Canal Days Festival canceled, then revived
COSHOCTON – The Coshocton Canal Festival Committee recently made the difficult decision to cancel the 2015 festival, but another group has stepped up to try and save the event.
Canal Days, an annual celebration of the community’s Canal Era history that dates back to the 1970s, is scheduled to be held Aug. 6-9 in downtown Coshocton
“There are a lot more expenses that go into things like the parade than people realize and the vendors want there to be other things going on,” said Trish Wilson, a member of the Coshocton Canal Festival Committee. “We were trying to get entertainment, but you can’t do that without money and we couldn’t get anyone to do the couple of things we were trying to. No one wanted to be in charge.”
The Canal Festival Committee members are partnering with Roscoe Village to have the festival’s traditional queen contest take place there during the October Apple Butter Stirrin’ Festival and The Upper Room Assembly and Worship Center on Main Street will plan the rest of the annual event’s other activities.
“We feel good about it and think the girls going over there to Roscoe is really going to work out well,” Wilson said. “Apple Butter will now be able to have visiting queens come over to walk around and talk about their festivals and events. We just aren’t sure right now of what their title officially will be.”
Information about how to sign up for the contest will be shared in the near future and Wilson said committee members also will contact those who did donate to see if their money can be used for the royalty event or if they want a refund.
“Roscoe isn’t paying for the contest,” she said. “They let us merge with them, but we have to be self-sufficient. We are hoping the money we raised can be used for trophies, crowns and other program expenses.”
As for the rest of the festival, Stan Braxton, pastor at the Upper Room Assembly and Worship Center, said they will organize the parade, entertainment, vendors and other activities in the 300 block of Main Street. They also are planning on having the church open for people to view a display of Canal Era outfits and memorabilia.
“We already have a preliminary budget of right around $2,500 and think we are going to be just fine with that and a few other people chipping in,” Braxton said.
Anyone interested in helping with Canal Days can contact Braxton at 740-610-0082. Donations also can be made by visiting http://theupperroomag.org/, clicking on donate and specifying that you want your donation to go toward Canal Days.
“This isn’t a religions event,” Braxton said. “This is a community event.”
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Arts & Entertainment
They NEVER should have started charging admission & Canal Days belongs IN Roscoe. It was a GREAT community event. I loved supporting FFA corn roast & church food tents. Now, it's just tourism.
What's the point of " merging" when it isn't the canal festival and what is our queen going to do , go around to other festivals and tell how crime and drug infested our town is ? Coshocton will be history itself if the political leaders don't stop linning there pockets and do something !