Liberty Fest numbers show increased visitors
July 24, 2013 PLYMOUTH EAGLE.
More than 40,000 people visited the 22nd Annual Canton Liberty Fest last month, a record crowd for the community celebration.
This year, the event drew record crowds during the three-day event, June 13 through 15. Organizers said the wide-range of entertainment that provided almost 20 hours of performances on multiple stages throughout the weekend may have contributed to the crowds this year.
The Liberty Fest International Stage featured 327 performers rep- resenting 12 countries through a myriad of performances. Choral acts featured Barbershop music, Chinese and Italian opera, classical Chinese, classical Indian and songs from the Polynesian/Hawaiian islands. Instrumentals were represented by sitar with Tabla, piano, and ukuleles. Dance performances included Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical Ballet, Tap, Chinese, Indian, Steppers, and Traditional Irish. All of the cultures came together when the Canton Multicultural Committee led the crowd in America the Beautiful, according to a prepared statement from Jon LeFever, Canton Recreation and Facilities supervisor.
Throughout the festival, guests enjoyed festival food provided by some of the local eateries who participated in the Taste of Canton, sponsored this year by Twisted Rooster. Included at the festival were: Albasha Pizza and Subs; Canton Coney Island; Chopstick House; Fat Chef in a Little Coat; La Sharm and Papa John’s Pizza. The winner among the participants, chosen based on menu selection and taste, was Canton Coney Island, 8533 N. Lilley Road in Canton.
This year Canton’s CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) assisted Canton Leisure Services and Public Safety during the festival. These volunteers are trained in light search and rescue, basic first aid and emergency preparedness. The volunteers provided extra eyes and ears in the crowd to assist festival-goers with activity information, searching for lost children/teens/adults, as well as watching for any suspicious activities. In all, 15 members assisted in the event including one from the Lincoln Park CERT.
For more information on the Canton CERT program or to become a trained CERT volunteer, contact Kathy Rich at krich@canton-mi.org.
Area civic groups also served up festival food, serving record crowds. The Canton Lions Club prepared plenty of pancake break- fasts while Canton Firefighter’s #2289 Charity Foundation 14th Annual Spaghetti Dinner generated more than $4,000. The Canton Rotary Club also helped staff a successful adult beverage tent provided by West Side Distributing that helped raised funds for their local charities. The Zumba Party in Pink was also a big success collecting more than $700 in a short amount of time for the Susan B. Komen Foundation, according to the release.
Some of the most popular features were the three unique animal attractions featuring exotic and barnyard animals; 200 classic cars on display at America’s Most Wanted Car Club-setting a 22-year record; and more than 50 vendors including arts and crafters.
This year, the festival was sponsored by: Atchinson Ford; Community Financial; The Goddard School For Early Childhood Development; Health Alliance Plan (HAP); Red Holman Buick GMC; SYSCO; Twisted Rooster Restaurant; The Village Dentist; West Side Beer Distributing and Xfinity by Comcast.
Liberty Fest ended with a fireworks display that featured nearly 9,000 shells, including a grand finale. Next year, the Liberty Fest will take place June 12 – 14. For details, call (734) 394-5460 or visit www.cantonlibertyfest.com.
|News Plymouth Michigan
