abundance in South Central PA.
Taking place on Saturday, September 20th this year, the Pawpaw Festival is now the centerpiece of theHorn Farm’s four-day Wild & Uncommon Weekend (September 18-21). Wild & Uncommon Weekend features additional tastings, tours, and experiences spread out across the Lower Susquehanna, celebrating local flavors (like pawpaw), crafts, and connection with the landscape.
At the Pawpaw Festival, visitors will find wild and cultivated varieties of pawpaw fruit and trees for sale alongside pawpaw products and merchandise. The event also features food trucks, plant nurseries, craft vendors, and educational nonprofits with an environmental focus. Visitors can enjoy free walking tours, pawpaw orchard tours, and other educational programs at the Horn Farm Center throughout the Festival.
Tickets must be purchased in advance to attend the Pawpaw Festival. Options for exclusive early entry and parking on- or off-site will be available.
To learn more and purchase your tickets, visit hornfarmcenter.org/pawpawfest/
About the Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education
The Horn Farm Center is an educational farm that serves to connect soil, food, and people in ways that improve the health and resilience of our community. Born out of the successful effort to save the farm from industrial development in 2000 and established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in 2004, the Horn Farm Center is committed to restoring ecological health to both the fields and semi-wild spaces on the farm while providing nutritious food to our community. Our programs encourage others to learn to do the same.
About the York County Pawpaw Festival
The York County Pawpaw Festival was founded by Richard and Judy Bono in 2004 as a Slow Food dinner held at a local York restaurant. The 5-course meal featured everything pawpaw! A small group of about 49 people attended this first event. Over the years the event grew as Judy and Dick held more tastings and dinners in York Central Market. Eventually the event became so popular that the York County Pawpaw Festival moved to the Horn Farm Center in 2014. Since then, the event has served as a fundraiser, supporting the organization’s mission. Dick and Judy are long-time supporters and former board members of the Horn Farm Center. The Horn Farm Center is also home to Dick Bono’s pawpaw orchard, which has over 48 trees growing with 20 different cultivated varieties.
In 2024, the Pawpaw Festival is branching even more, now a part of Wild & Uncommon Weekend with events at the Horn Farm Center and other regional locations. Pawpaws thrive in diverse and dynamic ecosystems, so the Horn Farm Center is excited to expand the event into a true community-wide celebration.
About the Pawpaw Fruit
The pawpaw is a naturally organic fruit – it resists almost all pests, and it experiences less browsing by wild animals than most other orchard fruits. What is most unique about the pawpaw is that it is truly seasonal. The pawpaw has little to no shelf life, which means it will never be commercially produced. The fruits mature in late August through mid-September. During this short window of time, the forests of the Lower Susquehanna River region, as well as much of the eastern United States, are filled with this highly nutritious, antioxidant-rich fruit. Late summer in York County is a chance to enjoy our bioregion’s natural abundance, just as the Susquehannock did years ago, by filling their bellies with pawpaw before
facing the harsh winter. In recent years, pawpaws have developed somewhat of a cult following, with pawpaw fanatics traveling across several state lines to get a taste of this unusual fruit. People have traveled from New England, the Southern states, and even Canada to attend the York County Pawpaw Festival. Both wild and cultivated varieties of the fruit take center stage at the event, but over the past few years, the Pawpaw Festival has expanded and diversified. Today, the event features local, earth-minded vendors, native plants, and educational programs focusing on land stewardship, connecting with the local landscape, and the pawpaw’s culinary, ecological, and cultural significance.
