17th Annual Strawberry Festival

Strawberry Festival 2023!

June 8, 9 and 10, 2023

Our hometown Strawberry Festival returns in 2023 with plenty of hometown fun!

Committee members bring new ideas to mesh with good old traditions – making it bigger and better every year! New in 2023 will be a 5k Run on Saturday, June 10th at 9am.

• Bands and beer in the adult tent
• Bolivar Idol
• Queen Pageant
• Miss Berry Princess Pageant
• Little Miss Shortcake Pageant
• Bolivar Plate Auction
• Strawberry Eating Contest
• Carnival Rides
• Food and drink concessions
• Vendors and crafters
• Firemen’s Parade
• 5k Run
• STRAWBERRIES!

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2023 Strawberry Festival Forms

Click the links below for a pdf of various forms, including the Queen Nomination Form, Ad/Sponsors Form, Business Tent Vendor Form, Food Tent Vendor Form 5K Entry Form and Parade Entry Form. Contact information is included on each form.

5k Entry forms can also be found at the Bolivar branch of the Tuscarawas Library, Lockport Brewery, NAPA Auto Parts (Bolivar), Dover YMCA, Towpath Tavern as well as Canal Street Diner and Oberlin Antiques.

Thanks to Strawberry Festival 5k sponsors: Centor Inc., Finlayson Towing, Shutterbug Photography, and a private contributor.

Cassie’s Creations is donating a gift basket for a door prize, and Lock 7 Coffee House will be on hand before and after to offer coffee samples! Thanks in advance to Bolivar Cub Scout Pack 92, who will have some members at the finish line to help hand out bottles of water and snacks.

FIRST YEAR 5k SPECIAL: Seedling Scamper – a free, untimed kids fun run to take place just before the 5k. Every kid finishing will win a ribbon or medal of their own. Details to come.

The Pageants

2022 Strawberry Festival QUEEN

Sponsored by Eleet Cryogenics, the selection of the 2022 Strawberry Festival queen and her court was based on devotion to the community, church and family. A random drawing was held to select the Queen.

Criteria:

🍓 65 years of age or better

🍓 Bolivar area zip code

🍓 Letter of recommendation from family member, loved one, or area business; one page, no more than three paragraphs.

Congratulations to Doris Newsome, queen for 2022!

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Miss Berry Princess Pageant (ages 7 to 9) was held Saturday, June 11th, 11:00am at the South Tent. Sponsored by Simply Cinnamon

Congratulations to Emma Westfall!

Little Miss Shortcake Pageant (ages 4 to 6) – was held Saturday, June 11th, noon at the South Tent. Sponsored by Simply Cinnamon.

Congratulations to Zoe Shedron!

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2022 STRAWBERRY EATING CONTEST WINNERS

Ages 5-8 Madsen Mastroianni

Ages 9-13 Boston Maurer

Ages 14-17 Norman Troyer

Men 18 & Up Nate Sizer

Women 18 & Up Kira Redinger

Congratulations to all – what a fun time!

The Strawberry Festival Firemen’s Parade will be held Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 4:00

The Firemen’s Parade features the Queens, Princesses and Little Miss Shortcakes of Strawberry Festival, along with floats, twirlers, a corvette train and the local Jeep Club. Neighboring fire departments and even a Barney Fife look-alike, complete with police cruiser, join in the fun. We can’t wait to see which new organizations will enter from year to year!

View photos of the parade on our Facebook page, and by clicking here.

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For information not found on this site, please call 330-874-8519.

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 History of the Festival

From 1974-1980 our little village of Bolivar held a Strawberry Festival downtown on Canal Street (then Central Avenue). The town merchants sponsored this event which, according to the local newspaper, brought in approximately 40,000 people at its highest point.

The Festival started with a Queen’s Ball on Friday night. Each year would bring a new Strawberry Festival Queen at the end of the ball. Queens must be nominated and be at least 65 years old.

The Strawberry Festival resumed bright and early Sunday mornings with a Raft Race on the Tuscarawas River. The race finished at the Route 212 Bridge in Wilkshire Hills. The Strawberry Festival continued downtown on Central Avenue with crafters, entertainment, dancing, a parade, a strawberry eating contest, and lots of food.

In 2005, the Bolivar Main Street Assoc. revived the Bolivar Strawberry Festival to its current status on Father’s Day weekend in June. We’ve brought back the Queen’s contest and the Strawberry eating contest. Additionally, each year we offer new events along with lots of yummy strawberry treats. Area businesses and clubs also provide different types of food and activities.

Rides, entertainment, a brew tent, and crafters round out the festival. A Little Miss Shortcake Pageant for 4-6 year old girls and a Miss Berry Princess for 7-9 year old girls as well as a 5-K Run and a Fireman’s Parade tops off the festival to make it a “Berry” great experience for the whole family.

Each year brings something new to the festival… you never know what will be added next. Come join us and see for yourself!

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Thank You Berry Much!

The 2022 festival was a great success – with no rain and comfortable temperatures. Carnival rides by McGinnis Amusements kept the midway bouncing and the traditional fireman’s parade was grand as usual! Great live music, local and vendor food, contests and more made for a fantastic three days of strawberry fun! Thank you to all our sponsors, vendors and attendees who make this festival a success. We are hoping to see you at the 17th Annual Strawberry Festival in downtown Bolivar 2023!

Thank you to Co-Chairs Bob Smith and Rebecca Hubble along with all the committee chairs and members that helped put this festival together, Holly Thouvenin for the website and Facebook posts, Bloom’s Printing for the program expertise, Village of Bolivar Police along with the Sheriff’s Department for providing security for the festival, and all the volunteers that have helped to make this festival a success.