BORDENTOWN CITY – It’s back!
The 31st Annual Cranberry Festival is set to commence this weekend Oct. 2-3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The two-day Bordentown community-wide event, hosted by the Downtown Bordentown Association (DBA), returns to action this fall after being sidelined last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Events Coordinator Leon Stanley and Bordentown City Commissioner James Lynch have been working the last few months to bring back the annual Crafts & Arts festival that nearby residents have enjoyed over the years as safely as possible.
“We are good to go,” Lynch said. “Everybody is on board. The town has been very good throughout the pandemic. We feel very comfortable having the event.”
Being that this is the first real “big” event Bordentown has had since the pandemic began in March 2020, Stanley says there are many safety measures and new setups in place to make people and vendors feel more comfortable throughout the event.
That begins with the location of the festival being extended from Park Street to Burlington Street and having fewer vendors than usual to allow more space for people to circulate.
In 2019, the festival had a total of 150 vendors in attendance. That number has been cut to 100 vendors this year, said Stanley, with an additional 25 non-profit organizations that are based in downtown Bordentown also having access to the festival.
Another new setup will be a food court area made in the Beer Garden on Walnut Street by the music stage where bands will be performing.
Ten bands are set to perform during the festival with five different acts rotating each day.
Stanley said because a lot of restaurants on Farnsworth Avenue are still using their outdoor dining spaces for patrons, it felt best “safety-wise” to create an open space dedicated to restaurants and other local eateries, so outdoor dining would not be affected and to lessen the crowding on Farnsworth Avenue.
People can center the Beer Garden free of charge to gain access to the food court and will just need to show ID when buying an alcoholic beverage.
There will be no bounce house set up in the Kid Zone this year to limit possible COVID-19 exposure with unvaccinated children.
Instead, Stanley said there will be arts and crafts activities set up for children to participate in during the event.
In addition to the different layout of the festival this year, hand sanitizer stations will be posted throughout the event and vendors will have hand sanitizer at their stations.
Masks are not required due to COVID-19 state guidelines but are more than welcome, he said.
“We’re doing this as safely as we can,” Stanley said. “We’re trying to make it safe and comfortable for everyone. I pride myself on organizing this event and wanting it to go smoothly and make people happy. We want to see smiling faces.”
Stanley added that the DBA is “very excited” to be holding the event this year and that they have a special sponsor for the 31st edition of the festival in T-Mobile.
Last year, the DBA helped special Restaurant Weekend festivals in place of the Cranberry Festival to try to help local businesses during the pandemic.
The DBA hopes the Cranberry Festival will bring in “financial success” to local businesses as it has in the past and help its organization raise money toward their holiday season campaign.
“I’m hoping for beautiful weather, a lot of community fun and for everyone to have a very safe and joyous time,” said DBA President CJ Mugavero.
Lynch echoed Mugavero’s statement.
Being a Bordentown City Commissioner since the Cranberry Festival began in 1989, Lynch feels it’s the “right thing” to have the event this year and believes it will be a “good shot in the arm” for the community as it continues to keep fighting through the struggles of the pandemic.
“This means a lot to the town and that it’s coming back,” Lynch said. “We’ve done a good job holding down everything through this pandemic. I’m looking forward to seeing smiles on people’s faces and kids dancing.”