The People’s Tribune

Annual Heritage Festival Will Feature New Parade Route, Beer Garden

This year’s Champ Clark Heritage Festival will include some new features as organizers look to boost attendance and possibly extend the hours of the event that is slated for Saturday, Sept. 9 on the square in Bowling Green.

Marianne Everhart, second vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, is chairing the festival committee this year. She noted the parade route will be slightly different and the event will feature a beer garden.

The parade has always turned off of Court Street at the square but this year it will go straight through the square and turn on Church Street to eliminate some turns and make the parade more streamlined and safe for participants. This means the vendors will be in different places this year as well.

“Over the past several years we’ve heard from parade participants that making the turn onto the square was extremely tight and difficult, especially with some of the floats,” Everhart explained.

She added there may still be some changes and adjustments as planning continues. She said that so far there has been a lot of positive feedback on the changes that have been proposed.

A beer garden will be placed in a closed-off area at the festival this year. Everhart said the committee is also looking to add games in the area such as washers or cornhole. She noted that adding the beer garden was an effort to garner more support for the event.

“We are looking for ways to draw additional people to the festival and we are always asked why we don’t have a beer garden like other festivals,” she explained. “So we decided to try it this year to see how it goes.”

Everhart pointed out the ultimate goal is to expand the festival in many ways including features, hours and maybe even adding a day to the event.

More details will be announced as plans are finalized. The theme of this year’s event is “Reflections On The Past.” Everhart said the committee is encouraging businesses to enter a float or decorate accordingly.

Watch future editions of The People’s Tribune for more details.

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