Rural New Richland farm hosts Barnyard Treasures Fall Festival, draws large crowds on beautiful day

On a beautiful, sunny and unseasonably warm fall day, a local entrepreneur known for selling custom, handmade signs at farmers markets across the region welcomed a dozen vendors to her rural Steele County farm near New Richland.

Dawn Raatz of Barnyard Treasures hosted her second annual Fall Festival, but this year’s event was dramatically larger than last year’s which only drew four vendors. Yet even last year, attendance wasn’t bad with 100 to 150 customers across two days.

This year, a single day festival held on Sept. 28 drew a much larger crowd. Stultz met many of the vendors at farmers markets and flea markets across Southern Minnesota, which she has frequented over the last eight years, hawking her unique signs.

Raatz hand paints her signs on salvaged barnwood and tin, initially specializing in wedding signs though she has since broadened her offerings to include a wide variety of whimsical offerings sure to add a rustic charm to any home.

This year’s Fall Festival drew a robust local crowd of vendors and customers, with a number coming from Mankato but others from small local towns like Waseca, Janesville and New Richland. Some, like Raatz, have been mainstays of local markets for years, while others are just getting off the ground.

To see more, check out “ Barnyard Treasures. ” on Facebook.