2 days ago
Strawberry Festival prepares for thousands of visitors with rain in the forecast
It will be a busy weekend for the Troy Strawberry Festival with organizers expecting at least 150,000 visitors. They say they are prepared, and have a plan in case of inclement weather.
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News Center 7's Malik Patterson speaks with the event organizers about the Strawberry Festival and their plans if weather isn't favorable LIVE on News Center 7 at 11.
People in the area stopped by early to check out vendors before tomorrow's official start, including Jeremy Ovenshire.
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'You see a lot more locals come out on Friday night, especially ones who are already downtown,' Ovenshire said.
Ovenshire grew up in Troy and remembers the past Strawberry Festivals.
'As a little kid, we were on the levee, you know, and there was hardly anything up here, and it just kept getting bigger and bigger,' Ovenshire said.
The city started prepping for the festival Thursday morning by putting up barriers.
'You don't want to have that always on the back of your mind,' Ovenshire said. 'Like, man, what if this isn't as safe as it used to be?'
Jessica Silver is the head chair of the Strawberry Festival. Silver says they have shaded areas for festival goers.
'Festival location that our volunteers can come in and like, take rests and have some water,' Silver said. 'We also have EMS present on both locations and we have Kettering Health here.'
Ovenshire recommends checking the weather before heading out to the festival.
'You know the forecast, it's not that bad,' Ovenshire said. 'And people still come out no matter what.'
Storm Center 7 will be tracking this weekend's conditions.
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