Longtime Riley Festival organizer Nancy Alldredge peruses a set of commemorative pins from past festivals.
GREENFIELD – The 56th annual Riley Festival is less than a week away, which means organizers are working overtime to ensure that the four-day festival goes off without a hitch.
The annual event kicks off the first Thursday in October, running from Oct. 3-6 this year.
Board president Debbie Pfeiffer and secretary Nancy Alldredge have been busily working to finalize details, like where this year’s vendors – all 450 of them – will be located within a six-block area in downtown Greenfield.
Coffeecake and sauerkraut dogs are among the new food offerings this year, and crowd favorites like chicken and noodles, tenderloins and pineapple whip will of course be on hand as they are each year.
Alldredge said the south end of State Street toward the police station will be lined up with new food vendors this year, including two Amish bakery businesses.
Pre-packaged foods will be interspersed with craft vendors this year, she said.
Vendor booths have been claimed not just by local artisans, merchants and civic groups, but a number of out-of-town vendors as well, including some from Florida, North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin.
An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people attend the festival throughout its four-day run each year.
As visitors quickly learn, the annual event is named in honor of James Whitcomb Riley, the internationally known poet laureate who was born in Greenfield on Oct. 7, 1849.
A birthday party for Riley is held each year on the last day of the festival, at the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home & Museum at 250 W. Main St., just a block away from the festival.
Each year, the festival’s theme is drawn from one of Riley’s poems. This year’s selection is “The Barefoot Boy,” which is said to be based on Riley’s childhood days spent splashing around in the creek in what is known today as Riley Park.
Commemorative pins bearing this year’s theme will be sold for $5 at the festival information booth, as they are each year.
The commemorative pins date back to 1998 and typically sell out each year.
It’s yet another fun tradition of the hometown festival, which serves as not only an economic driver for the city but a homecoming of sorts for locals who enjoy coming together each year.
“I think it’s a great event for all our citizens and people who visit our festival. It gives us a chance to showcase our city and gives our local residents the chance to gather together and visit and enjoy some good food,” said Greenfield’s mayor, Guy Titus, a lifelong resident who attends the festival each year.
The festival got an early start on Sunday when Ellie Streveler won the crown at the Riley Festival queen pageant held at Trinity Park Church in Greenfield. Streveler and her court will oversee festival activities, including the popular Baker’s Best baking contest this Saturday.
The winner of the bake-off will present the winning dish to Titus at the Mayor’s Breakfast on Oct. 5.
“The Saturday of the festival is always a busy day for (the festival board),” said Pfeiffer, who said the day starts with the Mayor’s Breakfast, transitions to the parade and vendor booths and ends with live music and a beer garden in the Living Alley downtown.
The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at Greenfield-Central High School and heading south on Broadway Street, then east on Main Street before heading through downtown Greenfield on the way to Riley Park.
Another big component of the festival is the traditional Parade of Flowers, in which school children proceed down State and Main streets to lay fresh flowers at the foot of the Riley statue on the north side of the county courthouse.
This year’s Parade of Flowers starts at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, starting on State Street just south of the police station.
The event is open to all Hancock County third-graders, although other kids can join in behind the students so long as they’re accompanied by a parent or guardian. All third-graders from the Greenfield-Central schools are expected to attend.
Alldredge said unique aspects like the flower parade are what makes the Riley Festival such a heartfelt tradition for so many, and what keeps volunteers coming back to devote long hours year after year.
Pfeiffer said her team will be out marking the streets this Sunday in preparation for next week’s festival.
“Every year, it goes by in a flash,” said Pfeiffer, adding that the festival board’s work is never done.
“We meet the third Wednesday of each month all year long, and we’ll be meeting the third Wednesday of October to discuss what went well this year and what needs work, so we can do it all over again” she said.
For a full lineup of musical acts performing at this year’s Riley Festival, see the upcoming Oct. 2 edition of the Daily Reporter.
Festival Hours
October 3: 5-9 p.m.
October 4-5: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
October 6: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Shuttle Service:
Shuttle buses run from the Hancock County 4-H Fairgrounds to the east entrance of the festival until 9 p.m. Requested donation is $1.
