SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — It attracted 700-1,000 attendees in 2023, and this year’s October Feast, depending on the weather, could bring even more people Saturday (Oct. 26) to Bexley Park, 1630 Wrenford Road.
The event began a few years ago as South Euclid Harvest Fest, became Pumpkins in the Park, and under its current name, since 2021, has continued to grow in popularity because of the variety of activities that take place at October Feast, scheduled for noon to 5 p.m.
October Feast will have waiting for attendees Saturday free pumpkins, courtesy of Giant Eagle and Marc’s (one per family); live music from two bands (the return of the Polka Pirates from noon to 2 p.m. and, for the first time at October Feast, the Choice Band, from 3-5 p.m.); food from the Pierogi Lady and the food truck Franks & Shakes; adult beverages; and vendors curated by Indie Green Market, selling healthy foods and artisanal items.
Adding to the list of attractions, the event’s organizer, Parks and Recreation Director Daniel Subwick said, “We’ll have bubble performers, face painting, balloon artists and inflatables. We’ll have a mobile gaming truck. This is a trailer that has big screen TVs and all the game systems that are available, so it’s great for kids who like to game.
“We’re also bringing back the Rock Wall that was featured at Rock the Block this summer,” he said. ”It was a huge hit there, so we’re having the Rock Wall back. We’ll have large heated tents. The weather is looking favorable, but of course it’s fall in Cleveland. And, we’ll have a large photo display for people to take photos.”
Among the highlights of October Feast are its contests, each of which comes with a first-place cash award of $250.
Those contests include a dog costume contest for the spookiest four-legged attendee; a people’s costume contest open to all ages; and the stein-holding contest.
The stein-holding contest has participants holding with one arm extended a stein that is filled, in this case, with water. The last person to keep his or her arm straight outward while holding the stein is the winner.
“I’m expecting a large crowd, if the weather holds,” Subwick said.
Members of that crowd who arrive at the event’s noon start time will also get to see the ribbon cutting for the park’s all-new concession stand.
While the concession building is the same one that has stood at the park since the early 1990s, renovations were begun on it last year. The cocnession will also be selling different foods than one might think
Operated for many years by the city’s baseball/softball leagues, it was taken over by Subwick’s department when he was named the city’s first parks and recreation director.
“We really want to utilize the space as much as possible, but we wanted it to be an amenity for the community and offer healthy and tasty options,” Subwick said. “So we went through the process of finding a concessionaire this past year. We had a lot of interest and we were very happy to start working with Chef T.”
Chef T is Tynisa Acoff, whose business, Food with Purpose, will serve at the concession stand foods one might find at a park, but with healthier ingredients.
She will also offer, beginning next spring when the concession building begins full operations, healthy dinners that residents can order and take home for dining. One such order might be, she said, garlic butter salmon with zucchini noodles.
Such an operation is thought to be a first for a city park.
“We do things differently in South Euclid,” Subwick said. ”There are other concession stands in parks in other municipalities, but nobody can touch what we do when it comes to these types of innovative ideas.”
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