🌻 Last Chance for the Rutledge Family Farm Sunflower Festival, Ending September 7

If a walk through acres of sunflowers is on your late-summer list, the clock is running out.

The Rutledge Family Farm Sunflower Festival in Tumwater is in its final stretch, running select days through September 7, 2026. After Labor Day, the fields close for the year.

The farm, at 302 93rd Ave SE, plants three acres of sunflowers for the festival: one acre of the classic tall yellows and two more acres of specialty varieties in shades of orange, red, burgundy, and purple. All told there are more than 40 varieties, along with a few hundred dahlias in the field and hundreds more out front. Late in the season like this, the specialty rows are the show.

The experience is built for a full visit, not just a photo stop. Every ticket includes a wagon ride out to the fields and one free bloom you can cut and take home. Around the grounds there are more than 15 photo props, a viewing platform for the wide shot, and a jump pad and swings to keep kids busy. Ray’s Country Store handles snacks and treats if you want to linger.

It makes an easy, low-key Labor Day weekend outing, especially in the morning or the last hour before close, when the light is best. Just don’t wait: once September 7 passes, the sunflowers are done until 2027.

Details:

• Location: 302 93rd Ave SE, Tumwater, WA 98501 (360-357-3700)

• Dates: through September 7, 2026 (select days; check the farm’s site or ticketing page for open days and times)

• Admission: about $17.50 for ages 12 and up, $11.50 for ages 5 to 11, free for 4 and under on weekends and Labor Day (weekdays run a little cheaper); confirm current pricing at checkout

Real estate note: one of the quiet perks of living in the South Sound is how close this kind of thing is. A working family farm with a sunflower festival, ten minutes from downtown Olympia, is the sort of amenity you can’t build into a subdivision. That mix of small-city convenience and genuine rural space right next door is a real part of what keeps Thurston County so livable, and so appealing to buyers who want the best of both.