Grove City to host Strawberry Days June 7-9
Strawberry lovers, among others, are ready to flood Grove City Memorial Park this coming weekend for the 33rd annual Strawberry Days festival.
The three-day free event is set to take place from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 9.
Festival organizer Mary Kay Mattocks, has been a part of Strawberry Days in one way or another since its inception, she said.
During its first years, Mattocks managed a store on Broad Street.
“People would walk the streets, and there was some food,” Mattocks said. “It was just an art and music festival at the time. I have been the event chair for over 20 years.”
The event has now bloomed into a family-friendly festival, Mattocks said, with entertainment of all sorts from morning until night.
“We do children's activities,” she said. “There are no rides. It's a walking festival. Cars park over at the high school, and people walk right over. All of the food vendors are local nonprofits, churches or booster organizations. That’s the way it was set up, and we have kept it that way.”
The only exception to the rule is Sarah’s Amish Donuts booth, which draw long lines every single year, Mattocks said.
In total, 17 vendors will be selling food at the festival, including the Grove City Area High School band, which will be making fresh cut french fries.
“They bring 50 pound bags of potatoes in and chop them up right there and put them in the fryer,” Mattocks said. “That’s a booth everybody goes to.”
Another thing that makes the food vendors unique, Mattocks said, is every tent has a different main food item, and no one is allowed to duplicate.
“You will have sandwiches, steak hoagies, hamburgers and hot dogs,” Mattocks said. “It makes it unique, and so there is no competition.”
Vendors will also be providing many strawberry-themed items, such as fresh strawberries, strawberry shortcake, strawberry pretzel salad, chocolate-covered strawberries and more.
Mattocks said this year’s festival will have a record amount of arts and crafts vendors, with more than 150, along with a new feature never before seen at the festival.
“This year, Lab Tech is bringing up a train engine,” she said. “People will be able to see what a real train engine looks like that they manufacture here in Grove City.
“Most people don’t get to walk up and touch a train engine. It will be a real attention-getter.”
Ten different musical acts will be performing throughout the festival, starting with Salted Skies, which will take the stage at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 6 — the night before the festival officially begins.
“Again, we like to stay local,” Mattocks said. “People love to come in and support the local groups. There are also a couple high school bands.”
When vendors set up on Thursday, the Weaver’s Creamery will also be one site to provide food for early bird visitors.
Then, starting at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, before the festival officially starts for that day, a church service by Grace United Methodist Church will take place.
