After more than 40 years , the Fall Festival returns to the Village of Cridersville on Oct. 25
The Village of Cridersville is throwing a party — their annual fall festival party, to be more precise.
According to Stacey Cook, co-organizer of the event, the festival began in the parking lot of Myers Pro Hardware as both a parade and costume contest, moved to Tower Park and then to its current location at the fire department.
The Halloween parade, Oct. 25, will start at 5:30 p.m. with parade lineup at Cridersville United Methodist at 5. It will start at the corner of
Shawnee and West Main streets, travel east and end at Community Markets. Anyone can participate, and although no registration is required, Cook recommended emailing her to reserve a spot (stacey@wlio.com).
Following the parade the festival itself will be at the fire department. The celebration starts with a kid’s costume contest for anyone 15 and younger. There will be 10 different age groups, and in each age group are three different categories. Each age group will have 10 winners, meaning 100 kids can win prizes.
Prizes are monetary, and participants will also get goodie bags that include activities and toys (but not candy). Younger participants will also get stuffed animals.
The three-person judging panel will include stalwarts Holly Geaman Koza and Jeff Gunter from WLIO, as well as Russ Decker.
Besides the costume contest, there will be a raffle where participants will have the opportunity to buy fall and halloween items including wooden signs and statues.
Shredded chicken sandwiches and hot dogs will be available, and all proceeds will go towards a local nursing home. Pie from the Cridersville Historical Society will be for sale, as well as coffee and hot cider.
The festival has been around for over 40 years.
“People come out, they watch the parade, they come in and then they get dinner,” she said.
The parade won’t be canceled for mild rain, but if there’s a hard storm Cook recommended using the Cridersville Fire Department’s Facebook page for updates. The events at the fire department would still proceed.
Cook’s biggest goal is for people to come out, meet new people, see old friends and have fun.
“It’s a chance to be able to see your neighbors that you may not have seen for awhile,” she said.