2017 Peony Festival: Lots of activities

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The 2017 Peony Festival begins today with a variety of activities and events scheduled, including, for the first time, a beer tent.

With legislation approved recently by Van Wert City Council, the Peony Festival Committee was able to obtain a temporary liquor permit to sell liquor on public property in the downtown area. Beer will be sold on South Jefferson Street at the Peony Patio, a beet tent selling adult beverages and featuring craft beer provided by Land-Grant Brewing Company of Columbus.

The Peony Festival opens at 10 a.m. today and will end this evening with a concert by Groove Essential, the first concert of the 2017 Fountain Park Summer Concert Series sponsored by The Van Wert County Foundation. The concert runs from 7-9 p.m. in (where else?) Fountain Park.

Opening the day at 10 a.m. will be the festival information booth and the Van Wert Optimist Youth Art Show in the area around or in Fountain Park. The Peony Festival Art & Vendor Show runs from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. in the park, while food vendors and carnival rides open at noon today and both run until 9 this evening. Food vendors will be on South Jefferson Street, while rides will be in the adjacent Central Avenue city parking lot.

The Peony Festival concession stand opens at 4 p.m. in Fountain Park, while registration for the Peony Festival Car Show also begins at 4 this afternoon on West Main Street. The car show will run from 6-9 p.m. along West Main.

Saturday’s activities begin with the Kids Free Fishing Derby at the YMCA’s Camp Clay Aqua Park. The event runs from 9-11 a.m.

At 10 a.m., the information booth reopens, as well as the Art & Vendor Show in the park.

Peony Festival Garden Tours will run from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday (see brochure on Peony Festival website for tour locations). Food vendors will open at 11 a.m. and close at 9 Saturday night.

A photo booth will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Fountain Park, while free children’s activities and inflatables will be in the park from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. The YMCA Color Run will begin at 11 a.m. at the intersection of Crawford and Jefferson streets and end at approximately 2 p.m. Saturday.

A caricature artist will be in Fountain Park from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., while dancers from Kim Hohman’s DanceWorks will perform from 11 a.m. until noon in the park bandstand.

Other entertainment on Saturday afternoon in the bandstand includes the Van Wert Jazz Group from 1-2, the Bachwell Dancers from 2-3, and the Ballroom Dance Club from 3-4 p.m.

The VWHS Punt, Pass, & Kick Contest will be held from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Eggerss Stadium.

The Peony Patio will be open from 4-9 p.m. Saturday on Jefferson Street, while the Grand Parade will begin at 5 p.m. and proceed down Main Street, starting at the YWCA on Cherry Street and ending at Burt Street.

A teen dance for kids in grades 7-9 will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the S.F. Goedde Building gymnasium, while local band Section Ate will perform from 7-9 p.m. at the bandstand

in Fountain Park.

People can also go on the Peony Festival Garden Tours from noon-3 p.m. Sunday.