Festival co-chair Devon Douglas said the biggest challenge about organizing Spring Fest this time around was doing so with five fewer months of planning, as it wasn’t approved until November.
“We usually start planning right away and have a year to prepare,” Douglas said. “The shortened timeline was a challenge, but everything is coming together beautifully. All of our vendors, volunteers, and musicians are ready to be back and put in the work to make it happen.”
Douglas said the city reported 10,000 attendees at the 2019 event. She said she’s expecting that many or more for this year’s installment.
“From what we have seen from similar events in the area, I think the community is ready to be outside and celebrating and we are preparing for a huge turnout this year,” she said.
Eighty vendors have registered for the event, the majority of them local artists who specialize in handmade, artisan items, Douglas said.
“I scaled back the number slightly to focus on quality and spacing everyone adequately,” she said.
The event is preceded Thursday by a Hollywood Stars Pub Crawl, starting at 5:30 p.m. in downtown Miamisburg, which now has its own outdoor drinking area (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area or DORA). The crawl offers prizes donated by participating businesses.
“All of our drinks are DORA and you can bring your DORA drinks from other establishments to the park,” Douglas said.
The festival officially launches at 5 p.m. Friday with live music, carnival food, a beer garden and amusement rides by Funtime Carnival.
Saturday starts with the largest parade Miamisburg holds all year at 9:30 a.m. The festival follows from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and features artisan crafters, free family activities, a full food court, chalk artists and Funtime Carnival. There will also be live music and entertainment all day. Sunday has everything the previous day has to offer from noon until 6 p.m.
More than two dozen volunteers have signed up for the event. Those interested in joining them can go to www.burgspringfest.com and click the “volunteer sign up” button.
Douglas and her husband, Dan, created Spring Fest in the Burg in 2019 after hearing that Miamisburg’s annual “spring fling,” a near 30-year event, was going away after 2018. The first year of Spring Fest raised money to support local causes such as the Miamisburg Community Foundation, Acoustapalooza, the Miamisburg Kindness Rocks Garden, the Dugout Club and the Oregon District Relief Fund.
About the Author
