Fresh Acres
On September 11, 2021, Fresh Acres LLC will open their fall festival located at 7385 Jason Ave NE, Monticello MN, which is 30 minutes from both Minneapolis & St Cloud. The festival will be open weekends through October 31, and will also be open for MEA break October 21 and 22. Hours are 10am until 6pm. The base ticket price for admission is $10 per person ages 4-79, and can be purchased at the gate or online at FreshAcresMN.com.
This year’s festival and maze design commemorate the 20th anniversary of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. Per the owners, Dana and Zeke Berg, “While the events that day were devastating to our nation, it was also a time we saw countless examples of heroism, as well as unity and patriotism in the citizens of this great country. In the words of Fred Rogers, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” This year’s maze design and theme has these words in mind as we remember and honor our fallen heroes.”
There are two mazes within the design. One is a smaller maze, specially designed for kids under 8 years old. The maze paths create an image of one of the twin towers. While walking through the maze, kids are able to play a game to identify animal tracks and learn about farm animals.
The second maze is a larger maze that includes roughly 2.3 miles of paths. These paths create images of first responders, the US flag and the second tower. In this maze, kids of all ages are able to search for clues to determine who kidnapped Farmer Joe.
Included in the price of admission are additional activities including a corn pit, inflatables, bale mountain, a petting zoo, yard games, and more. New this year is a one of a kind combine slide, which will be loved by young and old kids alike.
Owners, Dana and Zeke Berg, purchased the farm five years ago because it had many of the things needed to achieve their goals of finding ways to raise pastured, grass fed, animals and non-GMO, natural produce. The farm also has several acres of tillable land, and when contemplating what to do with it, they determined hosting a fall festival would help other families connect with each other and the agriculture existing around them. In keeping with their values, the corn maze, activity area, and onsite pumpkin patch are planted with non-GMO seed and are not sprayed with chemicals, making it unique among other corn mazes in the Twin Cities area.