East Haven Fall Festival Celebrating 25th Year

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

The following is a Press Release from the Town of East Haven:

Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. and the East Haven Fall Festival Planning Committee have announced that this year’s special 25th Anniversary event will be featuring the six-time, Grammy-nominated sounds of The Spinners.

The Saturday concert will be the centerpiece of a special anniversary weekend of music, food and fun for the entire family on the East Haven Town Green.

The festival will be held during the weekend of September 9th, 10th and 11th. The event is coordinated by EH Fall Festival, Inc. as a cooperative effort with the Mayor’s office and the East Haven Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to the six Grammy nominations, The Spinners have 18 Solid Gold hits, including 8 top 10’s to their credit, with over 60 million records sold during their illustrious career in the 60’s and 70’s.

The Festival this year will be officially opened by the Committee and Mayor Maturo with a small procession starting from Pennsylvania Avenue down to Hemingway and onto the gazebo at the Town Green at approximately 6:45 p.m. on Friday.

On Friday night, the Festival will feature Beginnings, a musical tribute to one of the most popular American Rock bands, Chicago. The band will present all of Chicago’s 20 Top Ten Hits in a family friendly melodic adventure that is pleasing to music lovers of all ages.

The feature entertainment once again this year is being presented through the generosity of David McDermott Auto Group and Town Fair Tire, who have been major contributors to the Festival for 17 and 15 years respectfully, along with CT Health Insurance Associates. In addition to these long time sponsors, the Festival again continues to receive a major sponsorship from PMA Companies and Protein Sciences Corporation.

“Through the tremendous generosity of our business community the Festival will be able to mark its Silver anniversary with once again a top flight national act, the ever popular Spinners! This type of entertainment attracts thousands who are willing to pay appreciable ticket prices; yet thanks to our Festival donors, East Haven will be presenting The Spinners for FREE! Although our Festival continues to be a home for the music of years past, a look at all of the Festival’s weekend of entertainment will certainly satisfy the cravings of a variety of musical tastes. During the entire weekend the Festival provides a venue to display the talents of our local artists and community groups in a professional stage setting, to the viewing and listening pleasure of all who attend. Once again this could not be accomplished without the generosity of our entire business community as this event continues to be the best free festival in the State and with our Fireworks Day, one of East Haven’s signature events.” stated Mayor Maturo.

The Festival Committee will also be displaying and selling special souvenir anniversary mementos, like hats, shirts and pins, all weekend long.

Saturday afternoon’s entertainment again includes The East Haven High School Yellow Jacket Marching Band. In addition the Festival will present various local acts which include karate, martial arts and self defense demonstrations and the vocal students of the Wagner-Iovanna Vocal Studio and Vocal Productions. Also on the bill for Saturday is Nick Fradiani, Sr. Leading up to The Spinners show, the afternoon will continue with Avenue Grooveand the popular sounds of Prime Time.

On Sunday afternoon, the Festival will be presenting a full afternoon of entertainment featuring a variety of different acts with Timmy Maia Experience concluding this year’s Festival. Maia will be preceded by a special Salute of American Hero’s by Officer Robert Iovanna & Karen Wagner; appropriate as it will be the 15th Anniversary of 9-11. This will be followed by the Coyote River Band.

The Festival, now in its 25th year, which began as a two-day event in 1992, has continued to grow by attracting bigger sponsors, which has made the event the best free festival entertainment venue in this State. In addition to the live entertainment, the weekend will feature a wide variety of restaurant booths, an arts and crafts exhibition, and a variety of carnival rides. Sunday morning will feature what has become a very popular Classic Car Show, which again this year will be coordinated by the Vietnam Veterans Association, Chapter 484.

The “Corporate Hospitality Tent”, which will be open to corporate sponsors, during the entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights, will house the Business Showcase on Saturday afternoon. Again, this year the business showcase will be coordinated and run by the East Haven Chamber of Commerce. Anyone interested in obtaining a spot can contact the Chamber at (203) 467-4305.

As in the past carnival rides will be available all weekend for children and pre-teens. This year’s event will again feature an area of the green, which will be titled, the “Teen Corner” under the direction of the Town’s Youth Coordinator, Bob Petrucelli. The “Teen Corner”, will be open Friday and Saturday nights beginning at 6:00 pm. In addition, the area will be staffed by several other adults. The “Teen Corner” will include various activities for youth, including a Mobile HD Video Game Trailer, the very popular Giant Hamster Balls and a 2 Lane Bungee Run. There will also be music with a DJ on both nights, along with many other activities.
In addition to the businesses mentioned above, the event continues to be supported by corporate sponsorships and individual contributions. Anyone interested in helping with this effort, or for any further information on the Festival, should contact Frank Gentilesco, Jr. in the Mayor’s office, at 468-3205 or email him at eh.gentilesco@att.net

For further information on the Festival, you may go to the Town’s website: www.townofeasthavenct.org