Residents of the City of Hobart have an exciting weekend in store with the return of the annual Lakefront Festival.
Julie Mandon, Park Director for the City of Hobart, details that this is the festival's 33rd year. However, Mandon mentions how this year’s festival is much earlier than previous years.
“We're trying something different this year by moving the festival to the start of summer instead of the end,” Mandon said. “Today was the last day of school for the kids, so we're trying to kick off the season and capture the nice weather.”
The festival has a wide variety of food, vendors, and activities to keep all of the attendees on their toes. Additionally, this festival will continue through Sunday.
“We have the Cardboard Boat Race on Saturday and the Dam Duck Race this Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. each day,” Mandon said. “There’s an entire Bounce House kingdom for all the kids and great bands performing every night.”
Many Hobart residents are most interested in the Cardboard Boat Race every year. Kelly Clemens, chief of staff for the City of Hobart, shares that there will be two races this time.
“Our fire department, police department, our public works department, and the mayor will be participating,” Clemens said. “We’re going to do a city department cardboard boat race followed by another race for the public.”
Clemens echoes how moving the festival to the start of the summer is more beneficial for bringing out many happy families. She believes it gives them an opportunity to provide a different experience this time around as well.
“It’s exciting because it gives us a chance to bring some different food vendors and bands that we have not been able to get out here in the past,” Clemens said. “When we had it in the fall, there would sometimes be conflict with a lot of other events happening that day at a busier time of the year. It’s important for us to let families come and enjoy all of these activities.”
While the event has become a staple in the Region over the years, there are some attendees that made their way to Hobart and experienced the festival for the first time. One of these attendees was Cindy Zach, who was drawn to the festival by their musical selection.
“We saw the festival advertised on Facebook and really liked the bands that were playing,” Zach said. “It’s been nice to enjoy the food. I didn’t know there would be so many vendors here so it’s pretty cool.”
Despite not being a Hobart resident, Zach is grateful for the City of Hobart putting together this versatile night of festivities.
“I think it's nice that they’re doing this,” Zach said. “We came from Winfield so we drove 30 minutes to get here. It’s great that they’re getting families to come from many different communities.”
It takes a unified effort by the City of Hobart to successfully put this festival together every year. Having less time to work with this time than in previous years, Mandon is pleased with how everybody played their part and the turnout from the community on opening night.
“We have such a great team,” Mandon said. “None of this could function without these great people coming together. We’ve had a lot of sponsors help us in the community and we’re happy to make this happen. It’s a free event for the community and our ultimate goal is that this is a place where families can kick off a fun summer.”
For more information on the City of Hobart, you can visit their website.