NEW BERN, N.C. — Mumfest is an award-winning fall-themed festival in New Bern, and it's back this weekend.
What You Need To Know
Mumfest is taking place in New Bern Saturday and Sunday
People from all across the state come to this award-winning festival
The namesake flowers take a lot of work to turn into beautiful arrangements
Farmers have to keep them alive during the hot summer months so they can bloom when autumn arrives
The festival brings in people from all across the state to eastern North Carolina to enjoy the flower-filled streets.
While the autumn colors and cool weather blooms make these mums the perfect fall flower, a lot goes into growing these mums.
Butch White is a farmer who has grown mums on his farm for the past six years.
“You get into a routine doing it year after year,” White said. “You don't even think about it any more. You just do it.”
White grows about 4,000 mums at his small local farm. He started White's Farm 37 years ago with one acre of strawberries. Now he says they have a little bit of everything. While fall is always busy season on White's Farm, he says mums are quite a bit of work.
“There's a lot of manual labor in really everything on the farm,” White said. “And there's really no way to get it automated. ... You get plenty of exercise doing this.”
Even though the flowers bloom when cooler weather hits, it takes a lot of work and water to keep them alive during the hot and humid summer months. Although he has some help from a sprinkler system, a lot of the labor is done by hand. However, White says it's worth it when his mums sell out every year.
“I just raise them because people enjoy them,” White said. “They like the fall colors. We like to see everybody coming out and having a good time.”
Although he sells his own mums at his farm, White's flowers aren't a part of the downtown New Bern decorations. In fact, he has never been to Mumfest. He says he's always too busy at the farm around this time of year.
This year, New Bern is hosting three weekends of Mumfest activities. The one Oct. 8-9 is the original Mumfest festival. Oct. 14 is the Mumfest concert featuring Jimmy Allen. Mumfeast on Oct. 21-22 focuses on local restaurants and dining. You can check out the schedule of activities on their website.
