This past weekend I was treated to my first taste of the Ridgeway Summer Festival. I just have to take a moment to give a huge shout out to the organizers and to the town for this fantastic happening.
From Friday night when the set up was complete to Sunday afternoon when the last song ended at the Village Square, it was a well oiled machine that ran like clockwork and felt like something very special.
The Lions Club did a great job serving up a super deal of a breakfast on both festival days. Friendly members filled plates with 2 big pancakes, 3 sausages, with orange juice and coffee for $6. It was a nice way to start the day!
I was blown away by the talent and the scheduling of the bands, which is so important in setting the mood for the people attending. Circle 5 was an incredible choice to start off the festival on Saturday morning, it was such a fun way to start the festivities; in the sunshine, eating pancakes, with top notch reggae music filling the air, enjoying the sights and smells of the Farmers Market, while excited people poured into the closed off main street of the village.
The vendor offerings, from food to fashion to art to interesting amphibians and birds of prey, were colorful, with lots of variety and quality. The numerous areas for kids were so impressive, I’m sure parents were thrilled to have such attention devoted to lots of fun for their children.
The sidewalk gardens and hanging flower baskets looked so beautiful as they overflowed with color and scent, the sound quality of the music stage was amazing, as was the entertainment lineup. The car show and everything about the festival went way beyond my expectations, right down to the hand outs of the festival map and events to the wrap up party put on by the Ridgeway Legion on Sunday after the festival ended at 4. The festival was, from this attendees perspective, a well organized and excellently executed very cool happening that was everything that a summer festival should be and much more. The Ridgeway BIA, the festival sponsors, and all of the volunteers, should be very proud of what they created for everyone to enjoy.
I want to take this opportunity to say thank you so much for all of the free entertainment, amusement, beauty and community you brought together for all of us. It was extremely impressive and made me very proud to be a resident here and to invite my friends from out of town to come and see the sparkling gem called Ridgeway.