The cutest day of the summer is upon us. The Homer Farmers Market Zucchini Festival will be this weekend. This silly festival of fun is perfect for the whole family and even celebrates one of the most maligned vegetables around.

How do you celebrate a vegetable? You turn it into a car, of course. The Market’s Kids’ Activity booth will be busy all morning starting at 10 a.m. with kids (and adults) creating their various Zucchini Racers. They will glue on, cut out, poke into and balance on top all kinds of decorations designed to make those zucchini cars the fastest and the flashiest.

Hopefully they remember to put wheels on them.

During this time of excitement and anticipation, the Market will also be lining up the contestants of the Biggest Veggie Contest. So If you have a tomato that exceeds expectations or a pea that has grown beyond the normal pod, bring it to the Market to show off. All veggies welcome. Judging is only a wee bit subjective.

At 1 p.m. everything comes to a head. The Zucchini Queenie (who will be crowned this year?) will gather all her zucchini racer contestants and parade around the Market displaying their stunning pieces of art and engineering. Then at 1:30 p.m. the fun really begins.

The Zucchini Races tend to be full of drama. Yes, there are those who make it down the race track and those who don’t. There are thrills and spills, success and complete explosions.

Luckily everyone wins so those burning dreams of the finish line are absorbed into the enthusiasm of the day whether your zucchini racer makes it over the finish line or not.

Throughout the Market vendors will have recipes and treats along with their veggies so you can get the veggie glow even if you aren’t racing or growing gigantic vegetables.

So head on down to the Homer Farmers Market on Ocean Drive this Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. to celebrate community, kids and vegetables. And the Market continues from 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays and the rest of the Saturdays through the end of September so you can continue to enjoy these fun local veggies.

Kyra Wagner is the coordinator of Sustainable Homer and the Homer Farmers Market’s biggest fan.