LUMBERTON — Lumberfest will return downtown Oct. 3, bringing the community together for a day celebrating local businesses, entertainment and the city’s historic downtown area.
Hosted by the Lumberton Main Street Association, the annual festival will feature more than 60 vendors, food, entertainment and activities for families and visitors throughout the day.
Organizers hope the event will re-engage residents with downtown Lumberton and showcase the community’s continued growth.
John Maroney, director of the Lumberton Main Street Association, said the festival has grown significantly from last year, when about 16 or 17 vendors participated.
“Lumberfest has kind of fallen off a little bit in the last couple of years,” Maroney said. “So (our goal is to) really re-engage and revitalize the idea of Lumberfest.”
Beyond bringing residents downtown, funds raised through the festival will be used for community programs and local businesses around Lumberton.
“Every fundraiser we do, it’s always about the next event,” Maroney said. “The next kind of community engagement thing that we do.”
This year’s festival will feature a Bigfoot-themed animal control fundraiser, where attendees can pay $5 to have friends or family members “arrested” and placed in a temporary jail.
Children can also participate in games, including a 63-foot obstacle course and sack races, while seven or eight entertainers are expected to perform throughout the day.
The festival is also an opportunity to change perceptions of Lumberton by bringing attention to the community and its local businesses, according to Maroney.
“More than anything, just bringing more attention and awareness to the city,” Maroney said.
Lumberfest will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with free admission. Vendors interested in participating can register through the event’s Ticket Tailor registration page.
This article first appeared on RHCJC and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
