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Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival wraps up successful 23rd year

Photo by Brett Dunlap The Devil Doves performed music Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival held at City Park in Parkersburg.

PARKERSBURG — The 23rd annual Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival came to a close Sunday amongst really warm temperatures, but an appreciative crowd.

The weekend-long festival drew crowds in the thousands for a wide range of entertainment, activities, foods and products from a variety of cultures.

Bea Corra, co-founder of the festival with the late Gene Donaway and the festival board’s secretary, said the heat, which reached up in the upper 80s on Sunday, was a factor for some smaller crowd sizes on Sunday.

“The weather was very hot, but here at the park there has always been a really nice breeze,” Corra said. “It is never a reason to stay away.

“We have had great crowds all weekend. The entertainment has been great.”

Photo by Brett Dunlap Leah Holbert, 5, of Parkersburg, had her face painted Sunday afternoon at the Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival. Officials estimated 10,000-12,000 people attended the festival over the weekend.

Corra commended organizers for bringing in a variety of entertainment throughout the weekend from music acts to other type of performers.

There were over 40 craft vendors and 17 food vendors which was up from last year. People could get crepes, food of India, Mexican, BBQ and more.

Craft vendor John McCrady, of TJ Leather in Parkersburg, said they had a lot of people visit them, but the weather did play a factor. This was their fifth time at the Multi-Cultural Festival.

“This is generally a nice show,” he said. “It has been so hot this weekend.

“That has been the downside this weekend.”

Photo by Brett Dunlap A number of trees around the grounds of the Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival at Parkersburg City Park were decorated by the Parkersburg Community Yarn Bombing group.

They had a nice crowd on Saturday who regularly stopped and watched him work.

“It wasn’t bad,” McCrady said.

People ask if he was using real leather, if the belts were one piece of leather or if are they glued together and what can be done with it.

“It is a fun show to do and it is local for us,” McCrady said.

Corra estimates around 10,000-12,000 attended the festival throughout the weekend, which kicked off Friday evening and run through Sunday afternoon. Organizers are looking for a way to do a more accurate count.

Photo by Brett Dunlap Craft vendor John McCrady, of TJ Leather in Parkersburg, does some leatherwork Sunday during the Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival. He said they had many visitors throughout the weekend festival.

Hannah Holbert, of Parkersburg, brought her daughter Leah out to the festival Sunday.

“We wanted to go shopping and try new foods, visit with people and listen to music,” she said. “We come every year. We love it.”

People are very accepting of each other throughout the festival.

“Everyone is non-judgmental and they can come here and be themselves,” Holbert said. “There is a lot of different things here that you can’t go to the store and get.

“There is a lot of hand-crafted things. Everyone is just really friendly. I love coming out.”

Photo by Brett Dunlap Alyssa Barker, Misti Barker and Scott Barker, from left, of Parkersburg, look at some of the things available from some of the vendors Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival.

Being Father’s Day on Sunday it was a bit slower throughout the day, but some people brought their dads out to the festival.

Scott Barker, Misti Barker and Alyssa Barker of Parkersburg came out Sunday to see what was available.

“Came out to check out the festival and see what was here,” Scott said.

Misti is interested in rocks and gemstones and the family wanted to see what they could find along those lines.

“We came out to check them out,” Alyssa said.

Corra commended the City of Parkersburg for having electrical and other services in place throughout the weekend.

“As far as I know there have not been any electrical problems,” she said. “The city does such a wonderful job preparing everything for us, from the extra electrical boxes we need to the water connections and trash pickup.”

Trustees from the Parkersburg Correctional Center have been utilized for the last five years for help get the festival up and running.

“Those guys have been invaluable to us,” Corra said. “They do so much of the heavy lifting, unload trucks and put up tents for us.

“They are really so helpful.”

Charlotte Owens, the Kids Area coordinator, said they had around 300 people come through during the weekend. They had crafts like making ankle bracelets, coloring, making clothes pin dragonflies, doing a Father’s Day Craft and more. The most popular craft was making rainsticks because people really got to work to put them together.

“We try to have a range of activities for different ages,” Owens said. “We wanted the kids to learn about people from around the world.

“I hope the children enjoyed it and the families had good family time.”

Even before the festival ended Sunday evening, organizers were already beginning work on plans for the 2019 event.

“We have our evaluation meeting on Monday,” Corra said. “We start planning just as soon as this thing is over.

“We are always looking for people to help us on our board. We are especially looking for new people to help us plan for next year.”

The festival is always a special time for those involved.

“For a lot of us who have been here for many years, it is almost like a family reunion,” Corra said. “There are people you only see at this time of the year.”

The festival regularly helps foster understanding among different people.

“I think people here have seen something new, experienced something new and people will come away with a better appreciation of others,” Corra said. “I think there is a better appreciation for diversity in this area because of this festival.”

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