The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
INTERNATIONAL FEST COMES TO A CLOSE
Third and final day brings a parade and celebrations
The 51st annual Lorain International Festival came to a close on June 25 following a week’s worth of festivities celebrating the cultural inclusiveness of the city.
The day began with the Lorain International parade featuring dozens of floats including local civic leaders and organizations as well as the international princesses and the Lorain High School marching band in addition to the Lorain Arts Council showcasing a selection of masks created with the help of master mask maker Kenneth Melendez.
The parade began at the intersection of Broadway Ave. and 15th Street and proceeded past Lorain City Hall at 200 West Erie Ave. where participants and the public gathered and announcer ‘Super Dave’ Andrews of WOBL introduced the array of different floats.
Ward 6 Councilman Angel Arroyo marched alongside fellow members of Lorain City
Council following right behind Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer.
“It’s great to see friends from all around celebrating great stories, good food and having some pride in their heritage. It’s a bigger honor to have my daughter walk with me as I did with my father when he was on council in the 1980’s. I hope everyone had fun, congratulations to all the princesses, committee and residents of Lorain,” Arroyo said.
Sunday performances at Black River Landing included classic rock band Rock N’Ravers, Raks Shadan Dance Troupe, Veseli Plesaci Croatian Dancers, Alma de Mexico and the Reality Check Dance Team as well as the Scottish Highlanders, two groups who also marched in the parade.
The festival ends on a high note with the cumulative impact of a weeks’ worth of events which encompassed some new venues and dramatic turns along with the enjoyment of great food and entertainment from around the world.
Lorain High School’s state of the art performing arts center served as host to the Lorain International Princess Pageant where Madison Maniaci representing the festival’s spotlight nationality was crowned as queen.
In the lead-up to the festival Lorain International Association President Ben Davey said he was encouraged by the opportunity to try some new things this year following the capstone 50th anniversary festival in 2016.
Davey said while official numbers are not yet available, preliminary estimates place attendance figures
somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 which would be an improvement on 2016.
“Starting at the cultural event straight through to the bazaar today, everything has just really turned our way this year,” Davey said.
While the 51st edition of the Lorain International Festival has come to a close, the Lorain International Association will begin the planning process for next year’s festival in the fall including a decision on the spotlight nationality.
In the meantime, Davey said the Lorain International Association is in the process of putting together an Oktoberfest dinner at some point in the fall.