May 3, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Home and Garden Festival

Hill to bloom with annual Home and Garden Festival on May 6
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Activities for kids and entertainment such as a carousel provide plenty of fun at 2005 Chestnut Hill Garden Festival.

Spring seems to be taking its good ole time this year, but come May 6, the flowers should be in full bloom for Chestnut Hill’s 11th annual Home and Garden Festival along Germantown Avenue.

The Sunday festival features an array of local and visiting artists, craftspeople, landscapers and garden vendors lining the Avenue to share their wares with the thousands of festivalgoers milling among the tables.

The typical fair fare — artwork, jewelry, crafts, furniture — is accented by Chestnut Hill’s wide range of delicious food offerings you are unlikely to find anywhere else. There will be over 30 local restaurants, cafés and bakeries vying for the taste buds to guide visitors to their tents and tables.

Festival regulars, the hot dog, popcorn, cotton candy and hamburgers will be there, joined by the not-so-typical fair food — Chinese, sushi, Mexican and more.

If the cold weather sticks around that long, it can be guaranteed coffee will be flowing from the various cafés.

For the kiddies, walking down rows of interesting crafts might not tickle their fancy, but the varied activities that await them at every corner will certainly distract them long enough for you to pick out your favorite painting or necklace. There will be amusement park rides and train rides for the tired legs, and a rock-climbing wall for the more energetic young’un.

Have a fledging artist in the family? Sand Art is available. For the up-and-coming beautician, hair weaving and face painting will be available. And there is plenty to do for a young animal lover. They can be transformed from darling son or daughter to raging lion in a matter of minutes by the face painters, or the Duck Pond promises to leave each child with his or her own rubber pet.

And no one wants to miss the Bones & Bonnet Pooch Parade. Watch the local pups and poodles prance around in costumes fit for the parade.

One of the Festival’s sponsors, B101, will provide the parade’s emcee, radio personality Juan Varleta, and the pets will be judged and given awards based on creativity, comic appeal, best bonnet and more. Don’t miss the chance to register your favorite Fido by about 1:30 p.m. on the day of the Festival at the Pooch Parade site — Germantown and Wooddale Avenues. Registration is $5, and can be made ahead of time by calling the Chestnut Hill Business Association. Parade starts at 2 p.m. All proceeds go to a local SPCA.

The soundtrack to the Festival will be provided by the three stages chock-full of musical entertainment throughout the day. Some featured bands include: City Rhythm Orchestra and Dukes of Destiny at Hartwell and Germantown Avenues stage and at the top of the Hill will be Six Pack and Gaelic Heat.

Plus musicians will surprise visitors with roaming performances along the Avenue and dance troupes will be entertaining throughout the day. There’s literally something new around every corner, from Bethlehem Pike to Willow Grove Avenue.

One of the highlights about living and being in Chestnut Hill is the area’s high level of community involvement. For those who are new and interested in getting involved, or veterans of the Hill who think that they would like to join the service trend, a wealth of community organizations will be vying for attention all along the Avenue. From the Community Association to Morris Arboretum, the Historical Society to local schools, churches, hospice programs, choirs, stables and so much more, most any interest is covered by the local community groups and crafts that will line the Avenue.

Finally, if you are revving for a good look at the automotive, you won’t be left out. The Festival’s presenting sponsor is Subaru, which will be parking a display of its new cars all along the Avenue. It’s what makes a Festival, a Festival.

The Festival begins at 11 a.m. and wraps up around 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 6. Rain date is May 20. For more information, call the Chestnut Hill Business Association at 215-247-6696.

Welcome in the bright May flowers after those dank April showers.