Hometown fun

Community Days builds back to four-day event this year

“We’re going in a different direction. We’re going to be doing some other festivities on the weekend.” — Steve Kovach, president of Sheffield Lake City Council and overseer of Community Days

The Sheffield Lake Community Days festival has changed a bit over recent years to adjust to shortages in the carnival industry, event organizers said.

It went from a five-day festival with a carnival to a one-day festival in 2021 in part due to the coronavirus pandemic and the late notice of restarting outdoor events in Ohio.

This year, Community Days is back to four days, but it still will have that different look without carnival rides.

The event takes place from July 13-17 at Shoreway Plaza, located at the corner of Lake Breeze and East Lake roads.

“We’re rebuilding,” said Sheffield Lake City Council President Steve Kovach, who oversees the event.

The parade takes place July 14 on Lake Road. The fireworks show will take place July 15

Kovach noted that the company that supplies carnival rides couldn’t secure enough workers to properly staff the rides.

So, the Community Days committee had to make some adjustments, he said.

“We’re going in a different direction,” Kovach said. “We’re going to be doing some other festivities on the weekend.”

And, just what are those other festivities?

Those events are a car cruise and a cornhole tournament on July 16, and a craft show and flea market on July 17, the last day of Community Days, he said.

He also stated that Sheffield Village and Sheffield Lake aren’t the only areas to lose a carnival during the pandemic.

However, Kovach said he is excited to have the festival return to near full strength.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Sheffield Lake is back to hosting a near full-strength Community Festival at Shoreway Shopping Center this week for the first time since the 2019event pictured here.