Grove City will have strawberries galore June 9-11
Area residents who are fans of strawberries will be a huge fans of Grove City’s Strawberry Days festival, which features strawberries, strawberry doughnuts, strawberry shortcake, and a host of other things with the word “strawberry” attached to it.
The 32nd annual Strawberry Days event takes place at Grove City Memorial Park, and is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 11. Entry is free for the event on all three days.
Festival organizer Mary Kay Mattocks, who is also part of the Grove City Council, has been a part of Strawberry Days since its inception. During its first years, Mattocks managed a store on Broad Street.
“The first two years, it was called the ‘Art and Music Festival,’ and the artists had their art on the sidewalk in front of stores,” Mattocks said.
A total of 19 vendors will be selling food at the festival, including three new ones, all nonprofit organizations. These include the Shenango Valley Ski Club selling lemon and strawberry shakes, Grove City Knights of Columbus selling sausage sandwiches, and the Grove City Football Boosters selling shaved ice, pretzels and nachos.
One of the most popular items are Sarah’s Amish Donuts, which draw long lines every single year.
“I can only do one a day. I get one in the morning, and that’s my lot because they’re so good,” Mattocks said.
But not all of the vendors at the strawberry festival will be peddling food and drink. Mattocks said there will be more than 100 arts and crafts vendors at this year’s event.
“We have handcrafted items; we have people who have their own bees and have honey,” Mattocks said. “We have ‘Beary Creative’. It’s like Build-A-Bear, but it’s called ‘Beary Creative,’ where you build your own teddy bear.”
Twelve different musical acts will be performing throughout the festival, starting with Dale's Jam Band, which will take the stage at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 8 — the night before the festival officially begins.
“The band playing Thursday evening is just a pickup band with our sound tech in it so that he can get everything worked out before all the bands play,” Mattocks said.
During the festival, guests will park at Grove City High School, located on Highland Avenue, for free.
