Community Festivals

Now that the warmer weather has arrived, there are a lot of activities going on in and around Fitchburg. Over the weekend, I was fortunate to take part in a citywide Family Day event on Day Street that was organized by the Fitchburg Community Connections Coalition, Montachusett Opportunity Council, Neighborhoods and You Coalition, Three Pyramids, the Ward5B/college Neighborhood Association, and No Place for Hate. The rain cleared up just in time to make the most of the afternoon, which included live music, free BBQ and ethnic foods, a youth bake sale, and a moon bounce for the kids. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet some new people. And, as those with children pointed out, it was also a good way to ensure that their kids would be tired at bedtime!

Saturday’s St. Anthony’s Italian Festival unfortunately conflicted with my commitment at the Family Day event, but it’s something I’d highly recommend checking out when it returns next summer. My experience at the festival in the past has proven that there’s nothing quite like homemade pizzelles and anise cookies!

This weekend also featured a Beatles cover band concert at Coggshall Park, which is a wonderful venue to listen to music, relax, and just enjoy being outdoors. A series of free concerts take place at the park on Sundays throughout the summer and always draw quite a crowd. Sentinel and Enterprise has posted the 2007 schedule here. A Saturday concert series at Riverfront Park, River Jam 2007, also kicked off this weekend. Yet another round of free concerts run on the Upper Commons on Wednesday evenings starting in mid-July; the Concerts on the Common schedule is available here.

[7/3/07 Addendum: It appears that the S&E link above is now dead, and there is no longer a formal online schedule for the Coggshall Concert Series. So here's the schedule I was able to piece together for the remainder of the season from the Johnny Appleseed Trail events page. All concerts are on Sundays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.: July 8 - Country Mile (country music, rain date July 22); August 12 - Erin's Melody (Irish music, rain date September 16); September 9 - East Bay Jazz Band (jazz music, rain date September 16).]

Next weekend, I’m looking forward to the annual Grecian Festival on June 16th, which is open to the entire community. In past years, I’ve enjoyed some outstanding food (the fresh feta, for example, was perfect on a salad) and also loved watching the Greek dancing - those who are more courageous than I are welcome to join in. And I’m particularly excited to visit Oakridge Farmstand’s Strawberry Festival, which takes place June 16th and 17th. The event promises lots of activities, but I’m most drawn to the mention of hot air balloon rides! Also worth noting, Oakridge’s ice cream stand is now open and features a variety of homemade ice creams.

I hope that many of you had the opportunity to take advantage of this weekend’s selection of events and are looking forward to those to come!