The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
RELEASED WITH A BURNING FISH
FireFish visitors wrote something they wanted to let go of on pieces of paper and placed them in the fish
A 30-foot-long cardboard and paper mache fish was set ablaze Sept. 22 in Black River Landing.
The great immolation was the capstone on the two-day FireFish Festival on Broadway in Lorain.
This was the fourth year the festival brought the electric energy of a gathering of artists to town and despite a slightly abbreviated time frame, the festivities was comparable to years past as locals and out-of-towners filled the cool autumn streets of Lorain to enjoy a feast of sights and sounds curated by Executive Director James Levin.
Levin could be seen moving amongst the crowd throughout the event, ducking into galleries and catching snatches of performances from the many music and dance groups.
Throughout the festival the giant yellow fish sat like a sphinx in the center of Broadway awaiting its final trip to the conflagration.
Visitors were invited to write anything they like on sheets of blue construction paper that were fed to the fish as a way of releasing
"It’s awesome, this is amazing. I think the energy keeps building for this festival."
— Joan Perch, co-organizer of FireFish Festival
whatever the writer wished into the ether.
Levin seemed pleased with the attendance at the artistic spectacle.
“Yesterday was way better than last year at our Friday performance,” he said.
Though the first day of Autumn was in the air with the cool breeze and ominous clouds, Levin thought there would still be a glut of people arriving as the time for the burning of the fish grew nearer.
Joan Perch, a fellow organizer of the festival, also seemed pleased.
“It’s awesome, this is amazing,” she said. “I think the energy keeps building for this festival. I think more people are identifying with the brand and the whole idea that this FireFish is about renewal and arts and creativity and a lot of fun.
“I’m feeling the excitement and the burn!”
Many seemed to be feeling the excitement including Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo who was standing on the edges of a crowd watching a fashion show by Lorain style icon Jevon Terrance.
He said he’d attended each year of the festival and thinks it is a great event.
“It brings a lot of people together,” he said. “I met a couple of people from Cleve- land and I took them down
the street to Speak of the Devil and showed them our version of the Tango Room and they think it’s cool as can be.”
Kurt Hernon, owner of Speak of the Devil, 201 W. 5th St., was hard at work along with his crew fixing drinks to satiate the crowd. One such cocktail that seemed popular was made in a glass in the shape of a skull and featured a flaming sugar cube on top.
He said the festival has been “incredible.”
“It’s phenomenal and awesome,” he said taking only the briefest break from mixing his classy cocktails. “I’m grateful and I’m going to keep working hard.”
But with all the music,
dancing, food and drinks the majority of people were there for one thing: the burning of the fish.
The crowd followed the procession which was led by dancers and performers who were followed by the fish and then the Lorain High School Marching Band.
As drums thumped out chest-rattling rhythms, the crowd began to chant “feed the fish” and then “burn the fish” as dancers pranced about the beast with torches.
Levin could be heard saying, “this is cool.”
As the fish quickly burned the thousands-strong crowd erupted in cheers and may have began to quietly count down to next year.