While a flood of heavy rainfall dampened the festivities at Cleveland’s annual Cherry Creek Days, hundreds of community members didn’t let the summer showers on Saturday stop them from having fun.
The two-day celebration ended up being a smaller affair than previous years on account of the unwelcome weather. The Cherry Creek Days parade was canceled as a result of the downpour on Saturday while the fireworks were postponed until August. Still, hundreds of families headed out to the Cleveland Fire Hall early Saturday morning to partake in the festivities that were available.
“The rain’s kind of a bummer, but [the kids] had just as much fun in the rain as they would anyways,” said Matt Miller, who takes his family out to the Cherry Creek Days celebration every year.
Though the family’s favorite activity, the Cherry Creek Days parade, was on the outs this year, Miller’s children, five-year-old Shae, three-year-old Kellan and one-year-old Britta enjoyed the wide variety of carnival games at the fire hall and having their faces painted at the Kids Carnival. The carnival also featured a caricature artist and an appearance from RAD Zoo, who gave children the opportunity to hold a live boa constrictor and pet a baby alligator.
“It’s fun to get together with the community and see everybody and all the kids are around,” said Miller. “It’s a good time to come together and talk, that’s why we like coming here.”
While the kids carnival was packed with activity, boasting a crowd of well over 125 kids, adults took the street outside the Cleveland Muni to compete in an all-day cornhole tournament. The festivities continued with live music by the Dixieland Pickup Band at the fire hall just before firefighters brought out their hoses to compete in the annual water fight tournament. Teams of firefighters representing their departments went head-to-head wielding their fire hoses to blast a barrel past the opposing side’s goal line.
Following an evening performance by Just Crista, Buffalo Alice capped off the night performing classic rock and country hits in the street. While the rain still hadn’t let up, several couples could be spotted taking advantage of the inclement weather for a romantic evening dancing in the rain.
Saturday’s festival may not have gone exactly as planned, but Friday went off without a hitch as guests enjoyed annual Cherry Creek Days traditions like the fireman’s pork chop feed, classic car show and a street dance featuring the music of Fat City All Stars.
“Had it not rained it would have been much better but I think all in all the attendance was fabulous for the traditions we did have,” said Chris Thomas of the Cherry Creek Days Committee.
Community members will be able to catch the Cherry Creek Days fireworks later this summer at 10 p.m. Aug. 9 following a concert by Erik Koskinen.
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