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FAIRBORN — The Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival is back on for this year.
The event will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 21 and Sunday, Aug. 22 at Community Park, 691 East Dayton Yellow Springs Road.
“It was with much disappointment that we had to cancel the 2020 Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival, but we have returned for 2021,” an event spokesperson said.
Last year would have been the 39th year of the annual Sweet Corn Festival, and this year, organizers will reprise the number.
Aside from a few changes, visitors to the Sweet Corn Festival can expect an experience much the same as any other year. Organizers are working on a shuttle system for elderly visitors and researching modified activities for the kids. The live music in the gazebo, a staple of the festival, will be the same or of a similar nature, according to festival chairperson Warren Brown.
The one major difference: No corn eating contest.
“That’s one thing we know we couldn’t do,” Brown said. “Everything else will be as normal.”
The event normally hosts between 120 and 180 vendors. So far, roughly 60 vendors have registered for a spot with three months left to go. Organizers are already expecting a larger turnout.
“We’re hearing that that’s the case,” Brown said. “People are chomping at the bit to get out.”
Other events across the region, including Greene County Hamvention and the Troy Strawberry Festival, were cancelled this spring. However, Brown said he is hoping the experience will give attendees a sense of normalcy.
“Just being able to be with friends, being out and among fellow citizens, and of course eat some of that sweet corn,” he said.
The festival will be dedicated to the late Alicia Eckhart, former director of Fairborn Parks and Recreation, and late festival volunteer Bill Gazzerro. Both will be recognized on the festival programme.
Volunteers Sue Red, Lauren Red, and Lori Luckner, all of whom recently retired, will also be recognized.
Currently, the annual Fairborn Fourth of July events, including the parade and July 3 block party, are back on as well.
“It’s going to allow the citizens of Fairborn to feel like they’re back to normal at home. They don’t have to go off to some other venue to take advantage of that,” Brown said. “Come out and have an ear of corn.”
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