JARVIS—JarvisFest, the newly-minted annual event bringing a weekend of exciting activities and community bonding to the Jarvis Lions Park and Community Centre, is set to return the weekend of August 18-20, promising free admission to attendees and enough fun to keep visitors of all ages smiling from ear to ear.
The festival is the idea of local resident Richard Moorse, who carries fond memories of the old Jarvis Corn Fest that ended a decade ago, and sees the potential for a festival to promote community spirit.
“My wife and I were out west visiting her uncle in Saskatoon. Her uncle was part of the Ribfest. That’s what put the idea in my head – there’s nothing like that in Jarvis, let’s have a Ribfest. Things developed from there,” said Moorse. “It’s putting Jarvis back on the map. Fortunately, we were successful last year and we’re expanding a little bit more this year.”
This year, Moorse said attendees can look forward to a schedule of free live entertainment, provided exclusively by local talent. The lineup for this year’s festival includes: Rock “N” Ray Micheals, Leave Those Kids Alone, 50 Mission, Kiln Country, Tuxedo Bluegrass Boys, Jamazon, and Triple Chance.
Tuxedo Bluegrass Boys, Triple Chance, and 50 Mission – a Tragically Hip tribute band – will be familiar to attendees of the first JarvisFest last year, while Rock “N” Ray is a familiar name for listeners of 92.9 The Grand.
Leave Those Kids Alone are new kids on the block, literally, as their website notes that these five talented teens known for playing “note for note renditions of rock classics” just released their first album last year.
“We will also be having a disc golf tournament on the Saturday, slo-pitch baseball tournament Friday to Sunday,” said Moorse.
“We will have the Re/Max hot air balloon on Friday night and following that we will be having fireworks on Friday night,” he added, noting that donations to ride the balloon directly benefit the festival. “Saturday, we will bring a South Coast Miniature Horse display, with more entertainment during the day, and Sunday will bring a free car show.”
For the young (and young at heart) the festival will have many options, from face painting to children’s entertainment to a small midway for that extra thrill.
“We will be having two ribbers: Gator BBQ and Crazy Canuck Smokers…. We will have a beer tent,” said Moorse, noting that other food and drink providers include Festival Foods, Shaw’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, Rays Coffee & Cocktail Caravan, and Jarvis favourite Concession Road Brewing. “We’re going to have a parade on Saturday morning. There will also be a breakfast on Sunday morning and a church service on Sunday morning. We also have the Knights of Columbus selling corn.”
The local Masonic Lodge will also be on hand, delivering a free ‘chip program’.
Moorse explained, “You come in, we take a picture of your child, take their swab, which is all put on a flash drive given to you, so that if something happens to the child, and we’re doing them for seniors too, you give it to the cops and they can put out an APB instantly. That’s free of charge.”
Moorse added that collected information is stored exclusively on the flash drive given, “Nothing is retained by the Masonic Order.”
Moorse is encouraged by how quickly the community has embraced the festival.
“It’s good to see the community involvement. For instance, Knights of Columbus are selling corn, the Fisherville Lions are doing breakfast on Sunday morning, the Townsend Lions are doing the car show, the Jarvis Lions are looking after the beer tent,” he said.
“There’s community involvement and that’s part of my philosophy. I want to get as much of the community involved as possible, and to let newcomers know that this is a great place to live.” Richard Moorse, JarvisFest Chairperson
The festival will also feature a craft vendor section and on-site ATMs.
“I’ve got a great committee working with me. The chair of the committee that always gets the credit, but it’s the members of the committee doing the work that deserve it,” said Moorse of the local team spearheading the event, a subcommittee of the Jarvis Board of Trade. “Hopefully we’ll have a little something for everybody in some way, shape, or form.”
While admission is free to the event, attendees are welcome to donate or purchase a JarvisFest button to help raise funds for the 2024 festival.
Moorse concluded, “What I’d like to do … is make sure that this is the best festival in the area. That’s my target; whether we get there remains to be seen, but you’ve gotta’ have something to strive for.”
