JEFFERSON —
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Ashtabula County Covered Bridge Festival Committee has enough money to hold the 29th Annual Covered Bridge Festival, scheduled for Oct. 13 and 14.
Connie Bayt, director and office manager of the festival, said that while there will be a number of changes to this year’s event, they have been introduced to make the festival both family friendly and sustainable.
“We have money,” Bayt said. “We don’t have as much as we’d like to have, but we have put on a festival in the past with less money than what we have.”
Bayt said the committee is stretching its funds through the use of volunteers and the kindness of entertainers, who are offering their services free or extending the amount of time they normally perform.
This year’s festival will offer longer hours, more vendors and entertainers at the fairgrounds and the revival of a tradition that ended two decades ago, a Covered Bridge Festival Queen.
Ashtabula County girls who are in grades nine through 11 are eligible to participate. The information packet is available on the festival’s website, coveredbridgefestival.org. The pageant will be held in September, but the crowning will be reserved for the festival.
A new event coming to the fairgrounds this year is a teen idol contest. Screening will done via You Tube videos; up to 30 contestants will be selected by a panel of three judges.
Performances on Oct. 13 will determine which of the contestants will go into the final competition the following day.
Because the contest spans both days of the festival, admission pricing has been modified. A one-day adult pass will cost $3, but a pass for both days is $5.
The pass also will give the fairgrounds visitor access to competitions, entertainment and craft and food vendors.
Last year, as Bayt walked through the vendor area she noticed that there were too many vacant spaces. She and the board members have been working hard to make sure that does not happen with this year’s festival.
“We have a lot of new vendors coming in,” she said. Hours of the festival have been extended to 7 p.m. on Oct. 13 and 6 p.m. on Oct. 14. A parade from Jefferson Area High School will kick off the event at 9 a.m. Oct. 13
There will be events at the 18 covered bridges, as well. All but South Denmark has a bridge chairperson. Bayt said that vendors who set up at the bridges will be required to pay a $20 booth fee to the bridge chairperson, who must pre-approve the booth, as well.
Indoor booth space at the fairgrounds is $65 and includes electricity.
Bayt said the festival is receiving good media attention this year with two Cleveland television stations interested in promoting it. She represented the festival at the Adventures in Northeast Ohio Show in Cleveland earlier this summer and generated several media contacts.
The festival could use some additional board members and volunteers. Bayt said the board needs a member who has a good knowledge of the bridges’ history and also someone who could revive the bridge souvenirs program.
Call the office if you have an interest in filling these roles, 576-3769.
Bayt said the committee will face the challenge of making the 30th annual festival even bigger than the new and improved version they are rolling out this year.
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