Perry Fall Festival will take place Sept. 7 at Lee Lydic Park - The News- Herald
People who have been looking forward to attending this year’s Perry Fall Festival won’t have to wait much longer.
The 2024 edition of the daylong celebration starts at 11 a.m. Sept. 7 at Lee Lydic Park, 3954 Call Road in Perry Village.
The festival features an assortment of fun and entertaining activities for people of all ages; food trucks and trailers; a beer tent that begins operating at 2 p.m.; and a 9 p.m. fireworks display that will wrap up the event.
Admission to the festival is free. However, money is raised leading up to and during the celebration to benefit the Perry Area Joint Recreation District’s youth and senior citizen programs. Funding is generated from sources such as sponsorships, a raffle for gift baskets, 50/50 drawings and all-day ride wristbands for children.
Perry Area Joint Recreation District consists of Perry Township, Perry and North Perry villages; and Perry Schools.
Highlights of this year’s fall festival will include:
• Starting at 11 a.m. — The Kids ZonKie. This is a section of the festival offering inflatable playsets and other games and attractions for children.
• 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Barrel train rides. The train, owned by the Perry rec district, consists of large, heavy-duty plastic barrels that were turned on their sides, cut open to accommodate seats with seat belts, and mounted on two-wheel metal dollies.
All of the train cars were painted, and outfitted with hitches and connectors to string them together. The train is pulled by a utility vehicle.
• 11 a.m. — Visitors can start purchasing tickets for prizes that are being offered in the festival’s basket auction. Winning tickets will be drawn at 7 p.m.
• 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Hayrides
• 12:30 p.m. — Magician
• 1:30 p.m. — Face painting; balloon artist
• 3 to 5 p.m. — Family fun relay races. In this new festival event, teams consisting of one adult and one child under age 12 will compete in a three-legged race; wet sock toss; Hula Hoop shuffle, dizzy cone fun run; and goalie kick.
• 5:30 p.m. — Perry High School Marching Band
• 6 p.m. — Cornhole tournament. This is also a new festival offering for 2024.
The winning two-person team will split the sum of entry fees 50/50 with the Perry rec district.
• 6 p.m. — Professional Comic and Magician Eric Thompson
• 7:30 p.m. — Dance party
• 9 p.m. — Fireworks
Every year, the Perry Fall Festival is planned by a steering committee that works under the direction of the Perry Area Joint Recreation District Board.
To carry out the festival, the steering committee receives help from volunteers, including adults from the community and students from the Perry High School Perry Service Learning class.