Eat a Peach (And Drink a Couple Too) Colorado's Palisade Peach Festival

When the rock band The Presidents of the United States of America broke big with their hit single "Peaches" they had the whole country dreaming of---to paraphrase the song's lyrics---going to the country and eating a lot of peaches. There's really nothing more tantalizing on a hot summer's day than having your taste buds come alive as you tear into a just-picked peach loaded with so much nectar that some of the goodness is bound to dribble down your chin. Too bad you have to go to Georgia to experience that. Wrong, nectarine breath! Actually some of the best peaches in the world (even the Georgians love them) come from northwestern Colorado and a humble little town called Palisade. Every August Palisade celebrates the harvest with what you could easily call the "juiciest" event of the summer---the Palisade Peach Festival!

In the Colorado National Monument operated by the National Park Service there are places with names like Devil's Kitchen and Cold Shivers Point. The park's border is a handful of miles away from the city of Grand Junction and about five thousand feet higher in elevation. If you explore this area by car or on one of its many hiking trails you'll probably spot some of the locals---bighorn sheep and mountain lions---amongst the juniper bushes and paintbrush. The area is gorgeous but hardscrabble; it looks like something you'd see in a movie western, certainly not like anyplace where you could grow any crops. But look to the northeast from any of the monument's many scenic overlooks and you'll see that the spire and arch-filled Old West landscape towers only minutes away from the modernity of Grand Junction and the nearby lush rural lands of Palisade. With the added benefit of views like this it's no wonder that people come to Palisade from all over the country when the peaches are ready. 

During the long four-day weekend that encompasses the Palisade Peach Festival you can see, sample, purchase or just marvel at everything peach. And I do mean everything! Dozens of vendors offer sweet treats like peach ice cream and peach fudge and there are all kinds of peach libations including daiquiris. A Peach Queen is crowned and you might find her delighting over the various peach jellies and salsas on hand. And surely Farmer Bob, a well-known and well-loved local farmer will be hustling bushels of the fruit as he dishes out peachy wisdom. All the other things that come with an outdoor, fair-type event are available in abundance too including arts & crafts, music and lots of food on a stick. 

Grand Junction gets in on the fun too; they have a downtown farmer's market that runs adjacent to the Palisade Peach Festival. Block after block of the city's main drag is closed to motor vehicles and instead filled with pedestrians shopping, eating and dancing to music by the likes of one-man-band Bobby Walker. Every block or so there's another entertainer and when the sun goes down you can step out of the market and into Boomer's nightclub and rock out to local faves like the Jerry Goodman Band. 

The micro-climate that makes the peaches so perfect around here is also great for growing wine grapes. This is another reason that the Palisade Peach Festival is so popular; visitors can make side trips to numerous area wineries and of course sample the wares. You can even stay overnight at a winery if you wish; Two Rivers Winery in Grand Junction hosts a ten-unit bed and breakfast. 

They have outdoor concerts every summer on the terrace at Grand River Vineyards in Palisade and many consider the annual appearance of Denver-based soul singer Hazel Miller a "must do" event. Hazel is a long-time local favorite and she gives her all to her show with a huge set list filled with rhythm & blues staples made famous by artists like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Don Covay. Fans bring their own lawn chairs to the winery and purchase a bottle (or two!) of the winery's red, white or blush to drink under the stars during the concert. 

Surprisingly, little Palisade is also home to a micro brewery and a distillery. At Peach Street Distillers you can purchase (and yes, sample) their peach flavored vodka while the Palisade Brewery serves up handcrafted beers with names like Farmer's Friend and Red Truck Ale. And to think all of this is going on while just a few miles away lonely coyotes look down longingly from atop the Colorado National Monument. If only their lives were so peachy!

The 2009 Palisade Peach Festival will be held August 13-16. More information: www.visitgrandjunction.com 

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