Annual mum festival to be held in Connellsville
Downtown Connellsville will be transformed into an autumn wonderland on Sept. 12 as it hosts the sixth annual Downtown Connellsville Mum Festival.
“I would say actually the reason for the Mum Festival is not to just celebrate the Mum Festival but to also celebrate our business and people in downtown,” said Daniel Cocks, executive director of the Fayette County Cultural Trust, the hosting organization of the festival. “This year we have a lot of great entertainment along with food and craft vendors. One of our entertainers is actually Jamie Harris. He is going to play Elvis. It is going to be 10 a.m. to noon.”
In addition to Harris, other musical entertainment includes Del Sols 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and the Southern Comfort Band 3 to 5 p.m.
Jeff Bryner’s Calliope Band Organ will also perform at the festival.
New to the event this year is the pie tasting and cake decorating contest.
Participants are invited to enter their made from scratch pies and creatively decorated cakes into either the middle school, high school and adult divisions.
Registration is free and the deadline to enter is Sept. 4. The winner will receive a $25 gift card to Wavie & Janes Emporium.
For those who would rather eat pie than bake it, there will be a pie eating contest where contestants can dig in without using their hands to see who can chow down the fastest.
There is a $2 fee to participate.
For those who are car enthusiasts, there will be a Corvette and Jaguar car show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Last year we had the fiftieth anniversary of the Mustang. This year we are having Corvettes and Jaguars and they will be parked in the city parking lot not too far from the festival, just a block away,” said Cocks.
There will also be various craft and food vendors, mums for sale, children’s activities including pumpkin bowling and more.
All of the activities and entertainment will primarily take place on Crawford Avenue after Crawford Bridge up to North Pittsburgh Street.
While Cocks wants people to take in all that downtown Connellsville has to offer, he also wants people to have a good time at the festival and to see the bigger picture.
“I think it would be a sense of community to take away from this year,” he said.