Street fair lovers will want to mark their calendars for the upcoming Crestline Harvest Festival – September 15th through September 17th. – as it is one of the last of the year in the region.
“I’m always excited about the Harvest Festival,” said Clayton Herold, the event’s director. “We have some new things this year for the kids.”
The festival officially begins at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 15, with a ceremony that includes the national anthem sung by Pioneer Career and Technology Center students, as well as the introduction of Louie and Carol King, this year’s grand marshals.
Children will be happy to know that the carnival rides will open immediately after the national anthem.
“Then we’re off to the races,” Herold said.
The Queen, Princess and ‘Little Miss’ will be crowned
Festival organizers will crown a queen, a princess and a “Little Miss” as well as a royal court. Last year’s winners will be on hand to greet the new royals.
“These girls as a group have traveled to a bunch of festivals all over the state,” Herold said. “They have represented Crestline well.”
The young pioneers will close the first evening of the festival with a program of performing arts starting at 21:00 on Thursday.
The rides will reopen at 4pm on Friday, but the festival is open to the public all day.
“A lot of people on Friday come down and eat their lunch,” Herold said.
The pioneering students will take to the festival’s main stage again at 14:00 on Friday.
Other big acts that day will be Jess Kellie Adams, a country singer and Ohio native. She takes the stage on Friday at 6:00 p.m.
The Nashville Crush headlines Friday’s lineup
Headlining the night will be Nashville Crush, a five-piece band that plays a mix of country and rock. This band will start playing at 20:30 on Friday.
The Saturday schedule at the Harvest Festival is completely packed with activities.
Saturday’s main stage will feature a grass hay tossing contest at 11:30 a.m., an eating contest at 12:30 p.m., and a beard contest at 1:30 p.m.
The rest of the festival grounds will see a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., a car show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., a craft show from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and a parade at 3:30 p.m. also boast visits from special fairy tale princesses, a magician, a children’s show and a free throw contest.
For youngsters, the best part of the entire weekend is likely to be closer to the rides, which open at noon on Saturday.
“We have a children’s stage now,” Herold said. “We’re trying to get more kids involved in competitions.”
These events begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the Crestline Cuties Contest. A hair contest begins at 10:15 a.m., a hula hoop contest at 10:30 a.m., a limbo contest at 10:45 a.m., a cookie contest at 11 a.m. and a water balloon toss at 11:15 a.m.
McGuffey Lane from Ohio will perform at 8:30pm on Saturday
The main stage will feature performances by rock band Direct Energy at 6 p.m., as well as country band and Ohio favorite McGuffey Lane at 8:30 p.m.
Alumni eager to return for the city’s annual Crestline High School reunion should note that the event has been moved to Saturday at 6 p.m. this year. It will be held at The Hub in downtown Crestline in conjunction with a Bulldog Supporters event.
It will also allow people to travel to the schools football game Friday night at Upper Scioto Valley.
“Even though it’s an away game, they still have the opportunity to go after it,” Herold said. “Then they can come back on Saturday and spend time with their classmates.”
Regardless of what happens, the director is hoping that his tenth festival will be blessed with good weather like last year.
“It was sunny and 90 every day,” Herold said. “We hope for beautiful weather again this year.”
A complete list of festival information is available online at CrestlineHarvestFestival.com.
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