Daffodil Festival - This Weekend!

Daffodils at Hubbard Park last month, which sadly won't be in bloom because it was warm so early.

The daffodils are no longer in bloom at Hubbard Park because of the unseasonably warm weather last month, but their spirit will live on.  The Daffodil Festival (one of my favorite parts of being a Meriden native!) is happening this weekend - Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29 at Hubbard Park in Meriden. Food, music, a craft fair, games, and rides - and free admission? Even without daffodils (which on most years are in bloom in the hundreds of thousands this time of year at the park), how could you ask for more?

Gates, food tent, arts & crafts, and children's rides start at 10 a.m., and music starts at 11 a.m. each day. On Saturday, the annual Daffodil Festival parade starts at 11:30 a.m., and there will be fireworks at 8:30 p.m. Free parking (park at one of the designated spots and take the shuttle bus in), and again, free admission.

That fact that admission is free is one of the best things about this festival. A lot of area fairs charge a lot for admission and parking, and even though I understand the costs of exhibits and music, I usually only want to go to fairs for the delicious fair food, and it all adds up. At the Daffodil Festival, I get all that yummy fair food right in my hometown without having to pay an upfront admission - and without having to pay for parking. And by "fair food," I'm talking about fried oreos, fried dough, waffles, corn dogs, steamed cheeseburgers, ribbon fries, and some more cultural foods by local churches like pierogies and kielbasa and pernil and arroz con gandules, and I'm getting hungry just typing about it.

And with the free admission, you get free live music. We've seen lots of local and bigger acts, and this year might be one of the best in terms of music. Merry Picnic have more previews about some of the bands we're looking forward to this week (The Guru, M.T. Bearington, Mates of State), but for now, I'll just say that I'm most excited to see Mates of State playing during the fireworks. I can't think of a more perfect combination with their high-energy, synth-and-drum-driven music.

Here's a link to the Daffodil Festival website for more information: http://daffodilfest.com/

And here's an interactive Google map of all the 2012 Daffodil Festival that I found on the Record-Journal website: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=212815806564805635913.0004bd542b3bfb68ede12&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=41.548897,-72.832425&spn=0.003212,0.006641&z=17&source=embed