Historic Yates Mill County Park will host its fourth annual From Field to Food: A Harvest Celebration on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The event, which drew about 1,200 people last year, is the three-year-old park’s biggest event of the year, said Rebeccah Cope, park manager.

The celebration focuses on harvest time. Live performances include country, square and African-American dancing, along with storytelling. Antique tools and a tractor are scheduled to be on display. Kids can milk a fake cow or get their picture taking peering from behind a giant corn cob. And live old-time music will start up around lunch time and continue through the afternoon.

Anybody can enter the cornmeal cook-off contest as long as they bring their entry to the park by 11 a.m. A youth category is for ages 16 and under. Entries must use at least a 1/2 cup of cornmeal and it must be an original recipe. Check the park’s Web site for an official entry form.

If you can’t make it to the event this weekend, the park is worth a visit. Spread out across 174 acres just south of Raleigh, it includes three miles of trails, a pond where visitors can fish from the board walks, and a working mill that dates back to the mid-1700s.

Even before it opened as a park in May 2006, it was a gathering spot for generations of Wake County residents, Cope said. The property is owned by N.C. State University, but leased by Wake County, which manages it.

“It was traditionally a community gathering spot where people fished, swam, met their sweethearts,” Cope said.

The park hosts tours of the mill every weekend and grinds corn on the third Saturday of the month from March to November. And there are plenty of picnic tables spread out across the park (food, including roasted corn, will be on sale at Saturday’s celebration).

The park also offers a variety of activities throughout the year for children, focusing on environmental, historic and agricultural subjects. Staffers recently started up a new series focusing on hand crafts such as crossstiching and knitting.

Just don’t bring Fido when you go. Pets aren’t allowed because the park is considered a wildlife refuge, home to turtles, beaver, birds, snakes and lots of deer.

Other highlights ...

Rock to They Might Be Giants at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh. They'll play their very popular kids music at 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by an 8 p.m. concert for adults. 

Experience Greek traditions and cuisine at the 28th Annual Greek Festival, which starts up today and runs through Sunday. The festival, at The Expo Center on the N.C. State Fairgrounds, is sponsored by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Raleigh and portions of the proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity. Tickets are $3 for adults and free for kids under 13.

Enjoy the sunset in Cary at the town’s second annual sunset celebration at Booth Amphitheatre. The free family festival runs from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdayand features local artists and a children’s area with balloon art, a hat design contest, nature walk, story time and more.

Gear up for Take a Child Outside Week, which runs from Sept. 24 to Sept. 30, at an event at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 4301 Reedy Creek Rd., Raleigh. The event kicks off the week, created by the museum and now celebrated across the country, with a guided walk through its piedmont prairie, pond critter dipping and a visit to the lowland arboretum. Hands-on activities are offered at its “green” outdoor classroom. The event is from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24. Click here for more information about other local Take a Child Week activities.

As always, there's more on the Mom2Mom calendar.