Fall traditions: sweet potato digging

Each year in fall, usually September and / or October, my kids dig sweet potatoes - several times! They dig them in our own vegetable patch beside our house, as well as at school, as well as at various events around the prefecture. Sweet potato digging is a very popular activity in Saitama Prefecture, because Saitama Prefecture is abundant in sweet potatoes. Supposedly the farming conditions in Saitama makes it the perfect place to grow sweet potatoes. 

Until recent years, because Saitama has so much sweet potato digging, I thought sweet potato digging was a national pastime! But I've learned over the years that it is more predominant in Saitama Prefecture than most other prefectures. Moreover, it is even more common in the Kawagoe area than elsewhere, because of the number of sweet potato fields in this area. Kawagoe has a long history with sweet potatoes. 

My kids did their sweet potato digging of the season this week. Just in our own field. Next week they will do it in school, as they did in kindergarten in their younger years. When they were younger they always participated in a sweet potato digging festival in our neighborhood. But unfortunately the farmer sold his sweet potato fields and there are houses built there now! However, not two kilometers away, there is still an annual digging festival we'll participate in. Not only is the digging free, but you also get to bring home whatever you dig for free too! The agriculture centers in the city and in the neighboring city of Higashimatsuyama also have digging events, but you normally have to pay a nominal fee for those.

Is sweet potato digging a thing in your area? Do you have digging festivals or events?