Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce
Summertime equals festival time, and Westerville has quite the itinerary for the remainder of the season.
Mark the calendar because the Westerville Music & Arts Festival is almost here and three more Mount Carmel St. Ann’s 4th Fridays are slated for the year. From winning awards to celebrating 20 years, 2019 is a milestone for both family fun events.
Westerville Music & Arts Festival
July 13-14 | Heritage Park
Did you hear? The Westerville Music & Arts Festival won an award. In the 2019 CityScene Magazine Best of the ‘Bus readers’ poll, the Westerville festival tied with the Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival for Best Suburban Festival. The duo beat out the Dublin Irish Festival by just five votes!
Clearly, the festival is already starting on a high note. Organized by the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce, the 46th annual, two-day event will once again feature more than 130 artisans, 30-plus music acts across three stages, 20 food trucks and vendors, and all-new kids’ activities.
“We are trying to do more for the kids,” says Matt Lofy, director of marketing and community outreach for the WACC. “Yeah, we’re showing art and music, but we’re really showing off our community in a different light to different people.”
Activities perfect for youngsters include a storyteller show all day Saturday, Baby Shark-themed crafts, giant backyard games presented by Westerville Parks & Recreation, art activities by the Arts Council of Westerville, and an instrument petting zoo where kids can experiment and play with different musical instruments. For serious artists grades 12 and under, the second floor of Everal Barn will display the students’ creations and have professionals judge the pieces.
The festival has also teamed up with the Westerville-based Megan Lee Designs to create an original t-shirt perfect for kids or those young at heart. The green and gray cotton shirts feature a long-necked dinosaur painting the dates of the event while a group of mice jam out on its back.
Apart from the amped-up, kid-inspired activities and gear, get excited for the locally based 1980s cover group The Reaganomics. The band will headline Saturday evening while brews from North High Brewing Co. and Rhinegeist Brewery are served. Other performers throughout the weekend encompass genres of reggae, jazz and acoustic.
The festival is accessible for all. Parking will be available at The Point at Otterbein, while bike paths and a trolley system from the Westerville Sports Complex offer additional transportation options.
In 2018, the Chamber conducted an economic impact study and found that almost $1 million gets reinvested into Westerville annually and it’s estimated that about $60,000 of that total is being invested into Uptown just during the festival weekend.
Lofy and his team are happy to host and attend a worthwhile event.
“We’ve been working since the last festival to make this one better,” Lofy says. “I’m just excited to see everyone coming to Heritage Park, and on Saturday night I can sit down, watch The Reaganomics and have a cold North High Brew.”
Mount Carmel St. Ann’s 4th Friday
July 26, Aug. 23, Sept. 27 | Uptown Westerville
Westerville Visitors & Convention Bureau
After experiencing a local street fair in Savannah, Georgia, the once Westerville residents Charles Moon and his family were inspired to bring a similar festivity to central Ohio. In the heat of July, the first 4th Friday kicked off in 1999 at 5 p.m., but by 5:30 p.m. there still wasn’t a soul at the event.
“At 6 o’clock exactly, a (family) came around the corner… and I said to my wife, ‘It’s going to work,’” Moon says.
And it did. The first event attracted about 1,100 people. Today, the Westerville Visitors and Convention Bureau organizes the sponsored Mount Carmel St. Ann’s 4th Fridays, and the July 26 event marks 20 years of success.
“For a lot of families in and around Westerville, the 4th Fridays have become part of their lives,” says Glenda Mihaly, marketing coordinator for the WVCB. “And you can have a different experience every time, it’s never the same.”
Now encompassing most of Main Street in Uptown and attracting more than 11,000 people, guests can expect the themes World Bazaar, Dog Days of Summer and Farm in the City for July, August and September. For July, experience belly dancers from Habeeba’s Dance of the Arts and possibly a Polynesian dance group. August will once again have fun activities perfect for dogs and owners, along with performances by SlipStream and Legal Tender. Plus, both July and August will feature soon-to-be solidified celebratory activities for the 20-year anniversary. And always enjoy a variety of food vendors such as Cousins Maine Lobster Truck and Cupzilla Korean BBQ.
The biggest takeaway from 4th Fridays is how they have helped rejuvenate Uptown. Shops are always encouraged to stay open late during the events, and even though event goers tend to not buy during the festivities, Mihaly and Moon both agree it gives exposure and attracts people to come back.
4th Fridays have even inspired cities far from central Ohio. When Moon visited a small city in Florida, he and his wife enjoyed an evening at its 3rd Thursday event. Curious, Moon asked a local where the idea came from and was pleasantly surprised with the response.
“He said, ‘A guy from Worthington moved down here and they had a similar event to the community next door to him,’” Moon explains with a smile. “He said, ‘It’s bringing people back downtown.’”
Even though the City of Westerville isn’t directly involved in organizing the 4th Fridays, Mihaly says it wouldn’t be possible without its collaborative efforts.
“To have a safe and operational and clean environment, we could not do that without the City of Westerville,” Mihaly says. “It’s a cooperative effort and the city plays a huge role.”
Lydia Freudenberg is the brand loyalty specialist. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
