Ridgefest returns to downtown Ridgeway July 10, 11 and 12

Ridgefest is coming back to downtown Ridgeway July 10 to 12 for three days of music, vendors, classic cars and family activities.

The annual street festival, led by the Downtown Ridgeway Business Improvement Area (BIA), will take over the village core and Ridgeway Village Square. This year restores a three-day format, giving Friday night to live music, Saturday to the market and car show, then Sunday to a larger family day.

The festival opens Friday, July 10, from 6 to 11 p.m. in Ridgeway Village Square. Almost Kool will headline the night, joined by Cherry Bomb.

Downtown Ridgeway BIA chair Rob Faragalli told Fort Erie Radio that Almost Kool will be familiar to longtime Ridgefest audiences because some members previously played in Guilty Pleasures, a band that performed at the festival for several years.

“Everything’s local. Everything’s coming together real nice the way I’d hoped. All the local people are heavily involved in everything,” said Faragalli.

Saturday, July 11, starts at 8 a.m. The farmers and vendors market will open the day, followed by the car show, family activities and stage entertainment through the village.

Saturday’s evening concert begins at 6 p.m. in Ridgeway Village Square. Port Colborne rock band Gravely will open for Electric Lettuce, a band from the Crystal Beach and Ridgeway area.

Faragalli said Electric Lettuce gives the Saturday concert a strong local draw because the band recently released its first album.

Sunday, July 12, gives Ridgefest a full family day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The program lists a kid zone, entertainers, games, a pizza eating contest, a french fry eating contest and an appearance by Fluffy the Clown.

Faragalli said Kim from MJ Sign Craft led the planning for Sunday’s children’s activities. Pizza Pizza in Fort Erie sponsored part of the family programming.

“Sunday’s really going to be geared towards a family day where kids will have lots of opportunities to participate in many things, which is super exciting. It’s something that we’ve never really tried to this extent in the past,” said Faragalli.

The festival still needs a few more volunteers before the weekend. The BIA has advertised roles for the kid zone, parking fundraiser, vendor support, event setup and community stage area.

“A couple more volunteers would be amazing,” said Faragalli.

Vendor interest has already cleared the festival’s revenue target for that part of the budget, Faragalli said. He did not have the final vendor count available before publishing.

“That was really exciting,” said Faragalli. “We’ve got a lot of vendors coming out.”

Faragalli said the beer tent will be run by local firefighters.

This year’s festival also lands during a period of new attention on Ridgeway’s village core. Faragalli said the goal is to give residents a downtown they want to show to friends and visitors.

“I like when people want to bring their friends here and show off the village and be like, ‘Oh, look at our village. It’s so nice and the shops are so cool,’” said Faragalli.

Volunteers can contact the BIA at ridgeway.ridgefest@gmail.com.

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