HONORING PAST, RENEWING CITY

Annual FireFish Festival finishes up with burning of the fish

The third annual FireFish Festival lit up the skies of downtown Lorain as the fish was set ablaze following a parade down Broadway on Oct. 7.

Guests were treated to a flurry of activity with live music, street performers and a number of unique art exhibits providing art lovers and community advocates much to be proud of.

Elaborate conceptual art exhibits at 700 Broadway “Remarkable Surface” honor first responders of the fire which destroyed the building, accompanied by Cleveland-based artist Loren Naji’s piece “Emoh,” a commentary on homelessness and backwards thinking.

In preparing for dusk, the parade precession marched down Broadway before arriving at the burn zone where it was lit on fire accompanied by fireworks and an eager crowd chanting “burn the fish.”

The fish was constructed by Lorain County teens at LCCC’s Campana Center for Ideation and Invention which included youth from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lorain County and Lorain Schools PACE program.

Joan Perch, of FireFish

"When you burn something, in many traditions across the world, you are burning your hopes and your dreams." — Joan Perch, of FireFish Arts

Arts, who also serves as program and outreach coordinator of the Campana Center, said the yearly event is about renewal and honoring Lorain’s past while moving forward.

“The idea is that the burning of fire and the STEAMPunk FireFish really

symbolizes the industrial heritage of Lorain and our natural resources. When you burn something, in many traditions across the world, you are burning your hopes and your dreams. And so when we light this fish we are sending up our hopes and our dreams for Lorain and this region through arts and culture and technology and all of the things that were once the heritage of Lorain

reborn in the 21st century,” Perch said.

She added the essence of FireFish is about artists and communities being able to reinvent themselves.

“When you meld new technologies with creativity and artistic sensibilities and authenticity, wonderful things happen and that has been the tradition of Lorain County. And we’re trying to ignite it tonight,” Perch said.

KEVIN MARTIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL The STEAM Punk FireFish is lit ablaze in downtown Lorain at the third annual FireFish Festival on Oct. 7 .

KEVIN MARTIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL Ballet dancers from the Harbourtown Dance Studio in Vermilion perform at the FireFish Festival in Lorain on Oct. 7 at the Horizon Education Center Stage.