Tools

Thousands Attend 115th Annual Strawberry Days Festival

by KREX News Room
by Amanda Brandeis

Story Created: Jun 16, 2012 at 11:12 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jun 18, 2012 at 8:36 AM MDT

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.- The annual Glenwood Springs Strawberry Days Festival kicked off Friday. Officials tell NewsChannel 5 that throughout the weekend, about 50,000 people attend.

Strawberry Days began in 1898. Residents say it's the oldest celebration west of the Mississippi.

Marianne Virgili, president of the Glenwood Springs Resort Association, said, “Glenwood Springs used to be the location of a lot of strawberry farms. It isn’t any longer, but we still celebrate the strawberry harvest. For the city, it’s just a big boom for the economy.”

One local said, “If you’ve ever been here and done this, you’ll always come back to it.”

A parade kicked off the day Saturday at 10 a.m.

Scattered throughout Sayre Park, vendors from across the country set up shop to sell their goods.

Glenwood Springs resident, Acacia Carmichael, said, “I think my favorite part is walking around and seeing all the booths and seeing how cool they are ... also seeing the cool creations people make.”

One vendor said, “Outside, in Glenwood Springs, beautiful setting and always nice weather.”

“It’s just a hometown fun time,” said another local resident.

Although Glenwood Springs doesn’t have strawberry farms like it used to, you wouldn’t know it after attending the annual festival.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KREX - News, Weather, Sports for Grand Junction | Montrose | Glenwood Springs - Coverage You Can Count On and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Most Popular
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
News Channel 5 Weather