Parades. Freshly Squeezed Lemonade. Funnel Cakes. Face Painting. Rows of craftsmen selling their art. People dressed up in period dress scaring young children. These are a few of my favorite things. (That song is stuck in my head because the von Trapps were among the characters walking around, singing of course, because what else would Maria have them do.)
Festivals have been going on since Biblical days and parades since Medieval Mystery Plays appeared on the scene. Both rooted in celebration and community. Days when we all come together to have a little fun and celebrate a common bond. In the case of modern day fairs, I'm pretty sure an outsider looking in would say that the common bond is a love of deep fried food. I happen to think it's a chance to see people you know, support your town, appreciate great local arts and crafts, and the bonus is deep fried food.
A fair is like a big case study of human behavior. During a parade you can always count on people to do a few things: cheer for firefighters, give respectful applause to veterans, and shout out to the kids they know who give an embarrassed look back. I get a great sense of nostalgia and tradition from counting on those things. And the festival itself has aspects we all count on. Like the artisans I look for every year, or how the girls know exactly where their favorite face-painter sets up. (Yes, we have a favorite face-painter. She uses glitter putting her far above the rest. The boy was also won over by her this year when he found out she would dye his hair purple, something he tells me he's going to do permanently in high school. Go for it, kid.) And the boy knows exactly which food vendors he wants to go to. He has a lemonade guy, a chicken-on-a-stick guy, and an ice cream guy. This year I tried to switch up the ice cream guy, but the scowl I got made me change my mind.
Above is my new art. I'm so excited to get those prints framed and put on the wall. And my new necklace from a lady I've begun to visit every year. I get more compliments on her necklaces than anything else I own.
I love a good festival. But the real reason I love this particular festival? For me it does exactly what it's supposed to. I fall in love with this little community. If only for a day, I love this little town just for the simple act of throwing such a great party. At heart, I'm pretty easy to please.
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