Glenwood Springs’ 125th Strawberry Days festival is upon us. After a two-year respite, due to the pandemic, the fun returns June 17-19 at Two Rivers Park.
The historic celebration got its start on June 18, 1898. It was initially organized by the Tri-County Farmers Union to promote some of Colorado’s finest fruits, vegetables and dairy products, explained Tara Harman with the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association.
Still, despite the pandemic, the city found a way to commemorate the annual event with last year’s “A Berry Special Weekend.” As part of that alternative commemoration, the town held a “reverse parade” — where businesses were encouraged to decorate their storefronts. “It was very popular, and we decided to bring it back as part of this year’s festival as a fun way to get the community involved,” Harman told The Sopris Sun. (buy xanax nyc) This year, the winners of each category will take home $500 in “Glenwood Gold.”
Appropriately, “125 years of awesomeness” is this year’s theme. “The throwback theme encourages participants to bring back a favorite past theme, celebrate Glenwood’s famed history or all things strawberries,” a press release states. Previous themes included: “Homecoming” in 2019, “Strawberries in Paradise” — “which paid homage to Jimmy Buffet,” Harman pointed out — “Back to the Future” and “Rhinestone Round-up,” among many others.
“The community gets really creative in designing parade floats around the theme,” continued Harman, “so, we’re excited to see some of these come back with this year’s throwback.”
The parade will start at Glenwood Springs High School, meander down Pitkin Avenue and end on Eighth Street.
This is the first year the bulk of the festival will be held at Two Rivers Park — having recently taken place at Sayre Park. “Moving the event to Two Rivers Park allows for additional space, provides additional park amenities and is also very accessible for pedestrians and bikers — especially with the new Devereux Pedestrian Bridge,” Harman stated.
Some of the eats and drinks the community can expect are the beer garden (of course), Slow Groovin’ BBQ, Aspen Mini Donuts, Windy City Eats, The Hillbilly Grill and many other delectable options.
The music lineup for the weekend will feature opening act — and Valley local — Cody Jeffryes, The Queen Bees, A Band Called Alexis, Skinny Eggs Benny, Wild Flight and an abundance of other acts throughout the weekend.
Family Fest, made possible by the Post Independent, will include entertainment for the kids Saturday and Sunday with interactive art project opportunities, dance performances by Legacy Dance Company and more.
Aligning with the times, and after some serious reflection, the chamber decided not to revive the “Miss Strawberry Days” scholarship contest. In 2023, the chamber plans to “replace it with a more modern competition that symbolizes the values of leadership, excellence and community service among all young people in Glenwood Springs.”
Some traditions are bound not to change. One such, and the longest standing of them all, is the serving of free strawberries and ice cream. This year, the strawberries and ice cream will be dished up by the Kiwanis Club on Saturday at Two Rivers Park following the parade.
For more information about Strawberry Days events, visit www.glenwoodchamber.com/strawberrydays