BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE -- From a rocking-chair contest and clogging to the arts and crafts and live country music, the Florence Y'all Festival offers a variety to do on Labor Day weekend.
The 19th annual festival on Main Street will run Sept. 4-7. Everything at the festival is free except the food.
"I think we've got something for everybody of all ages. To me, it's one of those kind of places you go to meet people, see people, and it is good entertainment," said Ted Bushelman, festival coordinator. "It's clean. It's healthy. You can take your kids."
The popular rocking-chair contest kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday. The rules are simple: Rock as long as you can without falling asleep. Ten-minute breaks every two hours offer a small respite.
Family Day, which is Sunday, will include the Florence Y'all Parade, the Hills of Kentucky Cloggers and a children's art contest. Live music will be performed on two stages throughout the festival. The festival will also feature a pet show, Top Flight Gymnastics, a children's parade and K-9 and fire-and-rescue extrication demonstrations. The festival was originally designed to be "a one-year thing" to celebrate the city's anniversary, but it was so successful that organizers decided to continue it, Mr. Bushelman said. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people are expected to attend the four-day festival. Florence Mayor Evelyn Kalb, former chairwoman of the festival, said she is looking forward to the live music and the fireworks on Monday at 9:30 p.m.
Ms. Kalb said the festival is important because Florence has become "a regional area" and has lost some of its "hometown feeling." "This (the festival) brings all the people of Florence together. People come back from vacations for it. It just gives it a hometown flavor," she said.
The Miss Florence Y'all and Miss Teen Florence pageants will be at 1 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Florence Mall.
Ms. Kalb the festival is also special because, "It's all volunteer -- and that is truly important."
Although Mr. Bushelman said there are some new bands this year, "We go through a lot of trouble not to change it too much because it is successful. Yes, we try new things, but we don't make it a big thing."
The entire festival will be televised by InterMedia on Channels A21 (stage 1) and A15 (stage 2).
