The highlight of the Lions fair, the fireworks show, begins at 8:30 p.m. (File photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
A regular Harvard event for over two decades, the Lions Club Fall Festival will be held this year on Sept. 15-16 in the field at 150 Ayer Road.
The festival began as a craft fair but has grown to include a wide range of activities across two days. For children and toddlers there are inflatables, face painting, and a “touch a truck” area with military vehicles, a police car, and dump truck. Teenagers can compete in ax and knife throwing, log jousting, and a castle siege, which includes sound effects as five-pound bags of lime thrown from a 16-foot catapult hit the castle wall or its defenders.
There’s a classic car show on Sunday. Live bands play throughout the weekend.
The highlight of the fair is the fireworks display at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“We know our fireworks are much more extensive than what the town puts on,” said Harvard Lion Bob Kinnee. “We don’t spare any expense.”
This year’s display will take place during the 8:30 p.m. concert intermission to accommodate families with young children.
Carolena McCauley of Harvard says she goes every year.
“It’s a great thing to do with the family,” she said. “And besides, this year they have a great dance band.”
Booty Vortex, a funk, soul, and disco band, will perform Saturday evening in a concert designed to appeal to all ages.
“They’re supposed to put on a good show,” Kinnee said.
One of the more popular activities last year, according to Kinnee, was the bonfire.
“It just goes to show that sometimes you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a big hit,” he said.
The bonfire this year will follow the fireworks.
The festival continues to grow. On the basis of early sign-ups, Kinnee estimates that the craft fair will increase from last year’s 45-50 displays to 50-60 this year. Organizers anticipate that the Classic Car Show, introduced for the first time last year with 50-75 cars, will feature closer to 100 this year. Attendance is also expected to increase as it has in past years.
The Battle of the Bands will not take place this year, nor will “cow plop bingo,” but they are expected to return next year, Kinnee said.
Once again this year, the festival will include a championship barbecue cook-off, with competitors from as far away as Chicago. Festivalgoers can sample the competitors’ food at noon on Saturday or Sunday. The Lions will offer their own barbecue food throughout the day and a barbecue dinner Saturday evening.
In addition to fried dough and ice cream offered by vendors, Lions Club volunteers will have food available during the festival: hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken wraps, sweet potato fries, and lobster rolls. For the second year, Carlson’s Orchard is providing apple crisp with whipped cream.
Another improvement instituted last year is visitors’ ability to stay on the fairgrounds between the close of the day’s activities at 4 p.m. and the beginning of the evening concert at 5:30 p.m. This is particularly helpful for those coming from outside Harvard.
“Increasingly, we’re attracting people from a very broad region,” said Kinnee.
The Harvard Lions begin planning for the festival in February, with 15 team leaders coordinating additional volunteers around each aspect of the festival. According to Kinnee, the festival is a good recruiting event for the Lions Club of Harvard.
“We’re trying to have a good time and give the town of Harvard a good time,” he said.
All of the day’s proceeds go to charity. The admissions fee and food contribute the most to the $40,000 the Lions expect to raise this year, Kinnee said. The entrance fee is $5 for general admission and $15 for the evening concert (with a $5 discount if they’re purchased together).
Half the money raised goes back to Harvard to support special needs learning, vision for students, sports teams, and the ambulance fund, among many other programs. This year, the Lions Club also helped fund Interface, a program aimed at integrating mental health referrals into the school system.
A full description of events can be found online at www.harvardfallfestival.com.
