KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Downtown Kelseyville is set to once again present one of its most popular and enduring events this weekend.

The 20th annual Kelseyville Pear Festival will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Main Street.

Thousands of people are expected to visit the free festival, which celebrates Kelseyville’s farming heritage and one of its famed products, the Bartlett pear.

There is still time for community members to enter the pear dessert contest. Bring a favorite recipe – along with a completed application, which can be found at http://www.pearfestival.com/applications/ – to the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church Friendship Hall on Friday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Include the recipe and a disposable container.

The top four winners will be announced on Saturday. Prizes include gift certificates to local restaurants.

Kicking off the event on Friday night will be singing cowboy, Dave Stamey, and the The Lake Fiddlers – featuring talented local performers Andi Skelton and Eleanor Cook – in the Wildhurst Tasting Room courtyard. Festival spokesperson Vicky Parish Smith said the event already is sold out.

Saturday’s festival will feature continual favorites – including the morning parade, Pear Pavilion and music throughout the day – and a few new attractions as well.

Among the 2012 additions is a new free horse faire put on by the Lake County Horse Council. It will feature 15 breeds in a show behind the old Kelseyville Lumber, according to Smith. There will be live equine demonstrations, equestrian exhibitors and a parade of breeds.

This year the festival also has expanded an area for children, introducing “The Hang Out Theater” for ages 10 to 14, located in the big tent behind the St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Main Street.

Local pint-sized comedian Tyler V. will headline at The Hang Out Theater, with performances also by the local rap and hip hop group K-Town.

The Pear Pavilion – the festival’s center point and the showcase for “everything pear” – will once again feature historical photos, videos, agricultural exhibits and delicious pear products such as pear pies and turnovers.

Visitors to the pavilion also will be able to see a brand new stagecoach recently purchased by the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum. Smith said museum docents will be on hand to discuss the museum, located on Soda Bay Road.

The festival’s other offerings include an antique tractor and engine display on Main Street, a quilt show at the Methodist Church social hall, an art show in the lobby of WestAmerica Bank and dozens of vendors lining Main Street.

Other favorites will include the pear milkshakes at the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church, pear margaritas and, at 3 p.m., six contestants will take part in a pear ice cream eating contest at LuLu’s. The winner will eat a gallon of ice cream the fastest, Smith said.

A full schedule of Saturday’s events is below.

Visit the festival Web site at www.pearfestival.com .

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .