O’Keefe Farms has been growing sunflowers for 10 years, but four years ago owners Pat O’Keefe and his wife, Kelly, decided to turn the harvest into a festival.
For the fourth annual Sunflower Festival, Sunday, Aug. 20, O’Keefe Farms held its event the first three weekends of August. Pat O’Keefe said there’s never a shortage of blooms, which makes any of the three weekends a great time to visit if the weather is right.
O’Keefe is a fourth-generation family member farming the land in Hockinson.
“This year, we had over 50 varieties that we were able to present to everyone,” O’Keefe said. “There’s more out there, and I’m trying to get the other 20 that are left out there. So I’m hoping next year I can get them all.”
As the Sunflower Festival will celebrate five years in 2024, O’Keefe and his daughter, Savannah, are already thinking of some plans to implement.
“I’m going to do a complete redesign of the maze to make little parts of it a little more of a maze but keep the accessibility,” O’Keefe said, adding his daughter also wanted to do something special next year. “My daughter said, ‘Hey Dad, we gotta do something really big.’ So she’s got some ideas for some designs and stuff like that.”
This year’s festival peaked with 20 vendors, all offering something special. Live music was presented in the evenings, as well.
“We’ve had lots of people come around … a lot of repeat customers this year,” O’Keefe said. “We had a couple since this was our fourth year, they made mention that it’s their anniversary every year when they come down in the last four years. They come down from Olympia to come see us to start off their celebration. So, I was pretty honored by that.”
The Sunflower field is flat and easily accessible for those with mobility problems, and O’Keefe received positive feedback regarding his farm’s easy accessibility.
To follow O’Keefe Farms and to plan a visit to the 2024 Sunflower Festival, visit okeefeflow erfarm.com. They are also on Facebook under O’Keefe Farms. For more information, contact O’Keefe Farms at 360-901-0926 or by emailing okeefesfarm@gmail.com.
