A celebration of Oregon’s agricultural harvest is coming to the Capitol this weekend bringing a host of fall farm activities to downtown Salem.

“Oregon’s Bounty” is a free event that will take place Saturday, Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oregon Capitol Building, 900 Court St. NE, Salem. The event will promote and celebrate the state’s agriculture industry with a variety of activities for the whole family including face painting, picking out pumpkins and a petting zoo.

The Oregon Farm Bureau will sponsor a craft table where they’ll lead kids in making “dirt babies” — soil and grass seed packed in a nylon stocking that can be decorated using various craft supplies. The nylon is tied so when the children go home, they place the dirt baby on top of a glass of water where the nylon hangs into the water and soaks it up to keep the soil moist. The seeds start to sprout and dirt baby grows “hair,” This craft project for all ages allows children to see the growing process at home in a fun way.

Throughout the day, the sounds of bluegrass and roots country music will fill the Capitol with performances from Yamhill County’s own Sawtooth and Sons. Sawtooth and Sons is a newer group, but their roots go way back to the 1960s when the original members performed as The Sawtooth Mountain Boys up until the 2000s. Recently, two of the members from the original band, joined with their sons to form the new band. The band includes Hal Spence, guitar/banjo/bass, and his son Andrew Spence, guitar/banjo, and Rollie Champe, mandolin/guitar/bass, and his son Brette Champe,mandolin/guitar/bass.

The event will also be the last chance in 2019 for visitors to go to the observation platform on top of the Capitol. Tower tours will be offered at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., weather permitting. Tower tours are limited to the first 45 people for each time slot.

This family-friendly event is presented by the Capitol History Gateway Project and sponsored by the Oregon State Capitol Foundation.