While the temperature on the thermometer may be slowly dropping, Front Street is about to heat up again this weekend as the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce gears up for its annual autumn celebration.

Downtown Dowagiac will host the city’s sixth annual Under the Harvest Moon Festival Saturday, with activities taking place on and around Front Street from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The one-day event will feature live music and entertainment, sidewalk sales, demonstrations, food, beverages and more.

Members of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce are once again organizing the Under the Harvest Moon Festival, the youngest of the chamber’s various community-wide events.

The organization created the celebration in 2011 after a local business owner suggested the city create an annual autumn event to highlight the Dowagiac area’s rich agriculture industry, a backbone of the local economy, said Chamber President Kim MacGregor.

“[The festival] is a great way to show off the work of our area farmers,” MacGregor said. “We have lots of people who bring in their homegrown vegetables, fruits and jams to sell in the marketplace.”

More than 60 vendors from Dowagiac and beyond are expected to participate in Saturday’s event, selling everything from baked goods to handmade crafts.

The main attraction of the festival, though, will once again be the vintage farm tractors that will line Front Street, open for public viewing, MacGregor said.

Other events taking place during the festival will include The Taste of Michigan Wine & Craft Brew, hosted on the outdoor patio of The Wounded Minnow Saloon beginning at 10 a.m., a pet parade and costume contest hosted by Bow Wow Bakery & Bath at 11 a.m. and a pumpkin pie eating contest hosted outside the Beckwith Park Gazebo at 11:30 a.m.

Children will also have plenty to do Saturday, with pumpkin decorating taking place outside MKSOD and youth crafts inside Who Knew? Consignment beginning at 10 a.m. Children will also have a chance to join Miss Dowagiac Anne Zebell for games, photos and music during the festival.

While the slate of activities is nearly as jam packed as other Dowagiac events, Under the Harvest Moon presents a different atmosphere from other popular chamber festivals such as July’s Summer in the City, MacGregor said.

“It is cooler, so people are a little more relaxed,” she said. “There is always something going on during the summer, while in the fall it is much more calm [and]  sedate.”

In spite of being a single-day event, the festival still draws hundreds to Dowagiac every year, attracting new and returning customers to businesses both in and outside the downtown, MacGregor said.

For a full listing of events people can visit the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce at http://www.dowagiacchamber.com/index.htm.

“There will be a lot of exciting things going on, during a beautiful day,” MacGregor said.