- November 26, 2024
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Organizers of the eighth-annual Creekside Festival are taking some comfort that the weekend forecast is for only isolated storms. That's a big improvement over the 2011 event, which all but rained out.
“It was a little rough and a little hairy,” said Rebecca DeLorenzo, executive vice president of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, which hosts the event. “But, given good weather, we should have a great turnout this year.”
Generally, DeLorenzo said, attendance is around 17,000 for the festival. In 2011, only around 6,000 people trekked to Princess Place Preserve, where the festival is held annually, to brave the rain. Because of the poor attendance last year, the chamber offered a 20% discount to returning vendors to make up for lost revenues.
This year’s festival will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 6-7. Admission is $5 per carload. The chamber hosts the event to raise funds for its activities and donates 25% of its revenues to preservation efforts at Princess Place Preserve.
One of the highlights of the weekend is its myriad bluegrass artists that provide entertainment. New acts for this year are the bands Xtremegrass and the Andrews Family Band. Returning, among others, is the well-followed Aslyn and the Naysayers.
Perhaps the biggest change to the festival will greet attendees as they arrive: the newly replaced Princess Place Preserve bridge, which officially opened Monday.
The original bridge, which constitutes the main entrance to the park, wasn’t intended for large volumes of traffic. But once the chamber started hosting Creekside there, park usage during the rest of the year swelled. While this accomplished one of the original goals of the festival, it also put a strain on the bridge.
“We call Princess Place the crown jewel of Flagler County parks, and it is,” said Carl Laundrie, communications manager for the county, who plays a key role in organizing the annual event. “But in the seven years we’ve done it, I’ve yet to not have somebody who lives in Flagler County come up to me and say, ‘Wow, what a great place — but I’ve never been here before.'”
Flagler County funded the bridge replacement, which is wider and has higher clearance than the first did.
As this project was being completed, visitors could only access the property through Dupont Road, adding a couple of miles of dirt road driving. Completion of the new bridge will make the festival run smoothly this year, DeLorenzo said.
The festival will also host around 85 arts and crafts vendors and several nonprofit organizations, such as Flagler Habitat for Humanity and United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties. And, as in previous years, the festival will also include the Flagler Home EXPO.
Of the nine food vendors that will be at the festival, one is new, and it will bring salads and paninis to the array of fried Twinkies and other carnival food.
A newly implemented pumpkin pie eating contest will be held 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Sponsored by Bob Evans, the contest is free and open to the first 12 people who sign up. Its winner will receive a trophy.
“We’ve vamped up our radio and television advertising and run print advertisements as well,” DeLorenzo said. “I expect a good turnout this year. It can’t rain two years in a row, right?”
Music schedule
Saturday, Oct. 6
10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Seminole Ridge
11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Passerine
12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. New River Bluegrass
1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Seminole Ridge
2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Passerine
3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. New River Bluegrass
Sunday, Oct. 7
10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Aslyn and the Nay Sayers
11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Andrews Family Band
12 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. Xtremegrass
1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Aslyn and the Nay Sayers
2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Andrews Family Band
3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Xtremegrass
