(Seguin) — This weekend will give rise to what organizers hope will be an annual tradition in downtown Seguin.
Families are invited to make plans now to attend the first ever Seguin Fall Festival. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday.
Proceeds from the event will go to support the various fire houses to include both the volunteer and city paid departments throughout Guadalupe County.
Explaining more behind the idea for the Fall Festival is Patrick Pinder, Guadalupe County emergency management coordinator and fire marshal.
“The Seguin Fall Festival was a vision that was brought together by Judge (Kyle) Kutscher and David McCampbell with the Geronimo Oaks Wedding Venue. They got together and began to have a conversation about ways to raise money and provide back to not only the fire departments but the communities. So, this year, the Fall Festival is designed to try to support the local fire departments kind of like down in some of our other areas of the state like down at the coast, they have Oyster Fest, and they have different kinds of things like down at Rockport that are fundraisers for the fire deparmtetns. So, that’s what the vision is for this event is to begin this year and several years to just raise money and give it back to the community and this year, the fire departments happen to be the source of the recipient of the revenue from the event,” said Pinder.
Pinder says several parties are coming together to host the event. He says both local businesses and non-profits will be stationed throughout Central Park offering an array of fun activities, shopping plus food.
“We have over 30 craft vendors who have signed up and committed to the festival. Then we are going to have some local food trucks that you have seen here in Seguin often and then we will have some local residents that are coming out to provide some of their tasty snacks that they’ve got here. We will have some turkey legs, popcorn, cotton candy – different variety of foods,’ said Pinder.
Pinder says there will also be no lack of entertainment at this year’s festival. He says the music stage will be busy all day long.
“We have free live music. We have several artists. We have five country music artists. We have a mariachi band from Seguin. They will be playing throughout the day. We have DJ services donated. Msuic will begin at noon and it will run until 10 p.m.,” said Pinder.
Kids will also have their own area for some fun. Pinder says although the event is free, they will be selling $5 armbands so that kids can enjoy all that they have to offer.
“We will have kind of a kid’s zone where people can bring the kids, and we will have some bounce houses. We will have a mini pumpkin patch where there is little small pumpkins. So, they’ll get some stickers so they can put faces on the pumpkin, and we will have other activities like small games for the kids to do,” said Pinder.
Folks will also be able to walk away from the festival with some big cash in their hands. Pinder says not only are they hosting a car show but folks will have the chance to show off their pets.
“Anybody that wants to participate is more than welcome to bring their pet in a costume. Registration is at 3:30 p.m. It’s a free registration. At 4 o’clock, we will have some judges that are going to be taking a look at the pets – any kind of pet that you want to put them in a costume. Bring them down to the park. Registration will begin in the gazebo at 3:30. We’ve got five judges. We’ve got some council people and some local people who are going to judge this contest. There will be several winners. When I talk about the pet show and car show, those are cash prizes. We are going to be paying people, the winners, of these shows and it’s a great opportunity to come down and make some money for the volunteer fire departments, the city fire departments and just spend some time with family and hang down at the park,” said Pinder.
The car show will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Winners will be announced between 5 and 6 p.m.
Those wishing to learn more details about participating in the various cash prize contests are asked to visit the Seguin Fall Festival Facebook page.